As a Federation it’s important that we practice what we preach, this week the British Frozen Food Federation team received manual handling training. Although office working and events are relatively low risk it is still important to consider this for adhoc activities. Surprising the GB 2022/23 statistics on the HSE website show the same rates for MSD’s in admin and support services as those of the construction industry. The team passed both the written assessment and practical sessions with flying colours.

For more on the HSE statistics, please see below: https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/assets/docs/hssh2223.pdf

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published a summary of responses to the consultation on developing a modernised food hygiene delivery model in England.  

The consultation which ran between April and June this year, proposed the following developments: 

• a modernised food hygiene intervention rating scheme, including a decision matrix to determine the appropriate frequency of these controls based on the risk posed by a food business establishment. 
• an updated risk-based approach to the timescales (where not prescribed in legislation) for initial official controls of new food establishments, and undertaking due official controls.  
• increased flexibility as to the methods and techniques of official controls that can be used to risk rate an establishment, including the use of remote official controls.  
• extending the activities that officers, such as Regulatory Support Officers, who do not hold a ‘suitable qualification’ for food hygiene can, if competent, undertake. 

As well as a summary of responses, the FSA also provide comment to the feedback received for each proposal, including confirmation that the modernised food hygiene intervention rating scheme, the proposed food hygiene intervention scoring and planned official control frequencies (decision matrix approach) won’t be progressed.  

However, updating the risk-based approach to the timescales for initial official controls of new food establishments, and undertaking due official controls, will be taken forward. This includes triaging and prioritisation of new food businesses and due official controls and developing the FSA’s online ‘Register a Food Business’ (RAFB) system. Work will also be undertaken on the flexibility of the methods and techniques of official controls as well as on activities that officers who do not hold a ‘suitable qualification’ for food hygiene can undertake. 

You can read more detail here 

The Foods Standards Agency (FSA) is seeking views on proposals for a new framework that will regulate the use of precision bred organisms (PBOs) for food and animal feed. 

Precision breeding is a way of changing the DNA of plants or animals in a precise way, using techniques including gene-editing. Gene-editing uses specialised enzymes to cut DNA at specific points. These changes must be equivalent to those that could have been made using traditional plant or animal breeding methods.   

This makes precision breeding different to genetic modification. Genetic modification is when genes from one plant or animal species are inserted into another unrelated species in a way that is not possible using traditional breeding methods.  

Precision breeding can have many practical applications for food production, by introducing desirable traits in crops and livestock that could otherwise take many years to develop. This could include improving the nutritional content of plants or making crops more resistant to disease.  

Currently there are no crops or animals resulting from precision breeding technology that have been authorised for sale as food or animal feed in the UK. 

The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 became law in England (only) in March. The Act provides for the creation of a new regulatory framework in England for the pre-market authorisation of precision bred organisms for use in food and animal feed and its enforcement.  

Due to the operation of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020 and the Windsor Framework there are implications for the other UK nations as set out in the consultation.  

It is available on the FSA website, and responses are required by 8 January 2024, preferably using the online consultation form. Alternatively, you can respond via e-mail at: precisionbreeding@food.gov.uk 

A consultation pack is also available, which provides background information 

The FSA aim to publish a summary of responses received within three months of the consultation closing. 

The Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) have published their most recent findings from consumer research on the availability of food and groceries. This latest round of research was conducted between 23rd-24th October and highlights that 52% of adults have recently experienced shortages of some food and groceries in-store or online. This represents a considerable reduction since the previous month and is the lowest level since August 2021, although Northern Ireland is revealed as the area with the highest availability concerns. 

More information can be found here 

The European Commission has published its latest report on monitoring EU agri-food trade which shows that in July 2023, both imports and exports slowed down compared with June 2023.  

This did not however impact the EU’s trade balance in agri-food products which stayed positive at €6.2 billion. The cumulative trade balance from January to July 2023 reached € 38.6 billion, which is even higher (by € 7.3 billion) compared with the same period last year. 

While the monthly value of EU agri-food exports in July were below their level in July last year, EU exports are still strong. Cumulative EU agri-food exports increased by 5% in the first seven months of the year. This was mainly due to growth in the exports of cereal preparations, and fruit and nut preparations. Exported volumes of vegetable oils, oilseeds and protein crops, and cereals also increased compared to 2022. The top three destinations for EU agri-food exports between January and July of this year were the United Kingdom, the United States and China. 

EU agri-food imports continued to decrease further in July, falling to € 11.8 billion, 11% less than in June 2023 and 17% less than in July 2022. This is explained by a decrease of import prices since the beginning of 2023, combined with the reduction of import volumes in July. The total value of imports from January to July 2023 was at € 94.9 billion, similar to 2022. 

Cereal imports increased by 29% while imports of oilseeds and protein crops decreased by 11% and those of vegetable oils decreased by 27%. This has resulted in a reduction of the trade deficit for vegetable oils, as well as for oilseeds and protein crops. 

Imports from Argentina decreased by € 1 billion (27%), in large part due to a reduction of soya meals imports, while imports from Brazil also decreased by € 892 million (-8%), with a large decrease in soya beans and coffee. 

The top three origin countries for EU agri-food imports between January and July 2023 were Brazil and the United Kingdom, followed by Ukraine. 

You can download the report in full here