Many of the functions of the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP), launched in 2023 in response to Henry Dimbleby’s food strategy, are to be wound up, The Grocer can reveal.
It comes as the government embarks on a major streamlining of its collaboration on data with the food industry, as it prepares for the launch of the next phase of the food strategy.
In a communication seen by The Grocer, Defra says the FDTP group of more than 50 food companies and trade bodies, including all the major UK supermarkets, will see its powers transferred to the new Food Strategy Advisory Board (FSAB).
The FSAB was unveiled by former environment minister Daniel Zeichner in March before he was sacked in the recent reshuffle by Keir Starmer.
It is understood the next phase of the strategy will be announced within the next few weeks, including more details on a new requirement for mandatory reporting by all large food companies, and how it will dovetail with Wes Streeting’s proposals in his 10-year NHS plan.
A letter to food company bosses sent out this week from Emily Miles, Defra’s director general for food and biosecurity, and Chris Tyas, GS1 chair and co-chair of the body, said the government wanted to “streamline the governance and strategic direction” of the food strategy.
However, they said the government was committed to continue working with the industry to improve the transparency of data across the supply chain.
“Our shared mission to improve and join up food chain data is fundamental to achieving the government’s food strategy ambitions,” the letter said. “We are committed to maintaining a collaborative approach with stakeholders across government and industry in developing the detail of future policies and plans.”
The Grocer has previously revealed how plans for major food companies to report on the health of their products, which had been agreed under the FDTP as long ago as March 2024, are likely to form the basis of a new commitment on reporting and future targets, to be announced under the food strategy and Streeting’s plan.
Earlier this month, The Grocer revealed the health secretary had said he planned to “set free” supermarkets to decide how they achieved new targets under what he has called a new ‘healthy food standard’, which some senior sources believe will be policed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
The government has been advised on its plans for the next phase of the food strategy by the FSAB board, which included figures such as Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts, chief medical officer Chris Whitty, and FSA chair Susan Jebb.
At its last meeting, the FDTP received a report from former Sainsbury’s brand director Judith Batchelar, now deputy chair of the Environment Agency, on pilots carried out by Leeds University on producing consistent and accurate data across the supply chain for food content, packaging and carbon emissions.
Meanwhile Defra has said the FDTP’s eco working group, which has been drawing up plans for measuring and communicating carbon emissions, will continue its work.
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