Our mission and vision

Food is safe

Food is vital to everyone, every day. We all have the right to expect that the food we eat will not make us ill. This is why we will prioritise keeping the level of foodborne disease low. We do this in many ways.

They include setting the food safety regulations, monitoring the food safety inspection system, our direct inspection work and our surveillance and programmes to prevent foodborne disease.

We also respond to food incidents, taking action to protect consumers when there is concern around the safety or quality of food and feed – this includes microbiological quality and contamination of food by micro-organisms or foreign matter; allergens; composition; chemical contamination; adulteration and labelling of food.

Delivering this part of our vision requires us to innovate, evolve and react to changes across the food system.

Food is what it says it is

Consumers should be confident that food is what it says it is. That is why we will ensure food is authentic and properly described. We have a National Food Crime Unit, and we also support local authorities in their work. This is essential to maintain the confidence of the public and our international trading partners in UK food. Food authenticity also plays an important role in food safety.

Food is healthier and more sustainable

As the only department entirely focused on food, we will use our skills and expertise, supporting government partners and others in the wider food system who lead on health and sustainability.

Our strategy

The food sector is developing rapidly, fuelled by new technologies and changing business models, such as the growth of food bought through online platforms. The sector is now dealing with the impact of higher food and energy prices, labour shortages, and the impacts of the cost of living as consumers and businesses try to cut costs and energy usage.

Our strategy sets out how we will continue to ensure that people have food they can trust in this changing environment. This is through our roles as, described in the next section, and through our guiding principles for how we will operate, such as supporting innovation, being risk-based and proportionate, and making it easier for businesses to do the right thing for consumers.

We are looking for ways to use data and new technology to make regulation more proportionate, and working with influential businesses to drive change.

Read our strategy.