1 Investigating risk management capability within UK food supply chains Dr. Samir Dani * , Aman Deep Business School, Loughborough University, UK *- S.Dani@lboro.ac.uk Abstract This paper presents a literature review of the issues surrounding supply chain risk management within the UK food industry and identifies key risk management techniques used by the food industry. The paper also presents the results from a pilot survey. The survey was conducted in an effort to explore further the understanding and perceptions that entities within the UK food supply chains have regarding supply chain risks and the techniques deployed to mitigate and manage risks and disruptions. Keywords: food supply chains, supply chain risks, food supply chain risks Introduction Supply chains today, are stretched out across the globe to harness the cost savings and facilities provided by emerging economies. New business models within the logistics environment and better transportation facilities have facilitated the global nature of supply chains. However, this has also exposed the supply chains to a whole new set of uncertainties and risks, which can create chaos and disruption. These risks and uncertainties do not only arise from external sources but can be internal to the supply chain. Supplier issues, strikes, quality problems, logistics issues, etc. lead to more internal operational risks, which need a different level of mitigation. The academic work on supply chain risks has increased steadily in the past couple of years. The primary aim for the research surrounding supply chain risks is the necessity to avoid or at least reduce the impact of supply chain disruption and create a perpetually working supply chain devoid of any uncertainty. However, this is not always possible and hence, there is a need to investigate ‘proactive’ and ‘reactive’ methods to deal with supply chain uncertainties and risks. Supply chains in the food sector have also assumed truly global dimensions. In times of extreme competition, focus on efficiency and leaning of supply chains, is pushing the raw material procurement process to different corners of the world which makes the food supply chain particularly vulnerable. Recent examples of food contamination ranging from Salmonella in Salsa sauce to Sudan1 dye in Worcester sauce and perhaps the most critical Chinese milk scare leads to question the preparedness of the food sector to tackle disruptions and recall procedures. Although several theories of supply chain risk mitigation and management are available in the literature, the penetration of these theories in practical implementations