A national food poisoning alert linked to meat and fish products has been issued after a fraud of least £2million, The Times has learnt. The Food Standards Agency and police have issued the warning amid fears that unsafe food, including chicken, lamb and seafood, is being sold cheaply to cash-and-carry outlets, wholesalers and the catering industry.

The food watchdog is urging people to be on the lookout for offers of cheap food, which it fears may be unfit for human consumption. Seven men thought to be part of a food-fraud syndicate have been arrested.

An investigation is under way into how a gang allegedly stole the identity of a legitimate company and used fake letterheads to order vast quantities of food and soft drinks from traders in Britain and on the Continent.

The authorities are concerned that food obtained by the gang is not being kept refrigerated. Scores of food companies have been duped, including Barr soft drinks, which is owed £24,416 for a consignment of Irn Bru and other brands, and Heritage Foods, of Maidstone, Kent, which is owed £50,000 for catering cuts of lamb.

The perpetrators are thought to have inside knowledge of the food industry. When the gang places an order, it claims to be acting on behalf of Tri-Imp Ltd, a legitimate trader that has operated for 26 years in Bradford.

Food companies are thought to have carried out routine credit checks on Tri-Imp Ltd. It has a genuine high rating. Delivery dates were therefore agreed with the rogue operators, who concealed their identity by changing delivery locations at the last minute.

Investigators said that one of the fraudsters' tactics was to contact delivery vehicle drivers to arrange pick-ups at lay-bys or car parks. Some cheques offered in payment for the items — many from stolen cheque books — have bounced.

Haroon Pandor, managing director of the genuine Tri-Imp Ltd, which imports fresh produce from Asia, said that his business was being destroyed.

He told The Times that it was at the end of February that he first knew that criminals were using his company name and fake letterheads with legitimate VAT numbers.

A company in Spain, Enric Roca SA, received an e-mail request for a consignment of chicken breasts. A manager used the internet to check the British company and was suspicious when the telephone number in the e-mail was different from that on the website.

The criminals had placed their order under the name Ibrahim Patel, who is the chairman of Tri-Imp, but is now semi-retired and living in Pakistan. Mr Pandor immediately told the police, who said that it was a matter for Spanish police because the crime was committed there.

Since then Mr Pandor has been inundated with invoices from food companies across Britain, demanding payment for goods that he has not ordered. The Tri-Imp website carries a warning that the company identity and name is being used unlawfully.

“This whole episode is spiralling out of control,” Mr Pandor, 41, said. “I am fielding telephone calls every day from people saying I owe them money and then it takes so much time explaining that the company identity has been stolen and fake letterheads and invoices have been used.

“I am the victim and my reputation [and] the good name of this firm [are] at stake. It is getting nasty, and on Friday one company turned up with four heavies to beat the s**t out of me. I explained I had nothing to do with it.”

West Yorkshire Police's Economic Unit are leading the investigation with FSA officers. The trail has so far taken them to Essex, East Sussex, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Colin Houston, deputy head of enforcement at the Food Standards Agency, said: “If food is not stored or handled correctly it can become a breeding ground for germs.”

He urged people to be wary of cheap food offers: “If the offer looks too good to be true, it probably has a hidden catch. In this case it could be the safety of the produce.”

The seven men, aged between 19 and 44, from Brighton, Bradford, Dewsbury and Wakefield, have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud and money laundering. No charges have been brought and the men are on police bail.

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