Advice PaperMay 2014

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THE FOOD (SCOTLAND) BILL:a response to the Scottish Parliament’s Health and Sport Committee

(14–05)

1 TheRoyal Society of Edinburgh (RSE), Scotland’sNational Academy, welcomes the opportunity tocontribute to the call for evidence by theHealth andSport Committee of the Scottish Parliament on theFood (Scotland) Bill. In preparing this response theRSE has drawn on the expertisewithin its Fellowshipin those areas of research covered by the Bill, whichhas included people involved in the establishment ofthe Food Standards Agency in Scotland.

2 TheRSE has also previously submitted a responseto the Scottish Governmentwhen it consulted on theestablishment of what was then termed a “NewFoodBody” inMay 2013. The current Bill, which aims toestablish a newbody, Food Standards Scotland (FSS)is broadly in linewith the earlier consultation proposal.

3 Ensuring the safety of food is one of themostfundamental issues to all in society and putting inplace the best structure to ensure this is one of themost important duties of government. This Bill istherefore one that the Committee should scrutinisevery closely.

4 The food and drink sector is significant in the healthof the nation. It is also amajor part of the Scottisheconomy, being amajor export earner (with foodexports of £5.3 billion in 2012). Delivering anincreasingly coordinated approach to build onScotland’s food quality and provenance is vital tosupporting and enabling this exportmarket to grow.

5 TheRSE is of the view that there is significantmeritin the Bill as it seeks to bring enhanced coordinationto the issue of food safety.Wewould alsowish todraw some issues to the attention of the Committeein its scrutiny process andwould be very happy toprovide awitness to the Committee in its Stage Oneexploration of the Bill.

6 There are threemain objectives of the Bill and thesewill be addressed in turn.

Toprotect thepublic fromhealth riskassociatedwith food consumption7 The Food Standards Agency in Scotland (FSA) has

since its inception played a valuable role in protectingthe public fromhealth risks and so the RSE is of theview that the newbody should, at aminimum,performall of the existing functions of the FSA.

8 Weagree that, if established, the FSS should performa comprehensivewhole food chain approach to

safety, from the farm, through the distribution chain,to the shop, to the restaurant or domestic kitchen.

9 The links between agricultural practices and foodsafety are alreadywell recognised in Scotland, so thenewbody should seek to develop this understandingfurther.

10 The organisation should adopt a risk-based approachtomonitoring – those premises deemed on the basisof evidence to be low risk should be visited lessregularly.

11 The enforcement powers of the body need to beclosely linkedwith other statutory agencies, such asthe local authorities, procurator fiscal services andother relevant regulatory bodies.

12 The FSS should concentrate on Scotland-wide issuesto dowith food safety. Local inspection of premisesshould remain a local government function. TheScottish Parliament should ensure that these localgovernment services are resourced sufficiently.

To improvediets13 There ismuch documented evidence thatmany

health problems in Scotland are related to diet. TheRSE views it as reasonable that the FSS should play arole in promoting a healthy diet, providing that it issufficiently resourced to fulfil that role and that it iswell connected to researchers on the aspects of dietthat impact upon good health and to the scientificadvisers to the Scottish Government. A regularprogramme of engagementwith the Chief ScientificAdviser, the Scottish Science Advisory Council andthe ChiefMedical Officerwould be useful.

14 The FSS also has an important role to play in advisingthe Scottish andUKGovernments on clear andeffective labelling of food products to ensure thatpeople canmake informed choices about healthyfood choices.

15 The question should also be considered as towhether FSS should also play a role in advisingScottish Government on the role of alcohol indiet. The Scottish Government, over severaladministrations, has recognised the importance ofthis in the health of people in Scotland. Itmay be thatFSS could play a supportive role in this regard. Highalcohol consumption is not only related to conditionssuch as liver disease, but also inmany cases to otheraspects of unhealthy food consumption that lead toobesity and to other health complications.

Additional Information andReferencesAdvice Papers are produced on behalf of the RSECouncil by an appropriately diverseworking group inwhose expertiseand judgement the Council has confidence. This Advice Paper has been signed off by the General Secretary.Anyenquiries about thisAdvicePaper should beaddressed to theRSE’sHeadofPolicyAdvice, BristowMuldoon(Email: bmuldoon@royalsoced.org.uk). Responses are published on the RSEwebsite (www.royalsoced.org.uk).Advice Paper (Royal Society of Edinburgh) ISSN2040-2694

TheRoyal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland’sNational Academy. It is an independent bodywith amultidisciplinary fellowship ofmen andwomenof international standingwhichmakes it uniquely placed to offer informed, independent comment onmatters of national interest.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland’s National Academy, is Scottish Charity No. SC000470

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Advice Paper 14– 05

Toprotect other interests ofconsumers related to food16 The issue of “food fraud” has clearlymoved up in the

public’smind following the issue of horsemeat beingsold as beef, although there are other examples thatdidn’t attract the samemedia attention. Food fraud isa different issue from food safety; however it is rightthat the consumer receives the type of food that theybelieve they are buying. The newFSS should have arole inmonitoring and, where necessary, takingaction against, retailers found to be selling incorrectlylabelled products. Retailers and food producersthemselves have a responsibility to ensure that theyare carrying out due diligence in the sourcing of theirproducts.

17 In relation to the issue of alcohol, fraud is also apotential issue here, with the risk that fraudulentproducts are not simply beingmis-sold, butmay alsohave contentswith significant risk to health, such asmethanol.

Research andanalysis18 Key to the success of Food Standards Scotlandwill

be access to the best available research andpublic analyst services.Much of the currentresearch funding comes fromUKGovernmentsources – it is important that the FSS is able toaccess this. Strong links need to be developedwiththe Scottish Funding Council, the UKResearchCouncils, key universities and research institutions.

19 Themonitoring of food safety also depends uponwell-resourced andwell-staffed public analystlaboratories. Theremay be a case for Scotlandhaving a single laboratory to support thework of FSSand onewith its own research facility, but linked tokey researchers in universities in Scotland, the UKand internationally. The FSS should use the bestresearch, whether generated in Scotland, or sourcedfromelsewhere, to advise the Scottish GovernmentandParliamentonchallenges tobe faced in foodsafety.

20 Aswell as testing locally sourced food products, theinternational transport involved in themodern foodindustry requires that the FSS should also develop aprogramme of testing imported food products: forpathogens; pesticides not permitted for use in theUK or EU; and also for antibiotics or growthpromoters in importedmeat.

21 Research capacity requires to be directed towardsspecific pathogens thatare recognised as having ahigh level of incidence inScotland, suchasCampylobacter.

22 Research and laboratory support should alsobe directed to veterinary sciencewhere there is adirect relationship fromanimal to human healththrough the food chain.

23 The newbody should also at an early stageundertake a review of the number of public analystsavailable in Scotland, whetherworking directly forFSS or for local authorities and advise the ScottishGovernment on the sufficiency of available, qualifiedindividuals. Links should be built with organisationssuch as the Royal Society of Chemistry, who providethe statutory qualification as a public analyst(MChemA). Aswell as the availability of publicanalysts a study should also be undertaken on theeffect of funding pressures on the number ofanalysts employed in local government.

Accountability andGovernance24 It is important that the newbody has firm

accountability to the Scottish Government and theScottish Parliament. It should provide a publicannual report to the Parliament on its activitiesand on food safety developments, including onnutrition. The Chief Executive of the organisationshould have an annual evidence session at theHealth and Sport Committee (or any successor) andthe Cabinet Secretary for Health should have regularplannedmeetingswith the body.

25 The independence of the FSS from the food industryis critical. The Chair and boardmembers shouldnot be perceived to have any current or recentcommercial linkswith the industry.

26 On governance, the proposedminimumboard sizeof 3 appears too small tomaintain scrutiny of theoperations and allow for rotation of boardmembers.Wewould suggest that aminimumof 5would bemore appropriate.

27 The FSS should have the power to establish advisorycommittees on specific issues, but where suchcommittees already exist at a UK level, rather thanduplicate, the body should seek to access advice thathas already been developed there.