Food Standards Agency
Saturday 4 July 2009
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Listen to this siteTuesday 8 July 2008
Speech to Provision Trade Federation.
Good afternoon and thank you very much indeed for inviting me to your AGM today.
One of my first speaking engagements as the new Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency.
It’s good to see some old friends and colleagues from my time, on the other side of the fence, as a member of the Provision Trade Federation.
These are challenging times for the food industry. So it’s great to have the opportunity to talk about the Food Standards Agency’s work and the good relationship we have with the Provision Trade Federation.
Because we have a shared vision of where we want to be. To provide the best possible food for the nation’s table.
And I want to thank you for all that you do.
Lots of issues that I know are important to all of us here. Salt, saturated fats and obesity, food labelling, changes to the meat hygiene service to name a few.
The food industry has come a long way in ensuring that people have access to good quality, healthier foods.
But both of us have further to go. More to achieve. And it’s important that we get this right. For you. For the Agency. For consumers.
This is also the view of the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit “Food Matters” report on food which was published yesterday. It is one of the most comprehensive overviews of food production and consumption in the UK ever undertaken.
The report acknowledges that Health, Safety, Environment, Economics and Equity are the key challenges that face the food industry, as you will have heard in the media.
Poor diet has a major influence on conditions like cancer and heart disease. 70,000 fewer people would die prematurely each year in the UK if diets were in line the nutritional guidelines on eating fruit, vegetables, saturated fat, added sugar and salt.
There are social inequalities within diet-related health that cannot be ignored.
Higher prices will inevitably make it more difficult for poorer families to buy the foods they aspire to.
Diet-related health costs the NHS an estimated £6 billion a year.
But there is the added perversity of families throwing away an average of £420 worth of food – that’s an incredible 4 tonnes – every year.
Yet food is as safe as it has ever been. Although there are still more than a ¼ million (760,000) cases of food poisoning each year in England and Wales – this is slowly declining.
Vigilance is needed to avoid food contamination, particularly from goods imported from outside the EU. We need to know.
But there are also issues around quality, choice and price. And these all rely on there being a thriving, competitive and profitable industry – like the companies represented here today. Everyone here will aspire to do this.
So I want to look at what the Food Standards Agency are doing in this area and how we are already working in partnership with the Food Industry to face these challenges.
And to congratulate you for the work you have done.
We work best when we work together.
For example:
We have worked hard in partnership to ensure that we give the public the information that they need to make healthier choices through better food labelling.
First, we want to encourage the food industry to reformulate its products so that it produces healthier food.
Second, to create market demand by educating the public about what to look for if they want to eat more healthily. This is not nanny state, it’s about giving people the information they need to make their own decisions.
This includes helping get a better balance in TV advertising to children. Yesterday, the review panel looking at the FSA nutrient policing model made its recommendations and we are now seeking views through a 3-month public consultation.
Third, to ensure good front of pack labelling that allows people to see at a glance what levels of sugar, fat and salt are in their food before they buy it.
You’ve already achieved a lot through this approach.
For example, good progress has been made on clearer labelling, much of which is being done voluntarily, through partnerships and co-operation.
Food labelling has undergone something of a revolution. In the past few years the UK has transformed the approach to front-of-pack labelling. Every major retailer is now voluntarily using one or other of the two main types.
This gives consumers what they need to make decisions for themselves and their families.
In particular, the Food Standards Agency’s traffic-light labelling recommendations and GDA based schemes have been a real success.
So the big picture here is the dramatic change that has been made by the food industry generally in re-formulating food as well as clarifying nutritional information.
Independent research is currently taking place to look at the individual schemes and is due to report back at the beginning of 2009. We should not be surprised if there is a confluence of GDAs and colours, although of course, we can’t pre-empt the outcome.
Whatever the research says we need to be ready for the next steps.
The targets for salt levels in food cover all of the areas the PTF represents: meat products – bacon, ham and other processed meat products, dairy products - milk powders, cheese, butter, yogurt and dairy deserts and canned foods.
And there has been some great partnership work between yourselves and the Food Standards Agency.
The PTF members have said that they are aiming to implement the FSA’s voluntary salt reduction targets before 2010.
The Vion (pronounced VEE-ON) Food Group, who are here today, and represent 25% of bacon sold in Britain, met the UK salt target in January this year.
Not wanting to blow my own trumpet at my previous job. But….. Lurpak and Anchor butters and spreads have also met the FSA salt targets by reducing salt in their butter by 15%.
I know there are difficulties in reducing salt in cheddar – the most popular British cheese. But I know that Dairy Crest has been working hard to reduce the salt levels in their products.
Cutting down on salt makes a real difference to health. FSA research, (2005/6) showed that cutting ½ gram of salt – from 9.5 to 9g a day - from people’s diet saves an estimated 3,500 lives a year. Almost the same number that dies in road crashes every year.
The British Meat Processors Association, in collaboration with the FSA has put together a guidance document for small and medium sized businesses on salt reduction. This provides easy-to-read, accessible information and practical tips for businesses on how to reduce salt in meat products.
We are continuing to work with industry during our on-going review of the salt targets.
We all know that reducing our intakes of saturated fat and the fat content of certain foods is crucial.
And again the food industry has worked in partnership with us to work towards reducing these currently high levels in the UK diet.
You may ask why don’t we just legislate?
We think that the best way forward is to actively seek ways to allow all of us to work co-operatively and collaboratively.
And many of you will know the problems over OFT regulatory reforms of saturated fat.
OFT may have a view but it is our role to facilitate these activities.
I know that there is difficulty in reducing fats in some cheeses. Know that the PTF would prefer to look a portion control rather than fat content.
I know that commercial sensitivities exist but in the interests of a balanced diet we must act.
In the UK, intakes of saturated fat are around 20% higher than official Government recommendations.
By reducing the intake of saturated fat by an average 2% we could prevent up to 3,500 deaths a year.
That’s not just a statistic. It’s about the health of all of our families. Of those closest to us.
Our target is to reduce the average saturated fat intake to below 11% of food energy by the end of 2010.
And a key part in helping to reduce the amount of saturated fat eaten is the FSA working with organisations like the PTF to find ways forward.
Together, much has already been achieved but there is another area where there will be further challenges for the FSA and the food industry - in eating out.
There has been a real revolution in this area in the past 10 years.
Consumers can be vigilant at home, and make informed choices about what they eat. But when they go out some real problems start. Food eaten out tends to be higher in fat and sugar levels and higher in calories.
And given our tendency to eat out more frequently, many people are eating nutritionally poorer meals more regularly.
Whether it’s eating at restaurants or take-aways.
The FSA has made progress. In January, the FSA secured voluntary commitments from the five largest providers of workplace catering along with the two major suppliers to the catering sector at large to produce healthier foods.
We are now in discussions with the wider “eating-out” industry: quick service restaurants, pub restaurants, family restaurants and coffee and sandwich shops.
This is where I see as an increasingly important the work of the FSA being. But we need to work with you to achieve this.
Let’s look at the facts:
We cannot be complacent in this area – whether that’s me as CE of the FSA or you.
And when I go to buy a sandwich – be it at Pret or Marks and Spencer – I want to see exactly the same information on the packaging. It may well be on a website. But I need to see it clearly on the packaging.
The increased globalisation of food production comes at a time of potentially great economic change for the food industry.
Auditing global food supplies – we need to know where our food in the future is coming from and that it is of good quality.
Food Security - to ensure supplies around food. This is about the availability, accessibility and affordability of food. Something that many of us in the past have taken for granted. It’s not just about being domestically self-sufficient - we’re in a better position than we’ve been since WW2, exporting £10.5 billion of food and drink products in 2006.
But we are still reliant on imports – we imported £24.8 billion in the same year.
We need to ensure the continuation of these supplies and the resilience of these supply chain to shocks. We are already having a taste of what happens when these shocks occur with the recent global food price increases.
There is now a strong demand from emerging markets, changing patterns in diet in China and India and new crop uses such as bio-fuels – all these have contributed to food inflation.
The Food Standards Agency has a responsibility to provide leadership in these areas. And working across government and in partnership with you, we will.
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