Safety Experts Say Think Twice Before Donating to Food Kickstarters

Is there anyone who isn't on some kind of crowdfunding site? If it's not your sister's ex-boyfriend tweeting at you to donate to his life-changing MacBook docking device, it's the guy who raised nearly $5000 to record a comedy Doctor Who rap album. Making your millions/eschewing all parental life advice via a Kickstarter fund is the millennial dream.

Food is no different. With prohibitive restaurant overheads and the terrifying prospect of facing a bank manager with a vague business plan about selling "gluten-free Cronut shakes," it's no surprise crowdfunding sites are rife with vegan bakery startups and healthy fried chicken concepts. Last year, Indiegogo reported a 700 percent rise in UK startup projects and more than 1600 projects were launched through Kickstarter.

While we can all agree crowdfunding is decidedly mainstream now, few would brand it as outright harmful. That is until the "food safety experts" started probing our browser history.

At a recent conference run by the UK Institute of Food Safety, Integrity and Protection, concerns were raised over the safety of food and drink products manufactured as a result of crowdfunding. "Food for Thought 2015: Future Risks and Resilience Issues" saw food industry and regulatory figures from Marks & Spencers, the Food Standards Agency, and the Food and Drink Federation to discuss emerging food safety issues.

One of the topics raised was an oral caffeine spray that sought finance through a crowdfunding website. Fiona Lickorish, Head of Institute for Environment, Health, Risk and Futures and Cranfield University, was quoted by FoodManufacture.co.uk as expressing her concern, stating: "What I'm worried about is I think they're cutting out the peer-review process such products would have to go through and are instead going straight to the consumer."

The comment naturally led to a mildly sensationalist article on those food regulation worrywarts "slamming" the little food startup guys.

"I don't want to criticise food start ups or crowdfunding. I'm a full supporter," Lickorish tells MUNCHIES. "What I was trying to say is, when you see a new product, what do you do with it? How is it regulated? If it's not been developed through the normal channels of development, how do the regulators come to know about it?"

While all food and drinks firms must register with their local authority before selling food and drink products to the public, crowdfunding sites have no control over their production, and have been criticised for the lack of regulation on how exactly donated money is being spent.

"As with any form of finance such as a bank loan, it is the business raising finance that is ultimately responsible for ensuring it is adhering to the rules and regulations of the sector it operates in," explains Luke Lang, co-founder and CEO of Crowdcube. "The majority of Crowdcube's funded businesses from the food and beverage sector are already stocked in well-known retailers such as Selfridges, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, and Harrods, just to name a few and so would have to adhere to strict food safety laws in order to secure those contracts."

Lang also mentions Righteous, a new salad dressing stocked by both supermarkets and independent shops, that raised £140,000 on Crowdcube to expand. Lickorish agrees that crowdfunding is an important tool for helping independent food business growth.

"Going straight to the market is a really exciting way of doing it and I support crowdfunding," says Lickorish. "But there are some things that do need to be regulated and regulation often lags behind the development of products. Regulators should be integrating themselves with these new ways of funding."

With the dual Gen Y penchants for fleeting food trends and internet activism, crowdfunded food projects aren't going anywhere. While we wait for the regulators to catch up, the best we can do is maybe not give too much of your money—or tastebuds—to that experimental baked good startup.