The BFFF were recently invited to attend a meeting called by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to discuss the  Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL Bill)  in terms of Nutrition Labelling Composition and Standards.

As you will be aware, the REUL Bill is a framework which provides powers to ministers to decide whether to amend, retain or revoke any of the Retained EU Laws, of which there are >2,400!

The aim of the meeting was to understand, from a Nutrition Labelling Composition and Standards perspective, stakeholder views in terms of what degree of reform industry might be expecting and how that measures up to what ministers would agree to and the timetable might allow.

The BFFF Technical Expert Group came together to discuss this subject on January 25^th and whilst we agreed there is definitely room for improvement in parts, many concerns were also tabled. On the whole, these concerns mirrored those which had been voiced by industry at the DHSC meeting, a summary of which is below:

Concerns:

• Ensuring ongoing compliance with different regulations and avoiding barriers to trade.
• Ensuring preservation of core compositional standards.
• Divergence removes the competitive advantage.
• Costly to comply with different regulations e.g., labelling differences UK v EU.
• Acceptance of, and confusion caused by products on UK market with different labelling systems e.g., Nutriscore.
• Negative impact on trade and growth.
• Interdependencies between food and labelling legislation.
• Risk to stability if too many changes in 2023.
• Introduction of errors into legislation if rushed.
• Need to review accompanying guidance.
• Preservation of ‘complicated/messy/patchwork’ legislation.
• Civil service under resourced – REUL on top of business-as-usual work.
• Early notice needed if something is to be revoked.

If BFFF members have anything you wish us to raise about the REUL Bill, then please do let us know. We will be feeding back the points comments from the Technical Expert Group but we have been told the plan is to continue engaging with industry on a regular basis as the Bill progresses so your input would be most welcomed. Please email deniserion@bfff.co.uk

The BFFF Technical Expert Group held their first hybrid meeting of the year on January 25^th which proved to be a real success.

Altogether 17 experts joined the session, 9 in person and the remainder joining virtually, which was held at a new venue, the Newark Showground.

As always, we had a packed agenda which generated some interesting discussions including:

• Divergence
• The latest updates on food incidents & supply chain issues including the grey market, caustic soda, peanut in soya lecithin and Listeria in smoked fish.
• Detail of the Technical and Health and Safety Conferences on March 8^th including an exciting Bring Your Team discount offer !

We were also pleased to welcome guest attendee Melissa Toney, Food Safety and Regulatory Lead from NFU Mutual. Melissa gave the group a whistle stop tour of her role and the work of the NFU Mutual. We hope that in making this initial introduction, it will help to identify potential areas for assistance and collaboration going forward. Should any members wish to hear more about the work of NFU Mutual, then please let us know and we will happily facilitate.

Due to confidentiality reasons, we are unable to circulate the full set of minutes, but if you wish to know more on any of the subjects discussed then please feel free to contact deniserion@bfff.co.uk for the latest updates.

In the meantime, we would like to thank the members of the Technical Expert Group for their continued support and dedication on behalf of the whole membership.

Defra have advised that due to the ongoing situation with Avian Influenza, as of 1^st February, eggs originating from free range flocks in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex will need to be labelled as barn eggs.

This will apply to the rest of England from the 27th February and is in line with Egg Marketing Standards Regulations.

This action marks the end of the 16-week grace period given after the introduction of a regional (12th October 2022) and subsequent national mandatory housing order (7^th November 2022).

In recognition of current elevated input costs facing the industry along with the impacts of AI, Defra have said that they will allow the same packaging concessions that were granted last year. This means where other options are not feasible, such as over-stickering or marketing eggs in “barn reared” egg boxes, industry will be allowed the use of direct print to pack or an affixed label on free-range boxes to communicate to consumers that the eggs have come from hens that are now barn reared.

The labelling will remain in place until the housing order is lifted.

You will find more detail here

Analysis of crime reports by the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau has revealed that the hospitality sector is increasingly being targeted by criminals impersonating IT providers.

Typically, fraudsters call restaurants and hotels purporting to be a representative of the company that provides their reservation or booking system. They then attempt to convince the employee to reveal their login details, under the guise that it is required in order to complete an important software installation.

Once the attacker gains access to the business’ computer systems they’ll often steal customer data which can then be used to perpetrate targeted phishing scams.

Even if you do not operate in the hospitality sector, it is important you take necessary steps to protect your business:

• Ensure that business accounts are protected using 2-step verification (2SV)
• Make sure your employees know what information a supplier will and won’t ask for, eg a supplier will never ask for passwords. Encourage your employees to speak to a supervisor or colleague if they’ve received a request they are unsure about.
• If you are a business, charity or other organisation suffering a live cyber attack (in progress), please call 0300 123 2040 immediately. This service is available 24/7
• For advice on how to improve your business’ cyber security, please see the National Cyber Security Centre’s Small Business Guide