Surveillance Sampling Programme - Project Outline

Purpose and Scope

Based on FSA and OL intelligence a number of key sampling areas of interest were identified and developed into sampling and analysis groups. A range of means were used to identify commodities for sampling including FSA surveillance tools, horizon scanning and policy and scientific expertise.

A targeted shopping basket approach for sampling was also designed to run alongside this years targeted surveillance sampling programme. These commodities had been identified as frequently purchased foods for which there were known previous risks (such as authenticity issues) as well as some additional commonly consumed foods such as bread and milk and therefore important to have base line intelligence on.

The project aimed to provide representative surveillance across England and Wales. All samples were purchased by the OLs from businesses selling to the general public either in store or online. 

The samples were divided between the OLs for analysis according to the analytical capabilities of each laboratory. Each OL used analytical methods that are routinely employed for enforcement purposes and reported the samples against appropriate legislation for the food product and the tests undertaken.

The HSS project team worked in partnership with the FSA throughout the project to respond to any emerging issues and allow the project scope to be reviewed as the wider food sampling landscape evolved.

Sampling Priorities

A total of 32 commodities were identified as sampling priorities. Of these, 19 were grouped as surveillance and 13 as basket of food commodities.

Surveillance Commodities

Table 1: Surveillance Commodities and Analysis

Basket of Foods

Table 2: Basket of Food Commodities and Analysis