Food Standards Agency

TheFood Standards Agencyis anon-ministerial government departmentof theGovernment of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protectingpublic healthin relation tofoodinEngland,WalesandNorthern Ireland. It is led by a board appointed to act in thepublic interest. Its headquarters are inLondon, with offices in York, Birmingham, Wales and Northern Ireland.Its counterpart inScotlandisFood Standards Scotland.
The Agency was created in 2001 based on a report by Professor James,issued after several high-profile outbreaks and deaths fromfoodborne illness.  It was felt that it was inappropriate to have one government department, theMinistry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, responsible for both the health of the farming and food processing industries, and forfood safety.
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 aboutfood policyexcept in open board meetings accessible to the public. Since 2003, these meetings have beenwebcastlive, 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 offood labelling regulationsin England were transferred from the Food Standards Agency to theDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs(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 theDepartment of Health and Social Carein England and to theWelsh Government'sDepartment of Health and Social Serviceson 1 October 2010.On the establishment ofPublic Health Englandin 2013, the nutrition policy team – led byAlison 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 Scotlandtook 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.
In February 2005, the agency announced the discovery of thedyeSudan IinWorcester sauce, prompting a massproduct recallof over 400 products that used the sauce as aflavouring.
On 31 March 2006, it published its "Survey of benzene levels in soft drinks", which tested 150 products and found that four containedbenzenelevels above theWorld Health Organization(WHO) guidelines for drinking water.The Agency asked for these to be removed from sale.
The Food Standards Agency also imposed restrictions on thesheeptrade because of the consequences of the 1986Chernobyl catastrophewhich were repealed in March 2012.
The FSA pushed for stricter rules on TVadvertising to childrenof 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 regulatorOfcomintroduced restrictions on advertising of products that scored poorly under the scheme.
In June 2002, and re-released in June 2006, the FSA conducted an advertising campaign on British television, highlighting the danger offood poisoningcaused bybarbecues. The advert, intended to shock viewers, shows 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 emphasize the risk ofdiarrhoeaandvomitingcaused by food poisoning, the song "When Will I See You Again" byThe Three Degreesis played in the background.
In 2005,Brenda Deancarried 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:
One principal criticism, identified in the report, was (Recommendation 20):
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 inRutlandis believed to the only one which has not accepted the scheme.
SirJohn Krebswas the first Chair of the Food Standards Agency, until 2005. DameDeirdre Huttonwas Chair between 2005 and July 2009, followed byJeff Rookeruntil July 2013. Tim Bennett, the former Deputy Chair, was appointed as interim Chair whilst a permanent appointment was made.Heather Hancockwas 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: