The Government Chemist has published the latest quarterly report of updates to UK legislation in food and feed and related scientific and regulatory issues from January to March 2024.  

The Government Chemist produces quarterly reports summarising updates to UK legislation in food in and feed law, and whilst this time round there are no updates relating to Primary legislation, it is always worth keeping an eye on them as they can be a useful reference point regarding UK and EU legislation, and other technical publications, such as FAO, which might be of interest.  

The report can be accessed here 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have recently published an assessment of the risk of companion animals acquiring Salmonella, beta-glucuronidase-positive Escherichia coli (E. coli), Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), Campylobacter spp. and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from contaminated raw pet food, and associated risks to pet owners from the use of these products in the home.  

Raw pet food (RPF) has become more popular in recent years among pet owners in developed countries. RPF products are made from Category 3 Animal-By-Products (ABP) that have been passed fit for human consumption in a slaughterhouse but are surplus to human consumption needs. As RPF products do not undergo cooking or heat treatment there is no formal ‘kill step’ in the production process, resulting in an end product that can be contaminated with a range of pathogens.  

The survey taken from March 2023 to February 2024 detected a high prevalence of the above pathogens in RPF products. These pathogens are potentially harmful to dogs and cats when consumed in RPF and to owners via cross-contamination. 

Read more here  

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently published a report outlining an expert opinion elicitation exercise which was carried out to assess and categorise the potential public health risk associated with 19 categories of imported Products of Animal Origin (POAO). 

Food products can be categorised (e.g. high, medium, low) based on potential for causing illness or serious harm (i.e. growth or presence of microbial pathogens, presence of chemical contaminants, biotoxins etc). This type of categorisation can be a useful tool for describing the food safety risks associated with different types, or groups, of imported commodities. 

The exercise, conducted by the FSA in 2021, aimed to assess and categorise the risks of different categories of POAO imported into the UK at that time, based on the likelihood of containing hazards at levels that are a potential public health concern. This work was performed to create a data source for other risk assessment activities relating to imported POAO, but the conclusions of this report did not directly inform imported food policy in GB. 

The report describes the expert knowledge elicitation (EKE) approach and the estimates and views of the experts, based on the information available to them, at that time. 

You can read the report  here 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have published a 2024 UK Food Crime Strategic Assessment (FCSA).  

Produced by National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) and the Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit (SFCIU) it follows the previous 2020 assessment and discusses the seven different types of food crime.  

The report has found that in the UK, the majority of food is safe and authentic, but factors such as recent geopolitical events have caused disruptions in the food chain which in turn have contributed to the changing threat of food crime.  Other key findings include:  

• the UK’s food supply has experienced disruption, with new opportunities for criminal diversification;  

• more is now known about the individuals who are involved in committing crime within food supply chains.  

The report is the organisations’ assessment of the threat facing the UK from criminals who seek to profit from serious fraud within the food chain.  It is shared with local authorities, government partners and industry to better inform collective work in protecting legitimate businesses and consumers from this threat.   

Food crime is a significant threat to any food or drink business operator, with many associated food safety risks. Even when the issue is not one of safety, fraud such as misrepresentation or substitution can have huge reputational and financial costs for implicated businesses and brands. 

Campden BRI have therefore produced the Beating Food Crime eBook on how to address and manage the threat of food fraud, food defence issues and other criminal activities. 

You can download this eBook here  

The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) have published an interesting article which, based on Kantar data, looks at how our eating habits have changed since the Covid pandemic and what the main drivers are behind our dietary decisions. 

The article reveals that typically, 56.9% of main meals eaten at home contain meat, fish or poultry, this is in comparison to vegetarian meals (including eggs or dairy) at 24.8% and plant-based meals at 18.3%. (Kantar Usage, Total main meal occasions, 52 w/e 18 February 2024)  

Also the total number of meals eaten within the home has decreased by -2% year on year due to more people returning to the office, consumers eating on the go or treating themselves to a meal out. When looking closer at the types of meals eaten within the home, it can be seen that meat-based meals have declined by just -1.2%, compared to vegetarian meals at -2.4% and vegan meals at -0.8% year on year. (Kantar Usage, Total main meal occasions, 52 w/e 18 February 2024) . 

And in terms of the latest trends within the GB population, consumers are increasingly likely to be a ‘Meat, Fish or Poultry (MFP) Non-Avoider’* (72%) or a Flexitarian**(23.4%). 

You can read the article in full here  

To equip Scotland’s food and drink businesses with the tools to reduce their emissions in line with the national 2045 target, the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership’s Net Zero Commitment has launched a handbook to make sense of the technical language and jargon around sustainability. 

Whilst this handbook is aimed at Scottish food and drink businesses, much of the content will be useful for the whole of the UK. 

The handbook can be downloaded for free here