Over the festive season the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) published a reminder on the rules around advertising to children which would be worth members taking a look at.  

The Codes define children as under-16s, young people as 16–17-year-olds. A huge number of children and young people use the internet to play games and visit social networking sites. But certain types of ads should not be displayed or delivered to these age groups. 

Marketers must take care with ads for age-restricted products, which include foods/soft drinks high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) . CAP also recommend that marketers check the audience profiles of any media they plan to advertise these products in, to satisfy themselves that they are not targeting the wrong age groups. 

You can read more here 

A recent survey undertaken by the British Nutrition Foundation  has revealed that over half (56%) of respondents who use social media for information on health said they would be likely to make changes to their diet based on information they’ve seen on platforms like Tik Tok or Instagram. 

Just over a quarter (27%) of those surveyed said that they’d recently read information about diet and health on social media, and the top motivators given for changing diet were weight loss (40%) and improving fitness (36%). However, the Foundation warns that some of the biggest social media diet trends are not based on sound science, would be difficult to maintain and could even pose health risks. 

They add that diets such as the carnivore diet, 10-day egg diet, the cabbage soup diet and the baby food diet, which are widely shared on social media platforms, are nutritionally unbalanced. They severely restrict the variety of foods eaten and so will not provide all the nutrients the body needs and, because they tend to be a quick fix, any weight lost is likely to be regained. 

Bridget Benelam, Nutrition Communications Manager at the British Nutrition Foundation said “Many of us will be thinking about making changes to our diet this January, but following what we see on social media may do more harm than good. Healthy, balanced diets are never going to go viral but they are the way to go to improve health”. 

The survey also found that people’s top diet concerns are having too much sugar (21%) too many calories (20%) and not enough fruit and veg (15%). Busy lives (19%) affordability (17%) and being tempted by unhealthy takeaways (12%) were the top 3 reasons cited as making it hard to eat healthily. 

Benelam continues: “Times are tough and it’s not always easy to make healthy choices. This New Year, ditch the fads and pick just a few small changes that you can stick to. Try and add one more portion of vegetables to your dinner each day, swap sugary snacks for fruit or choose wholegrain bread or pasta. If you can keep these changes up then they can make a real difference to your health over time” 

The charity FareShare is calling on manufacturers, retailers, and foodservice operators to donate food to support the 1 in 5 people in the UK, including 4 million children, who worry about where their next meal is going to come from. 

In July last year, a survey by the Food Standards Agency found that food insecurity had increased from 16% to 25% across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland in the last three years. 

FareShare is set up to take both large volumes of surplus food as well as small quantities from across the food and drink industry. They accept all kinds of fresh, frozen, ambient, and chilled food and drink, including retailer branded foods in all forms, from bulk ingredients and unfinished products to labelling errors and damages. 

They collect it from you, then divert it to their UK-wide network of 8,500 frontline charities and community groups.  

Diverting your surplus food to charities will also help you achieve your commitments under the WRAP/IGD Food Waste Reduction Roadmap to Target – Measure – Act to reduce your food waste. 

Manufacturers interested in joining the initiative can sign up via FareShare’s website here  

A new government report has shown that the number of people who are ‘highly concerned’ about the affordability of food has almost doubled in the past three years. 

The findings have been published in the Food and You 2 Trends report, which is a biannual ‘Official Statistic’ survey commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and conducted by Ipsos. The survey measures consumers’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults (16 years and over) in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. 

This is the first of these reports and presents changes in consumers’ attitudes and behaviour between 2020 and 2023.   

The report shows that:  

• The percentage of respondents who were highly concerned about the affordability of food almost doubled, from 26% in Wave 2 (November 2020 to January 2021) to 51% in Wave 6 (October 2022 to January 2023).  
• The percentage of respondents who were highly or somewhat concerned has risen from 75% in Wave 2 (November 2020 to January 2021) to 87% in Wave 6 (October 2022 to January 2023).  
• Following a period of stability, reported levels of household food insecurity (which means having limited or uncertain access to adequate food) increased from 15% in Wave 3 (April 2021 to June 2021) to 25% in Wave 6 (October 2022 to January 2023).  
• Public confidence in food safety and authenticity has remained high across all waves.   
• Public trust and confidence in the FSA have remained high across all waves.  

Research carried out by the Food Standards Agency has revealed that one in seven food safety positions within food control authorities are vacant in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, while 25% remain unfilled in Scotland. 

Food safety allocated posts supported by local authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland have decreased by almost 14% since 2011/12, and just over 25% in Scotland compared to 2016/17. Additionally, food standards officer allocated posts dropped 45.1% between 2011/12 and 2021/22 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. 

These latest figures add to the findings of a survey carried out in 2020 which revealed trading standards officer staffing levels had also dropped between 30 and 50% between 2008/09 and 2018/19. Over half of UK local authorities believe they lack adequate resources to deliver food controls, whilst the ageing workforce was a threat to future professional capacity. 

Retention issues include a lack of career progression opportunities, increased workloads, the burden of continued professional development and early retirement among experienced staff. The FSA Competency Framework, which details what officers’ qualifications enable them to do and what roles they can apply for, was found to be difficult to understand. 

You can read more on the CIEH website  

UK CIEH announced on 25 January 2024 that one in seven food safety positions are vacant in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while 25% remain unfilled in Scotland, according to FSA research. Data also show that food standards officer allocated posts dropped 45.1% between 2011-2012 and 2021-2022 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and trading standards officer staffing levels dropped 30%-50% between 2008-2009 and 2018-2019. It is therefore unsurprising that over half of UK local authorities believe they lack adequate resources to deliver food controls. FSA intends to work with key stakeholders to evaluate the findings of its research and ensure a sustainable supply of competent, authorised food and feed officers. 

https://www.cieh.org/ehn/ehn-extra/2024/1-january/uk-food-safety-at-risk-due-to-lack-of-staff/ 

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) recently launched a consultation on the Government’s proposal to remove the 16-week derogation period in egg marketing standards.  

16 weeks is currently the maximum amount of time hens are allowed to be kept indoors during periods of mandatory housing orders before the eggs they lay may not be labelled as ‘free range’. If poultry is housed for longer than 16 weeks, the eggs must be labelled as ‘barn’ rather than ‘free range’.  

In practice, the over-stickering of egg cartons, over-stamping of eggs and in-store shopper communication has proved to be costly and labour intensive. And some argue that it has led to confusion for the consumer. 

The proposed removal of the derogation limit would mean eggs can be labelled as ‘free range’ no matter how long poultry have been housed indoors. 

The consultation, which closes on 5th March 2024, stretches across England and Scotland and can be accessed here.  

On Wednesday 13th December the Board of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) met and discussed the provision of allergen information for consumers when eating out. At that meeting they agreed that they would like to see written allergen information be mandated in the non-prepacked sector and confirmed they would be writing to Ministers to discuss the Board’s view.   

They also stated their intention to develop strong guidance for food businesses on how to provide written allergen information to help drive up compliance and make it easier for people with a food allergy, intolerance, and coeliac disease to protect themselves when eating out. 

In addition to providing written information, the Board also acknowledged that there should be an expectation for a verbal conversation to take place between customers and food business staff, to ensure an added layer of protection for consumers. 

You can read a comment from Professor Susan Jebb, Chair of the FSA here