FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY TO BE ABOLISHED

[Beaaware]

The Food Standards Agency was set up to protect consumers after the Mad Cow Disease crisis, but it is now being abolished to save money. The "Traffic Light" food labelling is also to be abolished, more on this story on Reuters news website.

This seems potentially really dangerous. I don't think there has been a time in recent decades when we need an FSA more than we do now, with the relentless marketing of junk, and a food retail sector that seems as reckless about children's health as the cigarette industry.

I hope that the idea of FSA's work being taken on at Dept of Health and DEFRA is a really serious one, with real will to rein in the food industry, but I suspect not.

I suppose the government is grossly over estimating the common sense of general public; then again, being mollycoddled by the Labour for over a decade, the masses have clearly forgot how to think for themselves.
I.e, too much salt, fat, sugar and preservatives is not good for you; eating portions that weigh more than you can lift is not good for you etc. ad nauseam...

People make their choices from the range available to them on the shelves. And their information is based on misleading hard sells and reluctant concessions to the inclusion of smallprint technical info on the details of precisely what nutritionally uncecessary or harmful garbage has been added to make the food cheaper or more colourful etc.

It isn't just common sense that the public needs: it is a determination to put that common sense relentlessly into effect to catch up with a range of profitable manipulations of the truth.

True. However, having the FSA around hasn't done much to stop the deluge of junk in supermarkets.
Methinks that foodstuffs that contain unhealthy level of the nasties should be banned. We as a society must be saved from our own greed and gluttony...
Manufacturers of the said junk can not be counted on as they'll always find a loophole or several.

I thought the FSA spent most of its existence being financed browbeaten by the major food manufacturers and supermarkets, and then subsequently ignored if they advised contrary to what said manufacturers and supermarkets wanted. For example, when Tesco decided to ignore the traffic light system and do their own food labelling.

I do think some kind of regulation is necessary but doesn't seem like the FSA in its current form had enough clout so perhaps it's for the best?

One of the FSA roles is to alert the consumer.
One example,if you put BSE in the FSA search engine you will read a lot of information that we will not likely be privvy to once the FSA has been abolished. Clearly from this information BSE had not been eradicated from UK herds.

Eleison - loved your contribution posted at 11.13am and especially the quote - 'profitable manipulation of the truth'. This really could be the ideal quote for the food manufacturing industry. We are never going to see decent manufactured food in our shops until the contents are strictly regulated. Past governments and now the present one are no nearer to anything along these lines. We could ask a perfectly reasonable question as to why this might be. I think that we all know some of the answers! Two days ago an announcement was made that food manufacturers had agreed to contribute to a fund to finance healthy eating promotions by the government. In return for this they will be allowed to continue on a self regulatory basis - this ofcourse suits them perfectly!! and has been going on for years. Now that the FSA is going, responsibilty for all things relating to the food industry will be dealt with 'in house' A thoroughly unsatisfactory result for us all.

Yes, I was a bit disgusted by the announcement of self-regulation in return for payrolling healthy eating infoganda.

This is like the drinks industry's 'drink aware' guff. Massive deregulation of alcohol sale and advertising, huge social problems as a result, and expense for police and NHS, and all ok because of a smallprint gesture towards 'moderate consumption' of the stuff they are giving the hard sell to in adverts.

The whole picture of advertising poor food plus promoting healthy eating will just add up to a bigger advert for the poor food -- giving it an aura of satisfactoriness by juxtaposing it with healthy eating cliches.

An interesting book to buy regarding the safety of our food before the FSA was set up is "PERFECTLY SAFE TO EAT? the facts on food" BY Vicki Herd, here are some quotes:

"Experts have long considered that the answer to the persistent problems in the food system is to create an independent food agency. Such an agency should be responsible for food safety and standards. thereby removing these responsibilities from MAFF and making the whole system more integrated and coherent.
The main objective of the agency is to protect public health from risks which may arise in connection with the consumption of food (including risks caused by the way in which it is produced or supplied) and otherwise to protect the interests of consumers in relation to food.
It's work will be completely open to the public gaze"