Following the publication of the review of Meat Cutting Plants and Cold Stores, the Food Standards Agency and the Food Standards Scotland Boards held their first joint meeting on 17 October 2018 where each Board fully endorsed the improvements for their respective countries.
The importance of the review was stressed for managing the culture of the industry and shifting attitudes and behaviours across the UK meat sector to keep consumer interests at the forefront.
It was highlighted that there is an onus on the industry as well as regulators to be ambitious in implementing the plans, and collaborative work will continue to achieve this.
Throughout the discussion, the Boards recognised that the majority of the UK meat sector does act responsibly and that many food businesses go above and beyond regulatory requirements.
The organisations will continue to work closely to develop a common UK approach and will develop their own detailed implementation plans, which will be subject to oversight by their respective Boards.