Sir Colin Spedding, chairman of Assured Chicken Production: “I think it’s achieved quite a lot. It’s come out pretty promptly on food safety issues as they’ve popped up. “The FSA needs to be a leader in improvements in food safety rather than a body which issues more rules and regulations. I’d like to see a more public debate led by it.” Stephen Rossides, NFU head of food health and science: “It’s been a solid year of achievement and an encouraging start. “They’ve shown themselves to be rigorous and the review on BSE controls was very sound. There’s also a commitment to meaningful labelling which we’re pleased about. “They must maintain vigilance of imports both from Europe and third countries.” Wendy Wrigley, general manager retail brands, Co-operative Group: “We are pleased to see that the FSA has taken on board many of the issues on which we have been campaigning, such as clearer food labelling. “It will be a long struggle for it to win back consumer confidence in food standards but the very fact that they appear regularly in the media challenging the way things have been done is helping to focus everyone’s attentions on the issues involved.” Geoffrey Molloy, chairman of the UK Association of Frozen Food Producers: “We’re very happy with their start in life. All their public statements make it clear that their responsibility is to the consumer and they give very clear statements about public health, for example over foot and mouth. “However our concern is who looks after the industry?’ They need to strike a balance between the two.” Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association: “Its track record is very poor and the remarks made about organic food were unhelpful and ill-informed. Its mindset comes from the sterilised and safe’ school of thought. Separating the agency from MAFF was flawed because you can’t get better quality food without better agricultural practices. It doesn’t have public confidence and it doesn’t inspire mine.” Gwyn Howells, director general of the MLC: “Food safety is very important and the setting up of the FSA was supported by the MLC. It has done a good job of establishing its credentials across a range of issues. The early statements that there were no implications for human health from foot and mouth disease were welcome, but there is a strong need to restate them.” {{COVER FEATURE }}

Topics