The Food Standards Agency have now published the latest findings of their COVID-19 Consumer Tracker.

This monthly tracker monitors attitudes, experiences and behaviours of consumers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in relation to food during the COVID-19 pandemic

Key findings include:

Food insecurity            

Concerns about food availability, food affordability and skipping meals for financial reasons were high in April 2020 but declined significantly in August 2020. They have since risen again to their current level in March 2021.

The proportion of respondents who reported use of food banks or charities also dropped in August 2020. Otherwise, this proportion has remained relatively stable across all waves.

Participants from larger households (4+), those in younger age groups (aged 16-24), and households with a child present were more likely to be ‘food insecure’, across all these measures of food insecurity.

Food purchasing, nutrition and food safety behaviours      

Trends in food purchasing, eating, food safety and hygiene behaviours in the home have remained stable. They are consistent since the tracker began in April 2020.

Consumer food concerns                

28% of respondents reported being concerned about the quality of food produced in the UK in March 2021, whilst 50% reported being ‘concerned’ about the quality of food imported from outside the UK. These were consistent across all collected waves.

In March 2021, 22% of participants reported having a concern about the food they eat at the moment. The biggest concerns selected by participants were:

• the ‘healthiness’ of food in my diet (53%)
• animal welfare (52%)
• the ethical treatment of producers and farmers (50%)
• food freshness (50%)
• hormones, steroids or antibiotics in food (50%)

EFSA has updated its safety assessment of the food additive titanium dioxide (E 171), following a request by the European Commission in March 2020.

After conducting a review of all the relevant available scientific evidence, EFSA concluded that a concern for genotoxicity of TiO₂ particles cannot be ruled out. Based on this concern, EFSA’s experts no longer consider titanium dioxide safe when used as a food additive. This means that an Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) cannot be established for E171.

Titanium dioxide (E 171) is authorised as a food additive in the EU according to Annex II of Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008.  The main food categories contributing to dietary exposure of E171 are fine bakery wares, soups, broths and sauces (for infants, toddlers and adolescents); and soups, broths, sauces, salads and savoury based sandwich spreads (for children, adults and the elderly). Processed nuts are also a main contributing food category for adults and the elderly.

EFSA’s evaluation is related to the risks of TiO₂ used as a food additive, not to other uses.

EFSA is not banning the use of E171, their role was limited to evaluating the risks linked to titanium dioxide as a food additive. This included an assessment of relevant scientific information on TiO₂, its potential toxicity, and estimates of human dietary exposure.

Any legislative or regulatory decisions on the authorisations of food additives are the responsibility of the risk managers (i.e. European Commision and Member States).

To read more, click here.

Sesame has become the ninth allergen to be regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after President Joe Biden signed the Food Allergy Safety, Treatment, Education and Research (FASTER) act into law in April 2021.

This new law won’t come into force for another 20 months, until 1 January 2023, to allow food businesses to prepare as they will now be required to indicate on food labels that a product contains sesame. Sesame has been a regulated allergen in the UK and EU for some time, but US legislation did not require it to be labelled on food until now.

It’s another big win for hypersensitive consumers, but it’s also another law for retailers and manufacturers to get their heads around and adjust to – and the sooner that process begins, the better the chance of achieving compliance across the industry.

In a drive by the Government to tackle obesity and improve the nations health, large businesses will be required to display calorie information on menus and food labels from April 2022. This move is part of the governments wider strategy to tackle obesity and will help people to make more informed and healthier choices when eating out or ordering takeaways.

The regulation was laid out in parliament earlier in May, requiring businesses with 250 or more employees in England, including cafes, restaurants and takeaways to display the calorie information of non-prepacked food and soft drink items that are prepared for customers. Within the Regulations, the government has a provision which permits businesses to provide a menu without calorie information at the express request of the customer. As a result, people who may find viewing calorie information more difficult may be able to avoid this information in certain situations when eating out.

The calorie information will be displayed at the point of choice for the consumer, on physical and online menus, food labels and also food delivery platforms.

The government plan to work with the food and drink sector and local authorities to ensure the regulations are implemented smoothly. They also claim that by enforcing this new regulation on larger businesses, It will not impact the smaller, independent businesses who might find the requirement difficult.

To read more, click here.