March 2008

Until recently, the detailed results of samples taken by local authority food sampling officers were only available locally, making  it difficult for the Agency to monitor  national and regional trends. To overcome this problem, we are rolling out a food sampling surveillance system (FSS).

This project, currently in its final stages, was initially developed by Food Standards Agency Scotland in conjunction with Health Protection Scotland to provide a standardised data capture, storage, querying and reporting functionality for the microbiological and chemical analysis of food samples. This surveillance system is now fully operational for microbiological and chemical food samples in Scotland and is now being rolled-out across the UK over three years.

I often blog about evidence. One of the things that we are planning over the coming months is how to make our evidence more accessible.  We already publish all of our research findings in the Agency Information Centre and summarise them on our website, but we are planning to take this one step further in the autumn.

We are looking for an organisation to establish and host an open access repository on our behalf.  When this repository goes live you will be able to access all of our research final reports from your pc.  Whether your interest is nutrition or nanotechnology, you will be able to see the evidence and judge for yourself.

Information for consumers is once again in the news.  This week the FSA Board considered proposals for a national 'scores on doors' scheme to put hygiene scores on display in food premises.

The scheme proposed is aimed at providing information to inform consumers and consumer choice.  But once again there is the debate about whether consumers want information of this type – will they understand it, and what will they do with it.

It’s been a busy week both for Agency science and nationally. National Science and Engineering Week is upon us once more, with various surveys and initiatives in the news. And the Agency has seen the first meeting of its new General Advisory Committee on Science (GACS). Chaired by Professor Colin Blakemore, this committee will provide independent challenge on our scientific work and report to the FSA Board.  I am very pleased that the work of this strategic committee is now under way and, together with our new Social Science Research Committee, will further strengthen the governance of science in the Agency.  No doubt I will be blogging on the work of both in the coming months, as will others. 

Despite several years’ experience of Agency press coverage, it still amazes me that a piece of research that was purely to inform our thinking on how a consumer campaign might look further down the line, can lead to total fallacies about the Food Standards Agency planning to slap ‘scary’ labels and pictures on cheese sandwiches! According to The Grocer magazine, we’re asking manufacturers of high saturated fat foods to put cigarette box-style warnings on packs. Vanessa Feltz in the Daily Express takes it one step further, adding that we’ll be plastering pictures of clogged arteries on cheese sandwiches!