The role of whistleblowers in protecting the safety and integrity of the food supply

The unsafe, illegal, and unethical practices, especially food fraud, by various actors along the food supply chain are old problems that have been made even more challenging by today’s international agri-food network. To combat these practices, the internal reporting to upper management or the external disclosure to regulators or media by persons who become aware of such practices is essential. These persons are colloquially known as whistleblowers. However, a number of impediments to whistleblowing, especially retribution by employers, have limited their contribution to ensuring the safety and integrity of the food supply. This paper presents recent examples of whistleblowing and legislation adopted by countries around the world to encourage and protect whistleblowers, especially from retaliation. Several impediments to whistleblowing are described and suggestions for overcoming them are proposed.