Casualty Risk Trends: Food Industry

The global food industry is experiencing rapid transformation driven by new technologies, evolving consumer behaviour, stricter regulations, and increasing scrutiny around product safety. These shifts are creating new and complex casualty and liability risks for manufacturers, processors, distributors, and retailers. 

Our latest Risk Engineering Services report, Casualty Risk Trends: Food Industry, analyses the most significant emerging risks in food production and food safety, helping organisations strengthen their risk mitigation strategies and protect their brand, operations, and customers.

1. Social media’s rising influence and misleading claims, viral posts, and online backlash can trigger product liability, recalls, and reputational harm.
    

2. Cultivated meat production with new risks linked to cell-culture technology, contamination vulnerabilities, labelling requirements, and shifting regulatory frameworks.
    

3. Ultra-processed foods, including heightened scrutiny, litigation trends, and the challenges introduced by complex ingredient sourcing and long supply chains.
    

4. CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing introduces opportunities and uncertainties across farming, food production, regulatory compliance, and liability.

From product contamination to mislabelling, from biotechnology exposures to the impact of public perception, these developments are redefining both operational and legal risks within the food value chain.

This report provides practical insights to help organisations better understand these emerging liabilities, strengthen internal controls, and adapt risk management strategies to a rapidly evolving environment.