The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) has recently published its annual report for the calendar year 2022.

The role of SACN is to provide independent scientific advice on, and risk assessments of, nutrition and related health issues. It advises the 4 UK health departments and other government departments and agencies.

This report provides a summary of the work of SACN and its working groups and subgroups throughout 2022, along with details of members’ declarations of interest and their biographies.

You can read the report in full here

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have recently published the ‘Food and You 2’ Wave 5 report, based on a survey conducted between 26th April and 24th July 2022

Food and You 2 is a biannual ‘Official Statistic’ survey commissioned by the FSA. The survey measures consumers’ self-reported knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

A total of 6,770 adults from 4,727 households across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland completed the ‘push-to-web’ survey which showed that most had made changes to their eating habits in the last year and that 20% of households were now insecure.

Respondents reported eating out less and eating fewer takeaways, cooking and eating at home more, buying items on special offer more and changing what and where they buy to cheaper alternatives.

They were also asked to indicate if they had concerns about several food-related issues, from a list of options. The most common concerns related to food prices (66%), food waste (60%), and the amount of sugar in food (59%).

You can read the report in full here

Members will have seen several reports in the media relating to the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) visiting a premises linked to a criminal investigation into “alleged food fraud” of pre-packed sliced meats and deli items.

The NFCU have now provided the BFFF with the following update into their investigations, codenamed ‘Operation Hawk’:

Operation Hawk

As has been reported in the media, the NFCU has an ongoing investigation, Operation Hawk, looking into the alleged misrepresentation of pre-packed sliced meats and deli items supplied to a UK retailer as British when they were sourced from South America and Europe.

You may also have noted media reports on the alleged identity of the retailer and supplier but our decision not to confirm or deny any of this speculation remains unaffected. We have taken this position so as not to jeopardise future criminal proceedings and to protect all parties involved, as these are alleged offences at this stage. As the lead investigating authority, releasing the names of victims or suspects can risk the right to a fair trial by directly or indirectly inferring guilt before criminal proceedings can occur.

Operation Hawk is an extensive criminal investigation into an incident of food fraud, currently we do not believe there are any food safety concerns. The retailer was notified on the same day that we took action against the food business suspected of the fraud in September 2021. The retailer immediately removed all affected products from their shelves and continues to work closely and cooperatively with the NFCU investigation to progress the case against the supplier.

Our investigations team have seized over 1 million documents as part of the investigation and continue to review them. As with any ongoing investigation, information can emerge that leads to new lines of enquiry being generated. Should further industry partners be identified as being involved, we will of course approach them as necessary. Similarly, if a food safety issue was identified we would follow our well-established FSA processes to alert businesses.

The NFCU takes allegations of food fraud very seriously and will investigate such allegations robustly and diligently. To do this effectively, it is not always possible to share information with industry partners as we need to ensure that both the victim and the suspects are treated fairly, allow for evidence and the facts to be gathered and for an unprejudiced investigation to take place. We recognise the frustration this may cause, but we stand firm in our rationale to protect the identify of those involved throughout.

Our advice to industry is to ensure they have the necessary due diligence processes in place, as well as a robust audit and sampling regime. The NFCU’s Prevention team have developed a free and easily accessible online tool, as a well as an indepth Fraud Resilience Assessment for businesses to use to check their current processes.

We remain committed to working with industry partners and will share information where we can, for partners to check their supply chains. We ask everyone to continue to remain vigilant and to reach out to our Prevention team if you want to understand what more you could do, or simply sense check what you are currently doing.

Should members wish to contact the NFCU Prevention Team then they can do so directly by emailing NFCU.prevention@food.gov.uk.

The BFFF would also be interested in hearing from you on this subject – if you have any concerns or wish to discuss or comment on the above then please feel free to contact deniserion@bfff.co.uk

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has launched on a new ‘Help to Grow’ website. The new website is aimed at upskilling both big and small businesses by helping them to take their businesses from start-ups, to scaling-up and then exporting and selling their goods internationally.

It includes information on how to get help from government backed schemes as well as free support to help increase sales, improve your products and services, develop staff and find extra funding. It also provides country specific advice and access to specialist exporting training.

You can access the website here.

 

Following a request from the Minister for Safe and Legal Migration, The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) have issued a call for evidence for its review of the Shortage Occupation List (SOL).

The SOL lists occupations where there is a shortage of suitable skilled labour in the UK, and where it is sensible to fill those shortages with migrant workers through a skilled work visa. The occupations on the list are given some dispensations within the immigration rules, designed to make it easier for employers to access migrant labour to fill vacancies in those areas of identified shortage. For example, if an occupation is on the SOL employers do not have to meet the full salary threshold that other jobs on the Skilled Worker visa must meet.

The government periodically commissions the MAC to recommend which jobs should be placed on the SOL. The MAC considers the data and qualitative evidence from stakeholders and compiles a list for the SOL. However, as the SOL forms part of the Immigration Rules, ultimately it is for the government to decide which occupations are selected.

Views are sought on the roles that are being filled by migrant workers, the salaries they are paid and implications of potential changes. You can read the commissioning letter sent to Mac along with their response here.

MAC have also published a shortage methodology review providing details on how they intend to assess the shortage occupation list. This can be found here

All responses to the call must be submitted by 26^th May.

Defra have launched a consultation on proposed registration requirements for all bird keepers in Great Britain.

The proposed changes will amend the current poultry registration requirements for keepers with 50 and more poultry and extend this to all bird keepers. It takes forward the recommendation from the 2018 Dame Glenys Stacey Review that was conducted for England and lessons identified from the 2021/2022 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 (also known as bird flu) outbreak and previous HPAI outbreaks.

Whilst animal health policy is a devolved matter, the UK government, the Scottish government, and the Welsh government have agreed to work together to ensure adequate information on all bird premises is captured across Great Britain. The specific amendments proposed in this consultation will have effect only in Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales).

Responses will be used to help refine proposals and inform policy decisions on how the UK government, Scottish Government and Welsh Government proceed with any subsequent legislative change.

The consultation can be found here and responses must be submitted by 31st May 2023