Agency welcomes Cabinet Office report
Monday 7 July 2008
The Agency today welcomes the report from the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit on a new food policy framework for the UK.
The report, Food Matters – Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century, looks at how different elements of the food system can be better integrated and its impact economically, socially and environmentally. It recognises that central government needs to work with the public, businesses from all parts of the food chain, other stakeholders, and other tiers of government, to put a new food policy framework in place.
To achieve this, the Cabinet Office will set up a Food Strategy Task Force, which will include the FSA. The Agency will lead on a number of key initiatives, including:
- developing a ‘whole food chain approach’ strategy to prevent food safety incidents
- helping people to make healthier choices when eating out
- developing a web-based one-stop-shop for consumer information and advice on nutrition, food and sustainability, and food safety
‘Its key objectives reflect the Agency’s commitment to food safety and helping people choose a healthier diet’
FSA Chief Executive Tim Smith said: 'The Agency is very pleased to welcome the Cabinet Office report, especially as its key objectives reflect the Agency’s commitment to food safety and helping people choose a healthier diet. Much of this work is already under way and we look forward to working as part of the task force to further develop the Cabinet Office's vision.'
The whole food chain approach
The whole food chain approach aims to assess the public health and economic impact of food safety hazards and understand how different points in the food supply chain (primary production, retail, catering and so on) contribute to these risks. This will inform high level risk management decisions by considering whether resources and attention are focused most effectively to control risk.
Healthier eating in catering sector
Eating out is no longer the rare treat it once was, but is a part of our daily lives. The Agency believes that consumers should be able to make the same healthy choices when eating out as they can when they eat at home – both by having access to a wide range of foods that are lower in fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt; and by having information more readily available to help them identify those foods.
That is why the Agency is already working with catering businesses to build on the good work that is already under way in the sector, and to deliver more.
We are focusing initially on the parts of the sector that serve the most meals and have the greatest potential for impact on what people eat and drink. In January this year, we published commitments from the UK's largest providers of workplace catering, and their suppliers, for actions they will take to offer healthier choices to people at work. We are now in discussions with some of the largest companies in the pub dining, family restaurant and coffee shop sectors, and will be able to say more about this work later in the year.
Integrated consumer advice
The report recognises the value consumers attach to the Agency as a trusted source of advice on food. Building on this trust, the report recommends that the Agency’s websites are used to provide more comprehensive advice on matters relating to food.
We will therefore be looking to expand the range of advice offered on our websites and, where this relates to policy areas outside the remit of the Agency, it will reflect the advice from the relevant department.
This 'Integrated Advice to Consumers' will enable people to readily obtain information on food issues in which different departments have an interest, thereby enabling them to be better informed, particularly in making healthier and more sustainable eating choices.
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