IFST welcomes this review of standards delivery and recognises the importance of the compliance work to ensure that food is safe, what it says it is and consumers have the information to make informed choices about the food they buy. We also want to reiterate that the primary responsibility lies with those who make and sell food, with a level playing field provided by official controls, policy, regulation and enforcement.
The review reports on what is a creaking system and model; however there are positive moves towards a more outcome and risk-based system with many Local Authorities already focussing more on new and higher risk businesses, and allergens. IFST is an active contributor to the FSA’s Regulating our Future (RoF) programme and encourages FSA to deliver this work quickly to inform on science and technology driven approaches – only then can the required resources to deliver effective services be known and deployed effectively.
IFST can further support compliance professionals as their roles develop, through the provision of trusted scientific information, encouraging professional recognition and Continuing Professional Development and by facilitating professional networks.