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Food Standards Agency to review its handling of the horsemeat scandal
Food Standards Agency to review its handling of the horsemeat scandal
(35 minutes later)
The government's food watchdog has agreed to review its own handling of the horsemeat scandal, it announced on Wednesday.
The Food Standards Agency is to review its handling of the horsemeat scandal, it announced on Wednesday. At a board meeting in Cardiff, the Food Standards Agencywatchdog said it would launch the investigation into its response to the adulteration of processed beef products with horsemeat and pig meat.
At a board meeting in Cardiff, the Food Standards Agency said it would launch the investigation into its response to the adulteration of processed beef products with horsemeat and pig meat.
The review will be led by Professor Pat Troop, vice-chair of Cambridge University Hospitals and previously chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, who will be able to scrutinise the documents, emails and other records held by the FSA.
The agency has questioned whether it should have been "more alert" to the risks of possible contamination of meat amid criticism of its failure to identity the problem after the scandal was exposed in January by its Irish counterpart, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). On Wednesday the FSA board agreed to launch a review that could lead to its role being changed as it will have the power to recommend changes to the agency's "capacity and capabilities" to UK ministers.
The FSA has questioned whether it should have been "more alert" to the risks of contamination of meat amid criticism of its failure to identity the problem after the scandal was exposed in January by its Irish counterpart, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). Importantly, the review will look at the agency's response to any "recent prior intelligence" on the threat of horse meat contamination before the FSAI's discovery. Findings will be presented to the board on 4 June and a report will be issued to the FSA by the end of the same month for publication.
FSA executives have been stung by criticism of its role. At the previous FSA board meeting, in March, chief executive Catherine Brown said the agency had been "irritated by suggestions that we were in some way asleep on the job, suggestions that come from those who speak with the benefit of perfect hindsight". Brown also said that if the FSA "missed something", then so did its counterparts "in every European member state and every food business in the UK and in Europe".
The government announced this week its own wide-ranging review of its response "to help restore consumer confidence" as a testing exercise by the European commission of 29 EU countries gave the UK and Ireland a clean bill of health.
The agency will appoint a reviewer, who will be able to scrutinise all the documents, emails and other records held by the FSA on the issue. Importantly, the review will look at the agency's response to any "recent prior intelligence" on the threat of horse meat contamination before the Food Safety Authority of Ireland's discovery.
Findings will be presented to the board at its meeting on 4 June and a formal report will be issued to the FSA by the end of the same month for publication.
The review will cover all aspects of the agency's response to the January 15 announcement, when supermarket chains Aldi, Iceland, Lidl and Tesco withdrew a number of beef products after horse DNA was found in frozen burgers sold in the UK and Ireland following tests ordered by the FSAI. It is likely to focus heavily on the agency's communication to the media, MPs, the public and stakeholders as well as its engagement with the food industry and other UK and overseas regulatory bodies.
The government announced this week its own wide-ranging review of the government's response over the past three months "to help restore consumer confidence", as a major testing exercise by the European commission of 29 EU member countries gave the UK and Ireland a clean bill of health.
On Wednesday, Labour shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh said the coalition government's fragmentation of the FSA in 2010 had failed consumers by leaving the food regulatory system "unfit for purpose".
On Wednesday, Labour shadow environment secretary Mary Creagh said the coalition government's fragmentation of the FSA in 2010 had failed consumers by leaving the food regulatory system "unfit for purpose".
"The FSA knew that the Irish were testing for horsemeat last November, yet did nothing until positive results came back," Creagh said. "The FSA also need to explain why 14 horses that tested positive for bute [a veterinary painkiller] entered the human food chain before the FSA issued a recall notice."
"The FSA knew that the Irish were testing for horsemeat last November, yet did nothing until positive results came back," Creagh said. "The FSA also need to explain why 14 horses that tested positive for bute [a veterinary painkiller] entered the human food chain before the FSA issued a recall notice."
Meanwhile, fast food chain McDonald's is to switch to 100% "Freedom Food" pork – supplied by British farms which meet strict RSPCA animal welfare standards – across its entire UK menu. McDonald's said it was the latest step to provide consumers with responsibly-sourced food on the high street, and to continue supporting British and Irish farmers.
The move will make McDonald's the UK's second biggest buyer of Freedom Food pork, after supermarket chain Sainsbury's, helping to strengthen the growing Freedom Food market. All sausage and bacon on its menu will be from Freedom Food-approved farms.
At the same time McDonald's – which has not been implicated in the horsemeat scandal – published new research (a poll of more than 2,000 adults) showing that consumers rank price, animal welfare standards and traceability as the main factors determining their food purchasing decisions.
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guardian.co.uk today is our daily snapshot of the top news stories, sent to your inbox at 8am
