A planned coup d’état of national food safety responsibility by the FSA

Like all people, I can be guilty of not keeping up with everything that’s going on around us. When I became aware that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) had presented plans at a board meeting to remove local authorities’ control over all aspects of food safety for large food businesses such as supermarkets and manufacturers, I thought this was one such case. I wondered how I could have missed all the discussions and consultations, and why this had not come up in conversation with the technical teams and food safety professionals I speak with so often.

But I must report that I was not the only one completely blindsided by the FSA’s attempted coup d’état. Since the article in The Grocer magazine , I have been inundated with calls from numerous companies and organisations seeking my views on what has been proposed. It’s fair to say there were some smoke signals that the FSA planned a shake-up, but I don’t think many anticipated the nuclear option or the degree of stakeholder engagement required to deliver the vision.

The blueprint from the FSA is based on trials with several supermarkets, which is of course positive, and seeing data capture used in a constructive way is encouraging. However, my question is whether what has been done so far provides sufficient evidence to base such a major shake-up in how food safety is managed at a national level? It is also important to note the enormous pressures on local authority budgets, but what I, and others, have failed to see is any form of cost-benefit analysis linked to the proposed takeover bid. Surely, this must be a crucial factor in ensuring that food safety standards are at least maintained and that there will be significant cost savings for the taxpayer.

At the heart of any substantial changes to how food safety is managed in the UK, consumers must be informed and consulted. History shows that consumer confidence can be lost when a food scandal occurs. The FSA must assure us all that their plans will not in any way leave existing problems unresolved and will not create new vulnerabilities to accidental and deliberate contamination of our food. I am a strong believer in change when it is for the better, but based on what I know, and more importantly, what I do not know at present, I cannot endorse what the FSA has proposed.