Food Standards Agency to be abolished
As Andrew Lansley, The Health Secretary announces the end of the FSA, is it right to assume that the ‘traffic light labelling’ for food and drink products was a step too far for the food industries? Were the FSA leaned on by the food industries regarding GM crops which undermined their independant effectiveness?
The FSA's regulatory aspects – including safety and hygiene – will reasign its responsiblilities to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Responsibilities for nutrition, diet and public health will be incorporated into the Department of Health. So have we done the full circle? This must take us back to where we were before, MAFF - Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
Whichever way you look at it - the FSA employs 2,000 staff and spends £135m a year, that amounts to a lot of savings for this new government.
Yvonne Ainsworth
