Approaches to the Management and Policing of Food Safety: The Food Standard Agency’s Regulating Our Future

Richard Bradford-Knox,Simon Neighbour,Kevin Kane

doi:10.18646/2056.72.20-012

Richard Bradford-Knox, Simon Neighbour + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.18646/2056.72.20-012

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Abstract

This paper forms part of an ongoing project studying various approaches to the management of hazards and risk in the food industry with implications for other areas of risk management where cooperation and collaboration between organisations are of a potential benefit. In this paper we give particular focus to the Food Standard Agency’s proposed <i>Regulating Our Future</i> that requires closer cooperation and collaboration between the public enforcement authorities and the industry organisations that police food hygiene and food safety management. The forming of a Primary Authority between Cornwall Council and Safe and Local Supplier Approval (SALSA) emerged as a potential means of contributing to this by improving trust between all parties involved, sharing of information, assessing risk, reducing inspection times and frequency of inspections from Primary Authority. Attention is given to the current relationship between the various organisations involved from the perspectives and viewpoints of Local Authority Enforcement Officers from Preston City Council, Cornwall Council and SALSA and other experienced food safety professionals. The research is qualitative and grounded, including a review of the extant literature and interviews with food safety and food standards professionals from the private and public enforcement sectors.

Highlights

IntroductionWith a target date for implementation of 2020 the intention of the project is not to change existing regulations but is described in the opening statement of the document entitled ‘Regulating Our Future – Why food regulations need to change and how we intend to do it’
It is the view of the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) (IFST 2019) and their response to DEFRA’s National Food Strategy consultation (DEFRA 2019) that a paradigm shift in behaviour across food system actors and stakeholders is needed to establish the level of collaboration and cooperation required to deliver an effective UK Food Strategy
BRC-Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2017) showed that there is some misunderstanding amongst Competent Authority (CA) of the BRC standard and suggest that this could be addressed by an awareness and training programme for CAs and we suggest that this could be applied to all enforcement officers in regard to ‘private audits and standards ’

Summary

Introduction

With a target date for implementation of 2020 the intention of the project is not to change existing regulations but is described in the opening statement of the document entitled ‘Regulating Our Future – Why food regulations need to change and how we intend to do it’. They declare: “It is important to say that this is about how we deliver regulatory assurance; it is not about changing the actual regulations that specify what businesses are required to do” The intention is to improve delivery of controls across the food chain, including those for animal feed, by prioritising improvement where there has been no modernisation of the system in recent years and where it is most needed (Food Standards Agency, 2018)

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