The FSA was established by the Food Standards Act 1999, in the wake of
the BSE crisis, as a non-Ministerial Government Department and a regulator;
created to be at arm's length from Government and independent of sectoral
interests. Our primary duty, set out in statute, is to protect public health
and otherwise protect the interests of consumers in relation to food and feed.
Our statutory functions include developing, or assisting in the
development of, policies connected to these areas, carrying out and
commissioning research, setting the standards for and monitoring performance of
enforcement authorities, and providing advice to the public. So, as well as
being a regulator, we act as a policymaker, generate evidence and watchdog for
the food system. Our five-year strategy sets out our mission is food
you can trust, by which we mean food that is safe, food that is what it says it
is and food that is healthier and more sustainable.
We are concerned with the
safety of food right along the food supply chain, from when it is produced, to
when it is served on the plate. As the national authority responsible for food
safety, we set the regulations that food businesses are obliged to follow, and
work with delivery partners across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to make
sure those regulations are enforced.
We want the public to
have trust in the food they eat, and that is why we work in an open and
transparent way, making sure that consumer health and interests are at the
heart of everything we do. Our Chief Scientific Adviser is critical in this,
ensuring that we are making evidence-based decisions driven by sound, unbiased
and relevant science.
Food and feed policy is a devolved matter. The FSA is accountable to Ministers
in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and we work closely with Food Standards
Scotland (FSS). We are governed by an independent Board appointed by Ministers
in the countries we serve. We work to provide a robust and coherent
regulatory regime, to make sure that consumers across the UK can have
confidence that the highest level of food standards are being set and
maintained. We have a budget from the HM
Treasury and Devolved Administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland of around
£140 million. To
help achieve this aim, the department has offices in London, Cardiff, Belfast,
and York and employs almost 1,400 staff.
We not only work with a
range of other government partners, which includes providing advice to
Ministers across three governments, but also actively engage internationally.
We make sure that we play an important role in supranational standard setting
and sharing best practice with other national competent authorities.
There are nearly 600,000 food businesses in the UK. They have statutory
duties to make sure the food they sell is safe and is what it says it is. The
FSA, along with FSS in Scotland, and local authorities are the primary
regulators who make sure that businesses are complying with these rules, and
who deliver "official controls" set out in law, such as regular
inspection.
The FSA directly inspects a minority of riskier food businesses (for
example meat plants and abattoirs) but for most of the food industry it is
local authorities who deliver these controls. Local authority environmental
health and trading standards officers invest time and effort working with local
businesses to make sure the food they sell is safe and authentic. For small
businesses in particular, a food hygiene inspection can be a vital source of
guidance and advice about how to improve food safety practices.
The FSA oversees this system of controls, monitors performance and acts
to mitigate risk in the system, for example by working with local authorities
to manage thousands of food incidents every year.
As the central authority
for food and feed safety in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, we face a
large range of complex and time-dependent challenges. Food and Drink is the
UK’s biggest manufacturing sector and the Agri-food sector as a whole contributed
£146.7bn
to national Gross Value Added in 2022.
A major challenge facing
the Agri-food sector is an increased potential for illegal and illicit activity
through food crime due to the rapidly changing regulatory landscape. The FSA is
fully committed to ensuring the authenticity and provenance of food right along
the supply chain, through the work of the National Food Crime Unit.
Furthermore, the national
and global context in which the FSA operates is changing at great speed, and
the FSA needs to continue to evolve to meet changing public demands. With
dynamic global trade bringing greater choice to UK consumers than ever before,
the advent of new purchasing practices and changing dietary preferences, and
the need for holistic approaches to health, wellbeing, and the environment, the
FSA must keep pace with societal expectations. In doing so, the FSA must take
advantage of new technologies and data-driven processes to support a risk-based
approach to both standard setting and enforcement of thousands of businesses.
Further information about
the FSA’s work can be found on our website at:
Homepage | Food
Standards Agency
