ACAF open meeting 9 October 2013

Stakeholders were given the opportunity to see the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs at work and to ask questions at their open meeting in Aviation House, London on 9 October 2013.

Professor Rayman from the University of Surrey and also an ACAF member provided the Committee with a presentation on possible links between iodine levels in food and child development. The Committee learnt that studies carried out among the UK population indicate that there is an iodine deficiency in many pregnant women. The Committee was informed that the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) is also considering the issue of iodine and health. Members agreed that it would be beneficial if both committees worked together on this subject. This is an important issue for ACAF as most of the dietary exposure to iodine comes from consumption of animal-derived foods especially milk and dairy products.

With an increasing global population and a rise in per-capita meat consumption in some developing countries, there is a need to investigate alternative sources of protein for use in animal feed. The Committee was interested to hear about research being undertaken by FERA and elsewhere on insect protein as a future feed material. Members agreed that they would like updates on this work

The Committee then received a presentation from an ACAF member on how it could improve its interactions with consumers. This was entitled ‘consumer issues and consumer engagement’. The Committee agreed it would continue to work with its consumer representative and with FSA officials involved in social science and consumer engagement in order to improve the way ACAF interacts with consumers.

An official from the FSA’s Feed Review Implementation team provided an update on the implementation of the review of official feed controls. This aims to deliver improvements to the existing system of feed law enforcement and was progressing well via the implementation of five work streams. Members noted that a 12-week public consultation on a draft revision of the Code of Practice on Feed Law Enforcement had been launched on 19 September 2013. Meetings with local authorities and other government departments had taken place to discuss better delivery of enforcement activities and the sharing of information. The Committee agreed that work to improve the delivery of official feed controls was important, and therefore wished to receive regular updates on the work of the implementation team.

Finally, an official from the FSA provided members with a presentation which provided an update on proposed changes to the official feed and food controls (EU Regulation 882/2004). Members were informed that the Commission’s aim is to ensure a more consistent approach to official controls throughout the food and agriculture sectors. The proposed changes also intend to support more sustainable and effective control systems across member states. The Committee agreed that it wished to receive updates on this work.

After the close of the meeting, delegates were given the opportunity to ask questions.

The next ACAF meeting is scheduled to take place in Aviation House on 26 February 2014.