|
|
Hi Devina,
A busy week for the team, including many meetings / work events - including the FDF networking dinner for Andrew, and Devina spoke at Sainsbury's away day which was held at our very own Form Rooms (BRC HQ)! If any other members are interesting in our event spaces, remember you get discount and it's a great city location if you wish to combine with a team activity after :)
Lots in the news this week, including food imports, PFAS, flood impact, food waste and DRS.
We also had a packed couple of weeks with our working groups for Micro, Nutrition & Labelling & Legislation, as it's Easter soon and Andrea is off for a couple of weeks. She's been very busy sending off responses for 'Not for EU' labelling and baby foods.
A couple of FSA consultations in the bulletin this week, updates from the FSA board meeting and precision breeding meeting with Defra.
Have a great weekend all! Enjoy the Easter break when we get there!
Devina Sankhla
Policy Advisor- Food
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Precision Breeding
Following the recent Defra precision breeding working group on 8th March 2024, I've updated the BRC precision breeding summary here. Sections below have been updated:
- Current Legislative Stage & Next Steps for Secondary Legislation
- Information about DEFRA’s Precision Breeding Working Group
- What About the EU?
|
|
|
|
Micro WG
We had our Micro WG this week, with incident updates from the FSA and information from the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) on the -15oC temperatures project.
See here.
|
|
|
|
FSA: Board Meeting
Food borne disease was included in the FSA's board meeting this week and we've shared an update to members here.
Regulated products was included and the board paper is here. The board was in favour of the proposals which would remove the Statutory Instrument route and mean products like smoke flavourings would not need authorisation after 10 years.
We will try to get other updates like for precision breeding and vegan (that we missed listening into). We will share updates to the relevant groups in due course. Highlights from the FSA for the regulated products reform and food borne disease can be seen here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Labelling & Legislation WG
Minutes of the Labelling & Legislation WG meeting which took place on 7 March.
See here.
|
|
|
|
FSS: Dietary Advice
New research shows existing dietary advice can help us meet climate change mitigation goal.
See here.
|
|
|
|
FTDP
‘Key messages’ and summary of progress by the three active working groups, ECO, health and data, shared by the DEFRA Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) secretariat.
See here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Baby Foods
Submission to OHID’S consultation on the voluntary industry guidelines for commercial baby food and drinks aimed at children aged up to 36 months.
See here.
|
|
|
|
REUL
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Revocation) Regulations 2024, has now been laid as a proposed negative resolution SI, and has been published.
See here.
|
|
|
|
Mustard in Wheat
The UK Flour Millers has now published a briefing document on risk and controls in the milling wheat supply chain.
See here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advertising
We sent an update on the secondary legislation on food advertising.
See here.
|
|
|
|
Nutrition WG
Minutes of the Nutrition WG meeting which took place on 19 March.
See here.
|
|
|
|
Marking of Retail Goods
We submitted a response to the Government consultation on the introduction of the ‘Not for EU’ label.
See here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAN: 2023 Annual Summary
The Food Authenticity Network (FAN) has shared a useful graphic to summarise their 2023 annual achievements.
See here.
|
|
|
|
The University of Reading: Sensory-inclusive Supermarket Guidance
The University of Reading are launching a new guide to help supermarkets become more inclusive for autistic people.
See here.
There research has shown that supermarkets are one of the most challenging places for autistic people, who often find the amount of sensory information painful and overwhelming..
They keen to welcome a range of retail partners to the launch of this guide on Tuesday 23rd April at the University of Reading (1.45-5.45pm). There is more information on their website.
|
|
|
|
JRC Food Fraud Report - Feb 2024
Please find the Food Fraud Monthly Report for February 2024 here.
Numerous commodities have been reported this month, especially alcoholic beverages, meat and mineral waters.
The Commission has published its first monthly report on agri-food fraud suspicions here.
The report includes cases of cross-border non-compliance, which ACN (Alert and Cooperation Network) members have identified and shared as suspected fraud.
|
|
|
|
|
|
FSA/FSS: Consultation on Regulation 2019/1793
The FSA and FSS launched a consulating on proposed amendments to Regulation 2019/1793, controls applied to imported food and feed not of animal origin.
The proposal applies a temporary increase of official controls and special conditions governing the entry into Great Britain of specified food and feed of non-animal origin from specified countries.
Deadline for responses is 25th April 2024.
See here.
|
|
|
|
BMPA: Review of Pig Industry
The government response to AHDB’s pig industry review (published in April 2021) has been released this week. The review looked at how changes to the industry in the past decade could affect current legislation to meet future challenges relating to pig health and disease control.
See here.
|
|
|
|
FSA: Consultation on Miscellaneous Regulated Products
The consultation for authorisation of miscellaneous regulated products: four novel foods, three food additives, removal of twenty-two food flavouring authorisations, and a proposal to set a limit for ethylene oxide in food additives closes next week on 29th March.
As per our email on 15th February, after speaking to the FDF there doesn't appear to be any issues with the proposals. So please let us know if you wish to include anything, otherwise it will be a general response from the BRC.
Consultation is here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Allergen Bureau's VITAL labelling guideline
The Allergen Bureau's VITAL labelling guideline has been updated with a list of guiding principles for the declaration of allergens in a PAL.
See here.
|
|
|
|
FSA: Action to Address Vet Workforce Challenges
FSA Chief Executive Emily Miles gave evidence to the Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) yesterday (12 March 2024) setting out the urgent need to address the shortage of vets and, together with FSS, highlighting the need for action to significantly improve recruitment and retention of Official Veterinarians across the UK.
See here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FDA: PFAS Used in Grease-Proofing Agents for Food Packaging No longer Being Sold in the U.S
The completion of the voluntary market phase-out of these substances used on food packaging paper and paperboard, eliminates the primary source of dietary exposure to PFAS from authorised food contact uses.
See more here.
|
|
|
|
ITV: We're Really Struggling: British Farmers Pushed to Brink by 'Shocking' Levels of Floods
"Eighty percent of my grazing marshes with cattle on went under water in probably a six or seven day period. Most of the arable land didn't flood, but was too wet to do anything with."
See more here, including Andrew Opie's comments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
BBC News: Farmers Stafe Further Protest Over Food Imports
About 200 farmers have staged a protest against foreign imports of food.
A convoy of tractors and other vehicles was driven through Canterbury, Kent, on Sunday.
The farmers said they were also angry over what they have described as low prices being paid by supermarkets for their goods.
See more here, including Andrew Opie's comments.
|
|
|
|
The Grocer: Salmon Producers Facing Legal Action from UK Retailers Over Price-Fixing Claims
Asda, Iceland, Marks & Spencer, Ocado, Morrisons, Aldi and Co-op have appointed Stephenson Harwood to seek compensation on their behalf.
See more here, including Andrew Opie's comments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Grocer: Mandatory Food Waste Reporting: Supermarkets and Suppliers Demand Government Go-Ahead
Leading retailers and food companies warned a lack of traceability was contributing to hundreds of thousands of tonnes of food waste and costing the economy more than £20bn a year.
See more here, including Andrew Opie's comments.
|
|
|
|
The Times: Coke Bottler Calls for Deposit Return Scheme Law Before Election
Julian Hunt, vice-president of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, the sole licensed bottler for products of The Coca-Cola Company in Europe, urged ministers to make good on their promise of bringing in a cash-incentive scheme to encourage more people in Britain to recycle drinks containers, such as bottles and cans.
See more here, including Andrew Opie's comments.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lexology: Food Standards Agencies in Great Britain Unlawfully Classified Monk Fruit as Novel, High Court Rules
The High Court has quashed decisions by the Food Standard Agencies in England, Wales and Scotland (“the FSAs”) that concluded that monk fruit decoctions are a novel food. The Court ordered the FSAs to re-consider their position by assessing all of the evidence submitted to the FSAs on its own merits, rather than the FSAs’ previous approach of rigidly applying (non‑binding) European Union guidance. The judgment is available here.
This case is the first of its kind in Great Britain and is relevant for individuals and companies considering whether or not their foods or food ingredients are novel under the GB novel food regime, which requires evidence of significant consumption of a food prior to 1 May 1997 to conclude the food is “non‑novel”, and not requiring a novel food approval.
See here.
|
|
|
|
Food Safety News: Scientists Review Early Warning Tools For Food Safety
A recent review assessed how technology can play a role in early warning and emerging risk identification systems.
The review covers the existing applications of artificial intelligence, big data, and internet of things (IoT) in developing early warning and emerging food safety risk identification tools and methods. Information comes from 40 original studies and 57 reviews published from 2013 to 2022.
See more here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OTHER COMMUNITIES
|
|
Buying | CSR | Corporate Affairs | Customer | Finance | HR | Legal | Operations |
Property | Technology | Trade
|
JOIN >
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Click here to unsubscribe or to change your subscription preferences.
|
|
|
|