A DEDICATED crime unit is to be set up in Scotland to tackle food fraud.

The plans for the "enhanced intelligence and investigatory unit" will involve a range of enforcement agencies including Police Scotland, HMRC, the UK Border Agency and local authorities.

It is expected to be created when new body Food Standards Scotland (FSS) takes over the duties of the current UK-wide Food Standards Agency (FSA) in April.

The decision to set up the new unit was made in the wake of the horsemeat scandal in 2013, which saw a number of beef products withdrawn from sale across Europe after they were found to contain horsemeat.

The horsemeat scandal is far from the only example of food fraud, with more than 3800 incidents across the UK reported to the FSA in the past three years.

Last week an alert was issued over counterfeit alcohol labelled as Glen's Vodka being offered for sale across the UK in small independent retail outlets, with 236 bottles seized in the Moray and Highland areas.

The FSA is also currently investigating how some cumin products became contaminated with nuts, which could be potentially fatal for nut allergy sufferers. Although the FSA has said there is no evidence of food fraud at this stage, Professor Chris Elliott, who led the Government's inquiry into the horsemeat scandal, has raised fears cheap peanuts and almonds are being used as a substitute for more expensive cumin seeds.

A spokeswoman for FSA Scotland: "The new food body Food Standards Scotland (FSS) will continue to work closely with FSA on all matters of intelligence and will share information to ensure that consumers are protected across the UK."

Last week Europe's police intelligence agency Europol revealed record seizures of counterfeit and illicit food were made in 47 countries around the world as part of a joint operation carried out with Interpol in December and January. Known as Operation Opson, it is the fourth investigation which has been carried out annually since 2011.

The discoveries included rotting seafood being sprayed with chemicals and sold as fresh fish, a factory producing fake tea, an unlicensed water bottling plant and fake smoked mozzarella made from out-of-date dairy produce being "smoked" over burning rubbish.

Huw Watkins, head of the UK Intellectual Property Office's intelligence hub and UK lead on Operation Opson IV, said one of the worst examples uncovered was an illicit factory in Derbyshire producing fake-name brand vodka using antifreeze. More than 20,000 empty bottles were ready for filling, which could have been destined for distribution across the UK.

He said: "You have got unhygienic circumstances, people messing with industrial alcohol and clearly the potential there for serious harm to the public is massive."

More than 2,500 tonnes of counterfeit and illicit food, including strawberries, eggs, cooking oil and dried fruit were also seized globally during the operation. Counterfeit alcohol was among the most seized products - including in the UK - with nearly 275,000 litres recovered.

Watkins said the examples uncovered were just a snapshot and had probably only scratched the surface of the problem.

But he added: "In the UK we enjoy one of the safest food regimes in the world

"The reality is if you buy from legitimate sources and if you buy at what you expect the price to be, then it is less likely that is going to be counterfeit."

The Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) has also been involved in Operation Opson, as part of its ongoing efforts to protect an industry which is worth more than £5billion to the UK economy from being damaged by fake and inferior quality products.

Lindesay Low, one of the SWA's legal advisers, said fake Scotch was often made of small quantities of genuine whisky mixed with cheap local alcohol.

He said Scottish words and symbols - such as Glen, Mac, bagpipes or even the Loch Ness Monster - were often used to suggest a drink is genuine Scotch.

"Internationally at any one time, we will have around 40-50 legal cases and several hundred investigations against companies that are selling products either called Scotch when they are not, or which are labelled in a way to suggest they are Scotch when they are not," he said.

"We are increasingly getting involved with trying to share intelligence with other organisations, both in the spirits sector and also law enforcement bodies such as Europol and Interpol, to try and take a united front against fraud."