Bournemouth University have developed a new FREE app which will tell people whether the food they are eating is of the right type and portion size to meet the UK recommended five portions of fruits and vegetables per day.

The development of the app followed research which revealed that whilst most of the UK adult population were aware of ‘5 a day’, very few actually knew how to achieve it.

“It was clear that a lot of people did not know what counts towards the target, they did not know what a portion size is, and many did not realise that they needed to eat five different things.” said Katherine Appleton, Professor of Psychology at Bournemouth University, who led the studies and the development of the new app.

The “5-a-day” campaign was launched by the UK Government to encourage people to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables to at least five portions. However, figures show that there is still a large proportion of the population who are not achieving this. Figures from Public Health England (PHE) show that just 52.4% of 15year olds and 55.4% of adults eat the recommended five portions.

You can read more about the “SMART-5-A-DAY” app here

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have now published the “Consumer Insights Tracker Bulletin” covering the period from 11th-15th November 2022.

The Consumer Insights tracker provides up-to-date findings each month on consumer behaviour and attitudes in relation to the following topics:

• Food insecurity (including food affordability)
• Food availability
• Consumer concerns in relation to food
• Confidence in the food supply chain and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) as a regulator

Some of the key findings in this latest report were:

• 11% of participants reported that they had used a food bank or food charity at least once in the last month.
• 23% of participants reported that they had skipped a meal or cut down the size of their meals because they did not have enough money to buy food in the last month.
• 13% of participants turned off a fridge and/or freezer containing food
• 21% of participants changed the settings on their fridge and/or freezer so that food is kept at a warmer temperature
• 23% of participants lowered the cooking temperature for food
• 23% of participants reduced the length of time that food is cooked for

You can access the full report here

Details of the external review of the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) have now been published by the Food Standards Agency.

In June 2018, the FSA Board agreed to expand NFCU activities from having a strategic and tactical intelligence capability to a comprehensive response to criminal threats and vulnerabilities, including investigative capabilities. This expanded capability included a formal full organisational review after three years.

The review was conducted between June to October 2022 and collected evidence and insight from 28 focus groups and 40 external stakeholders, via an online survey that was sent to over 1000 food industry employees and all local authorities.

22 findings were reported, and 5 recommendations were made under the headings of Redefine Purpose, Build Capability, Enhance Impact, Nurture Culture and Project Message. These recommendations relate to:

1. Clearer definition of the Unit’s purpose, with performance indicators aligned to its strategy.
2. Using this enhanced clarity to assess ‘as-is’ capability, and then design and build the required ‘to-be’ position.
3. Ensuring access to the latest tradecraft and capability within law enforcement to enhance capabilities.
4. Nurturing of internal culture and improvements to internal career pathways.
5. Better projection of the Unit, its food crime messaging, and its successes.

A paper of the review was presented to the FSA Business Committee at a meeting on 7th December 2022.

Over 100 organisations including charities, food partnerships, councils, and Public Health Directors have signed a letter calling on the UK Government to make urgent improvements to the Healthy Start scheme amidst the cost-of-living crisis.

The letter, which has been sent to Steve Barclay (Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care), Mel Stride (Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) and Michael Brodie (Chief Executive of NHS Business Services Authority) calls on them to take immediate action and increase the Healthy Start payments in line with inflation to assist families that are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.

The Healthy Start scheme currently offers funds worth £4.25 per week to pregnant women and children (up to the age of 4), who are in low-income families, as well as to all pregnant women under the age of 18. If a baby is under the age of 1, the amount increases to £8.50 per week. This can be used to buy fruit, vegetables, milk, and infant formula.

According to The Food Foundation  “food inflation has risen to 16% leaving more households unable to afford essentials including fruit and vegetables and infant formula”.

Campaign group Sustain have also said “Government needs to show leadership” of the scheme rather than depending on “local communities to promote the scheme alone” and suggests a £5 million Government funded communications campaign to increase awareness. It also calls for an extension of the scheme to all families in receipt of Universal Credit.

You can read the letter in full here