CFG
19/03 rev.
Foodaware: the Consumers’ Food Group
Minutes of the seventh meeting – held on 30 October 2003
at UK European Parliament, Queen Anne’s Gate, London, SW1
Matters arising
UK and EU Update and campaigns
BSE Over Thirty Month Rule: testing
issues
Health claims – revised paper
and update
Organic foods – draft Foodaware
response
Any other business and 2004 dates
PRESENT
Members:
Paul Allen - European Food Law Association, UK
Judy Brander - National Council of Women
John Godfrey - ERICA
Janet Graham - EU Standing Group on Veterinary Matters
Mike Jobson - Trading Standards Institute
Susan Knox - Chair
Margaret Langley - Committees on Mutagenicity and Carcinogenicity
of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment
Susan Mason - National Childbirth Trust
Penny McNeill - General Consumer Council for N.I.
Sue Payne - National Consumer Federation
Pamela Pollock - Townswomen’s Guild
David Smith - Food Advisory Committee, FSA Wales
Katie Waters - National Childbirth Trust
Observers:
Steve Banks - Department for Food, Rural Affairs and
Agriculture
Gilli Davies - Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs, Food
Standards Agency, Wales
Irene Hill - Food Standards Agency
Dr Majid Katme - Muslim Council of Britain
Eileen Mortby - Department for Food, Rural Affairs and Agriculture
Frances Radcliffe - Department for Food, Rural Affairs and Agriculture
Foodaware:
Ann Davison - Manager
Barbara Saunders - Consultant
Apologies:
Erica Bargman - European Union of Women
Paul Brantom - Brantom Risk Assessment
Dorothy Craig - Veterinary Residues Committee
Lucy Harris - Foodaware
Linsey Keaton - Welsh Consumer Council
Jeanette Longfield - Sustain
Sylvia Owen - National Council of Women
Dilwen Phillips - Advisory Committee for Wales
Jacqui Salfield - Institute of Consumer Sciences
Michelle Smyth - Consumers’ Association
Stella Walsh - Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition
Animal Feed Policy and Practice
Keith Millar, Head of Animal Feed Unit and Principal Secretary to
the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs, Food Standards Agency
(See separate note of this discussion, Appendix 1)
Government Food and Health Action Plan Update
Discussion with Paul Marshall, Department of Health
(See separate note of this discussion, Appendix 2)
FOODAWARE BUSINESS MEETING
1. Welcome and apologies for absence
The Chair (Susan Knox) welcomed everyone to the tenth meeting of Foodaware
particularly the two new members from the National Childbirth Trust
and observers from Defra and the Food Standards Agency. She informed
members that Lucy was expecting her baby soon and good wishes were
noted.
2. Minutes of the last meeting
The draft minutes of the last meeting (CFG 13/03 rev.) were agreed
after the addition of Janet Graham to the list of members present.
3. Matters arising
3.1 Veterinary Medicines Directorate
The Chair reported on behalf of Dorothy Craig that the consumer representatives
on the Veterinary Residues Committee (VRC) had made progress concerning
the consumer representation issues. A joint meeting would be held
between VRC members and the Chief Executives of FSA and VMD and would
include the FSA representative on the VRC, a member with an industry
background and Dorothy (consumer rep and vice-chair) in the delegation.
Members noted the favourable progress and will be kept informed of
further developments. Meanwhile the plan to invite VMD to a Foodaware
meeting remains on hold.
3.2 Children and food promotion
The Chair reported that a recently published FSA review of research
examining the way foods are promoted to children had found a possible
link between promotional activity and children’s eating patterns.
The report ‘Does Food Promotion Influence Children? A Systematic
Review of the Evidence’ was produced by Professor Gerald
Hastings and his team at the University of Strathclyde Centre for
Social Marketing. Members briefly discussed the main conclusions of
the report, namely that:
- There is a lot of food advertising to children
- The advertised diet is less healthy than the recommended one
- Children enjoy and engage with food promotion
- Food promotion is having an effect, particularly on children’s
preferences.
- This effect is independent of other factors and operates at
both brand and category level.
Foodaware members were keen to contribute to the open debate the FSA
will be promoting based on the Foodaware paper ‘Children and
Food Promotion (CFG 12/03)’. Paul Allen also suggested that
in due course views should be obtained from the Advertising Standards
Authority on the adequacy of their role and Code to deal with this
issue.
Action: Update paper and finalise for submission.
Contact ASA.
3.3 Prescribed quantities for bread
Ann Davison reported that Foodaware had been approached by the Federation
of Bakers’ concerning our views on proposals to extend prescribed
quantities for bread. Foodaware has not been formally consulted by
the DTI on this but following consultation on the list serve, it was
agreed that a formal response should be sent supporting the retention
of prescribed quantities as they allow prices to be compared and are
in the best interests of consumers.
Action: Letter to be sent to Federation of Bakers
4. UK and EU Update
and campaigns
The UK and European Co-ordinator’s reports were noted. In response
to a comment concerning imports to the EU of beef containing hormones
despite the ban in the home market, Ann Davison agreed to check the
position and see whether there is any further action Foodaware can
take to influence the implementation of the WTO ruling. Following
the useful discussions on animal feed, it was agreed to send a letter
of thanks to Keith Millar. With regard to the developments on GM and
the Commission’s recommendations to ensure co-existence, members
expressed concern about the desirability and practicality of this
following the recent evidence that GM pollen travels further and persists
for longer than originally anticipated. It was agreed that a paper
be commissioned to update members on the outcome of the various scientific
reviews published during the summer and as a basis for further policy.
Arising from the Foodaware paper on acquaculture, Ann Davison reported
that Scottish Quality Salmon had expressed concern about Foodaware’s
stance. It was noted that a meeting was planned in November to discuss
the issues. Members agreed that the industry body should be asked
to outline areas of concern in advance, and request information on
any improvements made by the Scottish producers since the paper was
written. It was also noted that the standards for pesticides on imported,
farmed fish may not match those in the home market and that consumers
needed protection irrespective of the origin.
Action: Letter of thanks to Keith Millar, ACAF. AD to follow
up the effect of the WTO ruling on imports of hormone-treated meat.
Discussion took place on current and forthcoming FSA consultations.
Responses had been sent to the FSA on ‘Risk assessment of pesticides
mixtures’ and ‘Getting to grips with grub’. David
Smith observed that the provisions of the national curriculum did
not apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but in Wales lack of qualified
staff was restricting teaching of even the food elements of design
and technology. While Foodaware strongly supports the re-introduction
of Home Economics as a discreet examination subject within the curriculum,
it was agreed that Ministers should be pressed to designate ‘Food’
as a material within Design and Technology as a first stage towards
this objective. As the paper had already been submitted to the FSA,
it was agreed to send a supplementary letter after the meeting. Regarding
future work, it was agreed that responses should be prepared on the
Guidelines for assessing food incidents and surveys, traceability
and organic food research.
Action: Brief letter to FSA regarding the place of food in
the curriculum to supplement paper previously submitted. Prepare responses
on guidelines for assessing food incidents, traceability and organic
food research.
5. BSE Over Thirty Month
Rule: testing issues
Frances Radcliffe, Defra, gave a detailed presentation outlining the
procedures for testing animals in the light of the prospective lifting
of the OTM rule. Irene Hill, FSA, also attended to answer questions
on risk assessment. Judy Brander acknowledged that the OTM rule needed
changing as it had been suggested that most cattle born after 1996
were considered to be free of BSE. She sought reassurance on a number
of issues including why cases of BSE continue to occur, and what is
the likely route of transmission. Others asked how consumers can be
assured that testing will be both rigorous and enforced. Frances Radcliffe
gave a detailed explanation of the testing procedures. She acknowledged
the possibility of human error but outlined in detail the systems
for ante-mortem inspection, identifying animals for testing and removal
from the food chain. All animals over thirty months must be tested
and no part of such an animal will be released from the abattoir for
consumption until the vet has received confirmation of a negative
test result. The new approach depends on the existence of fail safe
mechanisms, and if there is any doubt about the suitability of an
animal for human consumption, she said that the vet should not release
it. All other SRM controls remain in place and cover 99.9% of the
meat on sale. The cost of testing at present is between £20 and £40
but this is significantly less than the cost of incinerating all animals
over thirty months.
Sue Payne asked about the position regarding imports since 40% of
beef is imported. Frances Radcliffe stressed that EU legislation requires
all healthy cattle over thirty months to be tested and in France and
Germany they are testing at 24 months. This did not seem to be cost
effective as the incubation period for BSE makes it highly unlikely
to be identifiable at that stage. Except for 14 countries that are
exempt because they have no history of BSE, all imported animals over
thirty months must be tested. The only other exempt group consists
of animals from the beef assurance schemes which need not be tested
until 42 months. This is justified both by the independent inspection
and the information that, to date, 80% of confirmed cases have come
from dairy cattle. The latter may be the result of bias in the sampling
as dairy cattle live longer and there are more of them.
Regarding the test methods, Ms. Radcliffe stated that there are 5
approved test methods, all of which have been validated and have been
shown to be 100% accurate when measured against each other. Since
compensation for BSE infected animals is 100%, and farmers receive
125% of the animal’s value if the test is negative, there is
no evidence that farmers are not reporting. The Chair warmly thanked
both speakers for their contribution and their very clear responses
to members’ concerns.
6. Health claims –
revised paper and update
Caroline Naett had updated the draft Foodaware paper (CFG 18/03) in
response to the publication of the Commission proposal for a regulation
on nutrition and health claims made on foods. The new draft was recently
circulated on the list-serve for comment and has now been sent to
FSA in order to meet their 24 October deadline for comments. Foodaware
will continue to input to the discussions on this proposal. Ann Davison
has been appointed as the EESC rapporteur and Alma Williams as expert
on this. The proposal is likely to be controversial as industry consider
the approach to be bureaucratic and are opposed to the suggested role
for the European Food Safety Agency. All agreed that nutrition claims
should meet specific criteria, and that positive endorsements should
not be permitted on foodstuffs which contained less desirable constituents
as indicated in the paper. In discussion, it was agreed that Foodaware
should support a ban on health claims on products for infants and
young children, and that other health claims should require substantiation
following independent assessment. For industry to be required to have
a dossier available for inspection by the authorities was felt to
be an appropriate and proportionate way forward. The Commission would,
it was felt, need to specify the criteria which the dossiers should
meet.
7. & Organic foods
– draft Foodaware response
The FSA has issued a consultation on their ‘Conclusions on Research
into Organic Food’. Susan Knox said that the key issues were
to identify areas for future research. Members suggested comparative
nutrient assessments would be appropriate at the point of consumption
to see whether there are any differences between organic and non-organic
produce. This could be of relevance to vulnerable groups (those receiving
meals on wheels, and those on low incomes) who may be less able to
obtain organic produce. It was, however, considered that people predominantly
purchase organic produce because of concerns about methods of production
and pesticide use so work to compare levels of residues at different
times of the year would be helpful.
Following discussion about the relevance of potential gm contamination
for this work, it was suggested that an information paper be produced
summarising the key developments in the research announced during
the summer so that members could update their views and knowledge
and make any necessary revisions in existing policy.
Action: BS to prepare draft response on organic research
for consideration and submission by 19 December. AD to consider commissioning
information paper on recent research on gm food.
8. Any other business
and 2004 dates
After discussion it was agreed to avoid half-term weeks in February
and October. The suggested dates were noted as:
12 February
22 April
15 July
4 November
There was also a request to consider how the input from the devolved
administrations could be strengthened and the possibility of regional
meetings, depending on resources. The meeting closed at 4.15 p.m.
Action: If you have particular difficulties with these dates,
please let Ann know by 15 December.
Appendix 1
Animal Feed Policy and Practice
Keith Millar, Head of Animal Feed Unit and Principal Secretary to
the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs, Food Standards Agency
Animal Feed Unit
FSA's Animal Feed Unit is responsible for ensuring that human health
is not put at an unacceptable risk through the feeding of animals.
It strives to ensure purchasers of feed are provided with sufficient
information, in particular through labelling, to allow them to make
informed choices.
The Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF) was set up in
June 1999 to advise on safety and use of animal feeds and feeding
practices, with particular emphasis on protecting human health and
with reference to new technical developments and new feed materials.
It publishes all its agendas, minutes, reports and papers on its website.
The Chair and 14 members come from: farming; consumer affairs; feed
industry; enforcement bodies; and academia (animal nutrition, GM technology,
medicine, microbiology, toxicology, veterinary science). Their discussions
have included: Feed Labelling (detailed review and report); On-farm
feeding practices (detailed review and report); GM issues; BSE related
issues (fishmeal, MBM, etc.); Contaminants (e.g. dioxins); Imports
(position paper issued); and EC Developments and Codex issues.
Recent EC Initiatives are: Ingredients Declarations for Compound Feeds;
Feed Additives Regulation; Feed Hygiene Regulation; GM Food and Feed
Regulation; and Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed.
Compound Feed Ingredient Declarations Under directive 2002/2/EC; All
ingredients must be declared with percentages in descending order
by weight; Subject to tolerance of +/- 15%; Comes into force 6 November
2003. Feed Additives Regulation phases out four remaining antibiotic
growth promoters by 2006; extension of scope to cover additives used
in drinking water and silage agents; re-evaluation of feed additives
against revised criteria.
Proposed Feed Hygiene Regulation
Fulfils commitment in Commission's White Paper on Food Safety which
envisaged: improving traceability of feeds; identification of critical
control points; strengthening of registration and approval system
for feed establishments; introduction of a code of good manufacturing
practice; and further controls on imported feeds.
GM Food and Feed Regulation
Labelling rules will apply to all GM food and, for the first time,
to GM feed, regardless of the presence of GM material in the final
food or feed product.
Rapid Alert System
The system now applies to feed (as well as food); rapid exchange of
information between Member States, the Commission and the new EFSA;
likely that Member States will need to carry out more investigations
and make more risk assessments than in the past.
Ways of registering your concerns:
Animal Feed Unit general enquiry point
Tel: 020 7276 8407
Fax: 020 7276 8478
ACAF enquiry point
Tel: 020 7276 8083
Fax 020 7276 8478
email: acaf@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
Consumer/lay members of ACAF
Agency's website
Appendix 2
Government Food and Health Action Plan Update
Discussion with Paul Marshall, Department of Health
Paul Marshall of the Department of Health reported on the Food and
Health Action Plan.
The timetable was a strategic framework had been agreed across departments
during the Autumn.
The Public Health Forum would meet in January and a combined or separate
meeting with consumer groups organised by Foodaware would be very
helpful. Industry would be consulted next February - March there would
be, subject specific engagement and in Spring formal consultation
on a green paper.
There was every possibility for a special meeting of ethnic minority
issues.
On 4th December the marketing of children's food would be discussed
at FSA at 2.00 p.m.
Comments made on the Food and Health Action Plan will go on the website,
so will the strategic plan.
Members commented on the need to get clear messages across; to add
the perspective of nutritional and disease problems among Muslims
and Asians, the advertising of formula milk suggesting it makes babies
more intelligent, breastfeeding, the need for agreement on the nutritional
science, the nutrition of mothers and mothers-to-be, physical exercise
and well-being.
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