Food Standards Agency
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Listen to this siteThursday 5 October 2006
Chaired by Caroline Flint (Minister of State for Public Health) with Dame Deirdre Hutton (Chair, Food Standards Agency).
Gavin Neath - President of Unilever
Salman Amin - President of PepsiCo UK & Ireland
David Reid - Chairman of Tesco plc
Steven D Esom - Waitrose
Paul Kelly - Compass and Schools Food Trust
Sir Alexander Macara - Chief of National Heart Forum
Justin King - Chief Executive of Sainsbury's
Lord Whitty - Chairman National Consumer Council
Rosemary Hignett - Head of Nutrition, Food Standards Agency
Jen Mason - Assistant Private Secretary to Caroline Flint, Department of Health
Apologies: Peter Vicary-Smith - Chief Executive, Which? (Provided written comments)
Back to top1. DH welcomed members to the first meeting of this group. She stressed that the objective was to work together to help deliver a real difference to diets and that this would involve making progress on a number of important initiatives. Peter Vicary Smith was unable to attend the first meeting but asked for his comments to be considered as part of the discussion. A copy of these comments is annexed to these minutes.
Back to top2. Terms of reference were amended and agreed.
3. CF and DH would write to health Ministers in devolved administrations so that they were aware of the issues being discussed and could contribute to ensure that issues were considered in an appropriate cross-UK manner.
Action: RH
4. FSA would co-ordinate issue of interested party letters to keep them informed of the Group's activities. It was agreed that it was important for the Group to be transparent about its discussions.
Action: RH
5. The meeting agreed that it was crucial that all should maintain an open mind about the outcome of this study and be prepared to reflect on the results and the appropriate response to them. Discussions on the research objective and governance arrangements were informed by a discussion paper.
6. The meeting considered whether to include consideration of back of pack labelling in the research objective, but decided not to do so given the high level of industry commitment to front of pack labelling. It was recognised that other forms of labelling or information, such as back of pack, would have an influence on purchasing behaviour and it was agreed that the study would need to take account of the fact that it was not always clear what constituted the front of a pack and that on small packs, such as chocolate bars, there was limited space. There was some concern that the task of evaluation would be very difficult as different retailers were introducing different approaches at different times.
The research objective was agreed as to:
'evaluate the impact of 'front of pack' signpost labelling schemes on purchasing behaviour and consumer knowledge'.
7. The meeting recognised the need to ensure an unbiased study design. It agreed that to ensure external credibility and the objectivity necessary to secure a robust study a small group of independent experts, covering nutritional and social sciences (including market research), should manage the project. This management group would:
It would be assisted by a larger advisory group, which would include members with commercial expertise and stakeholder representatives.
8. The Head (Sue Duncan) or Deputy Head (Phil Davies) of the Government Social Research Unit would be invited to chair the management group.
9. The NSSG would be consulted by correspondence on:
The FSA would manage this process. The FSA and
Department of Health would co-ordinate development and issue of the press release.
Action: FSA
10. The meeting discussed the appropriate timing for the study. GN confirmed that manufacturers expected their scheme to be on pack by Q1 of 2007, and supported by educational activity. This should be taken into account in the study design, however it was recognised that because of the need to put the project to open tender it was unlikely to start in 2006. Although a 'pure' baseline data collection would not be possible due to the large amount of promotion of schemes currently in existence, it was agreed that sales data could be retrospectively reviewed. NSSG could be a valuable route to obtaining this information. IGD had already made a commitment to providing sales data.
11. AM pointed to the need to respond to and influence the EU environment.
12. It was agreed that members would continue to promote their own schemes but that it would be helpful if this could be done positively, without actively making unfavourable comments about other schemes.
13. FSA would draft a letter setting out the outcome of the meeting for all interested parties. The letter would be published on the FSA website.
Action: FSA
CF introduced a paper on food promotion to children and a second paper on
Department of Health's Healthy Living Social Marketing Campaign. She emphasised
the Department's commitment to focusing on families with young children (under 11), the importance of physical activity as well as diet (an inter-ministerial group under her leadership would oversee this work) and the link to the 'Small Steps Big Difference' initiative. It was agreed that this initiative, and links to the 2012 Olympic Games, would be an item on the agenda for the next meeting.
Action: JM
15. PK asked that food service/public procurement be considered at a future meeting.
16. The next meeting would be held in January 2007.
Action: JM
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