The Food Standards Agency is a
non-ministerial government department
Non-ministerial government departments (NMGDs) are a type of Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom government that deal with matters for which direct political over ...
of the
Government of the United Kingdom
His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. . It is responsible for protecting
public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...
in relation to
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for Nutrient, nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or Fungus, fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, protein (nutrient), proteins, vitamins, ...
in
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
and
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. It is led by a board appointed to act in the
public interest
In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...
. Its headquarters are in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, with offices in York, Birmingham, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Its counterpart in
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
is
Food Standards Scotland.
History
The Agency was created based on a report by Professor Philip James, issued after several high-profile outbreaks and deaths from
foodborne illness
Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites,
as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...
. It was felt that it was inappropriate to have one government department, the
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, responsible for both the health of the farming and food processing industries and for
food safety
Food safety (or food hygiene) is used as a scientific method/discipline describing handling, food processing, preparation, and food storage, storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. The occurrence of two or more cases of a simi ...
.
The creation of the Agency was a manifesto commitment of the
Labour Party during its
1997 general election campaign; with the party going on to win the election and form a new government, the Agency was then planned to be established by the end of 1999
but ultimately came into being in April 2000.
Uniquely for a UK Government department, the Food Standards Act gave the Agency the statutory right to publish the advice it gives to Ministers, and as a signal of its independence it declared that it would invariably do so. From its inception, the Agency declared that it would take no decisions about
food policy
Food policy is the area of public policy concerning how food is produced, processed, distributed, purchased, or provided. Food policies are designed to influence the operation of the food and agriculture system balanced with ensuring human health ...
except in open board meetings accessible to the public. Since 2003, these meetings have been
webcast live, enabling consumers to see the decision-making process in action. Each meeting concludes with a question and answer session in which web viewers can question the board or its executive directly.
In 2006, the Wine Standards Board merged with the FSA, bringing with it responsibility for enforcing the EU wine regime in the UK.
Formerly an executive agency of the FSA, the Meat Hygiene Service merged with the FSA in April 2010 to form a new operations group with responsibility for the delivery of official controls.
Certain aspects of
food labelling regulations
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ...
in England were transferred from the Food Standards Agency to the
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental quality, environmenta ...
(Defra) on 1 September 2010. In England, the Agency retains responsibility for food safety-related labelling issues, whereas the devolved Food Standards Agency offices in Wales and Northern Ireland are still responsible for all labelling and standards policy.
Nutrition policy, including nutrition labelling, in England and Wales was transferred from the Food Standards Agency to the
Department of Health and Social Care
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the s ...
in England and to the
Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
's
Department of Health and Social Services on 1 October 2010. On the establishment of
Public Health England
Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...
in 2013, the nutrition policy team – led by
Alison Tedstone – transferred there.
The Food Standards Agency offices in Scotland and Northern Ireland retained their responsibilities for nutrition policy. Plans to create a new food standards body in Scotland were announced by Ministers in June 2012, and in January 2015, this body was established through primary legislation.
Food Standards Scotland took over from the FSA on 1 April 2015 as the public body responsible for food safety, food standards, nutrition, food labelling and meat inspection in Scotland.
Events
Recalls and contamination
In February 2005, the agency announced the discovery of the
dye
Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical ele ...
Sudan I
Sudan I (also known as CI Solvent Yellow 14 or Solvent Orange R) is an organic compound typically classified as an azo dye. It is an orange-red solid, used to color waxes, oils, petrol, solvents, and polishes. Historically, Sudan I used to serve ...
in
Worcester sauce, prompting a mass
product recall of over 400 products that used the sauce as a
flavouring.
On 31 March 2006, it published its "Survey of benzene levels in soft drinks", which tested 150 products and found that four contained
benzene
Benzene is an Organic compound, organic chemical compound with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula C6H6. The benzene molecule is composed of six carbon atoms joined in a planar hexagonal Ring (chemistry), ring with one hyd ...
levels above the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO) guidelines for drinking water. The Agency asked for these to be removed from sale.
The Food Standards Agency also imposed restrictions on the
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
trade because of the consequences of the 1986
Chernobyl catastrophe which were repealed in March 2012.
Children's advertising
The FSA pushed for stricter rules on TV
advertising to children of foods high in salt, sugar and fat and devised a nutritional profiling system to measure the balance of benefit and detriment in individual food products. In 2007, the UK TV regulator
Ofcom
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-rang ...
introduced restrictions on advertising of products that scored poorly under the scheme.
Food poisoning
The FSA first established targets for reducing food poisoning in July 2000. In June 2002, and re-released in June 2006, the FSA conducted an advertising campaign on British television, highlighting the danger of
food poisoning
Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites,
as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...
caused by
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...
s. The advert, intended to shock viewers, showed sausages sizzling on a barbecue, looking to the viewer as if they are cooked. However, when a pair of tongs pick up one of these sausages, it falls apart, and reveals pink, uncooked meat in the middle. To emphasise the risk of
diarrhoea
Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...
and
vomiting
Vomiting (also known as emesis, puking and throwing up) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of one's stomach through the mouth and sometimes the nose.
Vomiting can be the result of ailments like food poisoning, gastroenteritis, pre ...
caused by food poisoning, the song "
When Will I See You Again" by
The Three Degrees is played in the background.
Dean Review
In 2005,
Brenda Dean carried out an independent review of the Food Standards Agency. The report made 22 recommendations, all of which were accepted by the Food Standards Agency board.
Dean concluded:
My overwhelming impression, having undertaken this Review, is of an organisation that has been extremely conscious of the importance of fulfilling the very serious responsibilities of changing both the perception and the reality of food safety in the UK.
It has done well in taking forward the experiences, good and bad, of the previous regime, to begin building its own reputation.
Most stakeholders agreed that the Agency has made significant progress towards improving food safety, gaining public confidence in food safety, and creating a modern culture in which it is the norm for procedures, information, consultation and decision-making to be in the public domain and to involve external stakeholders.
There was overwhelming support for the Agency's policy of basing decisions on scientific evidence, and for this policy to be maintained and developed further. The vast majority of stakeholders believe the Agency to be independent and to act independently, with general recognition that decisions are based on scientific evidence.
There was general support for the Agency amongst all stakeholder groups, both in terms of the objectives of the Agency, and the way in which the Agency has approached and undertaken its responsibilities.
One principal criticism, identified in the report, was (Recommendation 20):
It is clear that many stakeholders believe the Agency has already made policy decisions on GM foods and organic foods and is not open to further debate. The Agency must address the perceptions of these stakeholders who have now formed views of the Agency founded on their belief that the basis upon which the Agency's policy decisions were made was flawed.
Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS)
A food hygiene rating scheme has been deployed by the Food Standards Agency for all food businesses. Ratings are available at the business premises and online.
Following a meeting in Cardiff, the FSA plans to make audit reports as widely available as possible for the public, following the example of Norwich City Council. According to Terence Collins, FSA's Director of communication, the reason behind this decision is to make ratings simple and easily understood for every single business.
Apart from Scotland which is under a very simple Food Hygiene Information Scheme, the FSA's Food Hygiene Rating Scheme will be tested throughout United Kingdom. As a result, ratings will range from 0 (improvement urgently needed) to 5 (very good), and may be displayed on a certificate. This information will also be made available online. Rating primary meat processing plants is the next step forward for the FSA, as meat audit are currently only available through Freedom of Information requests.
The local authority in
Rutland
Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town.
Rutland has a ...
is believed to the only one which has not accepted the scheme.
Chairperson and advisory committees
Sir
John Krebs was the first Chair of the Food Standards Agency, until 2005. Dame
Deirdre Hutton was Chair between 2005 and July 2009, followed by
Jeff Rooker until July 2013. Tim Bennett, the former Deputy Chair, was appointed as interim Chair whilst a permanent appointment was made.
Heather Hancock was appointed the new Chair on 1 April 2016, for a three-year term, and reappointed for a further three year term from 1 April 2019.
The Agency is advised by a number of independent expert committees, including the following:
* Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs
* Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food
* Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes
* Advisory Committee on Social Sciences
* Committee on Toxicity
* Science Council
See also
*
Dietary Reference Values
*
Guideline Daily Amount
*
List of food labeling regulations
The packaging and labeling of food is subject to regulation in most regions/jurisdictions, both to prevent false advertising and to promote food safety.
Regulations by type
Multi-faceted
* Codex Alimentarius (international voluntary stan ...
*
Novel food
*
Reference Intake
*
United Kingdom food information regulations
*
Food Standards Scotland
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
2000 establishments in the United Kingdom
British food and drink organisations
Food policy in the United Kingdom
Food safety in the United Kingdom
Food safety organizations
Government agencies established in 2000
Medical and health regulators
Non-ministerial departments of the Government of the United Kingdom
Organisations based in the City of Westminster
Regulators of the United Kingdom