A number of retailers and food and drink brands have joined front-of-pack eco-score scheme Foundation Earth ahead of a pilot for its labelling trial starting this month.

The non-profit organisation was launched in June and has been supported by the industry with major companies joining its industry advisory group. The group will help Foundation Earth optimise its nascent traffic light environmental scoring system, which aims to roll out across Europe after the September trial.

The labelling trial will be noticeable on products sold by M&S, Costa Coffee, Meatless Farm, Greencore, Abel & Cole, Mash Direct and Finnebrogue Artisan.

“Collaboration is fundamental if we are to tackle the global climate crisis and Foundation Earth has demonstrated that major industry players are committed to real change in order to provide society with a simple, trusted system for everyday food choices,” said Cliona Howie, Foundation Earth Executive Director.

“This bold commitment [is] to a true farm-to-fork initiative that can drive change at both production and consumption ends in the value chain, thus simultaneously stimulating what we call systemic transformation and pioneering a more circular society. Consumers will finally be able to quickly and simply understand the impact linked to their food choices.”

Foundation Earth was the brainchild of the late Finnebrogue Artisan founder Denis Lynn. The labelling scheme is set to use methodolgy devised by food advisory company Mondra – which draws on data from a paper published by researchers at Oxford University and Swiss research institute Agroscope in 2018 – and the EU-funded food innovation initiative EIT Food.

To find out more about Foundation Earth and the companies supporting the scheme, click here.

The new prepacked for direct sale (PPDS) law, also known as Natasha’s Law, comes into effect in less than a months time on 1 October.  By this point, all PPDS food will need to have a label with the name of the product and full ingredient information with allergens highlighted on it.

To help raise awareness of the upcoming deadline, the FSA will be running targeted advertising between 2nd – 15th September as a way to remind businesses and signpost guidance and tools that can support them.

The FSA have published their PPDS food labelling webinar, which features BFFF member, Greggs. Claire Florey, Greggs’ Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs Manager, who is also member of the BFFF Technical Expert Group, spoke on the webinar with her colleague Mark to provide an update on the changes Greggs have made to their business to comply with the new regulations. You are able to watch the full webinar here.

The FSA have also pulled together a PPDS toolkit for food business, have sector-specific guidance and allergen resources for food businesses available on their website, click here.

The UK’s chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, declared on Friday 3^rd September, that international standards have been met to declare the country free from bird flu. However, Christine reiterated calls for all poultry keepers to remain vigilant for signs of the disease as we move into this coming winter.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza continues to circulate in both wild and captive birds in Europe and as winter approaches the risk of migratory wild birds flying to the UK over the colder months will mean that the risks for domestic poultry are likely to rise.

Between November 2020 and March 2021, 26 cases of Avian Influenza were confirmed in kept poultry and wild birds in the UK. In all cases, movement restrictions were put in place to limit the spread of disease and carried out thorough investigations into the source and possible spread of infection.

The Government also introduced UK-wide measures to protect poultry from infection from wild birds, including a requirement to temporarily house birds and a ban on bird gatherings.

The UK Chief Veterinary Officer Christine Middlemiss said:

The last year has been very challenging for all those who keep poultry and captive birds, and I would like to thank everyone for their efforts in helping us contain the disease. This is an important milestone that will help our efforts to re-open export markets.

While we are now free of bird flu in this country there is a constant risk of the disease returning through wild birds and this is likely to increase as winter approaches, temperatures fall, and more migratory birds start arriving in the UK.

Poultry and captive bird keepers should maintain good biosecurity practises, such as cleaning footwear, feeding birds indoors, and minimising contact with wild birds. Building these simple actions into routines now will go a long way to limiting the risk of future outbreaks.

Declaring the UK free from Avian Influenza means trade discussions on UK poultry and poultry products can restart with existing and potential new trading partners.

For more information and advice to bird keepers, click here.

The Anaphylaxis Campaign will be holding their annual corporate conference virtually this year, ‘Are Allergens Shaping the Future?’, taking place on Wednesday 15^th September,

The conference will be made up of speakers from all areas of the food industry, including Gousto, Campden BRI, Instinctif Partners and Creative Nature.

To book tickets for this conference, click here.