The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have warned that the Prime Ministers plans to slash the number of civil servants by 91,000 (about a fifth of the current workforce), with the aim of saving £3.5bn, is a threat to food safety that could undermine the UK’s food standards.

The FSA’s workforce has grown from around 960 in 2016 to about 1,200 today, largely to cope with additional responsibilities taken on since the UK left the EU. It has also announced recently that it was employing an extra 70 Official Veterinarians (OV) – a 25% increase, due to the shortage of vets needed to inspect abattoirs.

The Cabinet Office has asked every government department – including the FSA – to model headcount cuts of 20%, 30%, and 40% in a bid to return numbers of civil servants to 2016 levels.

The PM announced the plans saying that the civil service had become “swollen” during the Covid pandemic and “We have got to cut the cost of government to reduce the cost of living.” Government Efficiency Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said the cuts are about “doing things more efficiently”.

If carried out, the cuts would hinder the FSA’s ability to handle dangerous food incidents such as recent salmonella outbreaks, implement import controls on EU food, and reform EU law on issues like novel foods, CEO Emily Miles told attendees at the most recent FSA board meeting .

A decision on the civil service job cuts is expected in the autumn.

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Earlier in the year Kellogg’s took legal action against the governments ban on HFSS promotions. However, it was confirmed early in July that Kellogg’s legal challenge had been rejected by the High Court.

Kellogg’s argued that cereals shouldn’t be exempt from prominent in store displays and volume sales because they are usually consumed with milk, which adds to the nutritional value of a portion. They claimed that the cereals should be treated the same way as products mixed with liquid before consumption, such as custard powder and dried pasta, which are based on their nutrient profile once reconstituted according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Another issue they raised, which could have derailed the entire HFSS clampdown if successful, was it should be declared “ultra vires” or “beyond the powers” of the Food Safety Act of 1990. They argued a further act of parliament was required to give local authorities powers to fine stores for breaches of HFSS regulations.

Finally, their third point was around the controversial nutritent profiling model, used to assess whether products should be included in the clampdown. As the NPM was created in 2004 as the basis for Ofcom’s policing of advertising aimed at children, it was never properly scrutinised by parliament for the purposes of the HFSS clampdown.

All three grounds for the challenge were rejected following a High Court judicial review.

“Breakfast cereals may have liquids added to them or be mixed with other products before they are eaten, but this is not necessarily the case,” said Mr Justice Linden on Kellogg’s milk argument.

“Many of them can be eaten in dry form. They do not come with instructions for preparation which say that they should be consumed with milk, although I accept that their packaging and messaging will often depict or refer to milk with the cereal and some manufacturers include information as to nutritional values in the event that they are consumed with a specified quantity of milk.

“The fact that manufacturers provide information as to nutritional values, rather than manufacturer’s instructions, is not just a reflection of the different nature of breakfast cereals; it also illustrates a practical difference in terms of the availability of an effective standardised approach.”

 

The Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) Board of Trustees has unanimously approved the new version of its Fisheries Standard, after a four-year review, 1,000 stakeholders and significant scientific research.

539 fisheries are currently certified to the Standard, representing 16% of wild marine catch, making it the largest sustainable fishing programme in the world.  The influence of the MSC Fisheries Standard extends far beyond this, with its requirements used globally as a framework for those seeking to improve ocean sustainability.

The review involved the most extensive consultation ever undertaken by the organisation – including fisheries, scientists, assessors, environmental NGOs and industry representatives.  It addressed some of the most difficult issues facing the ocean, including protecting marine biodiversity, incentivising stronger ocean governance, whilst providing tools to expand accessibility of the MSC’s market-based sustainability programme to small-scale and emerging market fisheries.

The significant improvements approved by the Board will ensure that MSC-certified fisheries continue to be recognised as world leaders in sustainability, helping to drive progress towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, including the target of ending overfishing. As the new Standard is rolled out and implementation begins, MSC experts will be making available a full programme of training and guidance to support fisheries and assessors apply the new requirements.

In a statement issued by the MSC’s Board of Trustees on Friday 24th June 2022, its Chairman, Dr Werner Kiene, said: “We would like to thank all of those who have contributed to this review – in particular, the MSC’s scientists who led this extensive, complex review with great dedication and expertise, as well members of our governance bodies from all parts of the world, who have generously given their time and knowledge to shape this new Standard. We recognise the value of this exceptional work.  The Board is keenly aware of the importance of the MSC Fisheries Standard, and its role in driving change in our ocean. While there are sometimes competing views of what should be in the Standard and where the bar is set, we strongly believe that this new version strikes the right balance between setting a high ambition for sustainability with the need to make sure that the requirements are practical for the best performing fisheries around the world to implement over appropriate transition timelines.”

 

Rupert Howes, Chief Executive of the MSC said: “I am profoundly grateful for the enormous amount of stakeholder engagement and input over four years and for the dedication and hard work undertaken by MSC’s Governance Bodies that has enable MSC’s Board of Trustees to approve the new standard.  On the eve of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon the world’s attention is increasingly focusing on the critical need to ensure our ocean resources are managed sustainably, for this and future generations. MSC’s new Fisheries Standard will deliver real benefits and contribute to accelerating the delivery of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals through the continued engagement and support of our partners. This is good news for the ocean, fishers and consumers.”

The improvements include:

• A new approach to protect endangered, threatened or protected species. Fisheries will be expected to minimise their impacts on such species to help their population recover.
• A Fins Naturally Attached policy will be mandatory in all fisheries that retain sharks. These measures will strengthen the existing ban on shark-finning in MSC-certified fisheries.
• Some existing requirements have been stream-lined with the objective of making assessments more efficient and improvements in methods to aid data-limited fisheries, will improve accessibility.
• New measures for multi-jurisdictional fisheries, managed by RFMOs, to secure credible, robust harvest strategies.
• New evidence requirements will ensure that fisheries – especially those operating on the high seas with unwanted catch that includes, for example, marine birds – will have to produce stronger proof of how they are managing their impacts.

The new version of the Standard will be published in October 2022. Fisheries entering assessment for the first time will apply the new Standard from May 2023.  While certified fisheries have a maximum of six years – a reduction of the previous transition time – to adjust their practises to meet the new Standard

 

DEFRA have published details of the new Seasonal Worker visa route that will allow the recruitment of a limited number of temporary migrants for specific seasonal roles in the horticulture and poultry sectors.

The new scheme will make 2,000 Seasonal Worker visas available to the poultry sector and will run in a similar manner to last years temporary visa scheme which was introduced specifically for 5,500 poultry workers in the lead up to Christmas 2021. However, this year the costs, including the visa, travel, accommodation etc will largely be borne by the workers themselves. But Defra have stressed that employees should consider offering financial assistance, if necessary, for example when the overall costs of entering under the scheme outweigh the potential earnings.

The cost of a visa will be set at £259, and Defra are hoping that they will run for a period of 3 months from the beginning of October to the end of December 2022.

A tender process is to be initiated to appoint 2 operators who once appointed will remain in place for the full 3-year term. Each operator will be allocated 1000 visa ‘slots’ and will charge each business an administration fee as well as a fixed fee per worker that they place with them.

Defra have issued several documents which set out the background to the visa route, and how potential operators can apply for a licence to act as sponsor of seasonal worker visas. There is an application form for potential operators to complete, along with a form to note any commercially sensitive information within the application. They can be accessed here.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have invested £1.6m into a new Food Safety Network, hosted by the Quadram Institute. The Network will serve as an innovation hub to coordinate and fund cross-sectoral research and training activities that address current and emerging challenges.

Foodborne disease is a major cause of illness in the UK which imposes a significant burden on both infected individuals and the economy. It’s estimated that there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness a year, costing around £9 billion (with £6 billion from unknown causes). The microbes which cause the greatest economic impact are Campylobacter and Salmonella with Pseudomonas accounting for 25% of food spoilage.

The network will ensure that the FSA is well-placed to tackle the challenges of foodborne illnesses by bringing together experts from government, industry and academia to address current and emerging issues of food safety in the UK. It also directly aligns with the core objectives of the FSA Strategy 2022-2027 to ensure food is safe and food is what it says it is.

The Network’s objectives are to:

• assemble a community of UK food producers, food policy makers and scientific researchers who collectively can take robust actions toward improving food safety
• identify areas of research need and opportunity that, in the view of food stakeholders and network members, will have meaningful impacts on UK food safety
• coordinate new collaborative research activities that will promote the application of science towards the food safety challenges identified by our food system community
• host training promoting skills development, interoperability and relationship-building between our food system community
• translate the knowledge generated within the Network to food safety stakeholders, and to upcycle existing information and technologies relevant to food safety that have not yet been applied more broadly

You can read more here

 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) have invested £1.6m into a new Food Safety Network, hosted by the Quadram Institute. The Network will serve as an innovation hub to coordinate and fund cross-sectoral research and training activities that address current and emerging challenges.

Foodborne disease is a major cause of illness in the UK which imposes a significant burden on both infected individuals and the economy. It’s estimated that there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness a year, costing around £9 billion (with £6 billion from unknown causes). The microbes which cause the greatest economic impact are Campylobacter and Salmonella with Pseudomonas accounting for 25% of food spoilage.

The network will ensure that the FSA is well-placed to tackle the challenges of foodborne illnesses by bringing together experts from government, industry and academia to address current and emerging issues of food safety in the UK. It also directly aligns with the core objectives of the FSA Strategy 2022-2027 to ensure food is safe and food is what it says it is.

The Network’s objectives are to:

• assemble a community of UK food producers, food policy makers and scientific researchers who collectively can take robust actions toward improving food safety
• identify areas of research need and opportunity that, in the view of food stakeholders and network members, will have meaningful impacts on UK food safety
• coordinate new collaborative research activities that will promote the application of science towards the food safety challenges identified by our food system community
• host training promoting skills development, interoperability and relationship-building between our food system community
• translate the knowledge generated within the Network to food safety stakeholders, and to upcycle existing information and technologies relevant to food safety that have not yet been applied more broadly

You can read more here