Draft minutes of meeting held on 6 December 2007

Minutes of Foodaware meetings

CFG 03/08

Foodaware: the Consumers' Food Group
DRAFT Minutes of the twenty-sixth meeting - held on 6 December 2007
At the London Office of the European Parliament, 2 Queen Anne's Gate, London, SW1H 9AA

Welcome and apologies

Matters arising:
  Update on funding
  Article in The Bridge

Updates:
  Co-ordinator’s report
  EU/EFSA update
  Defra Consumer Engagement Project

Presentation on current issues and challenges facing Defra and the role of the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer - Alick Simmons
‘Prevention is better than cure’ – a new Animal Health Strategy for the EU (2007-2013) - Foodaware’s impact on the Strategy (CFG 36/07)
Food labelling (CFG 37/07)
Meat hygiene and related issues (CFG 39/07)
Any other business

Present:

Ms Chris Andrew – ERICA
Ms Teresa Baldwinson – National Council of Women
Ms Rhiannon Batsford – Townswomen’s Guilds
Ms Alison Bayley – Scottish Women's Rural Institutes
Ms Erica Bargman – European Union of Women
Ms Gilli Cliff – Guild of Food Writers
Ms Ann Davison – Defra Consumer Engagement Project
Ms Margaret Foss – National Federation of Women's Institutes
Ms Lucy Harris – Foodaware
Ms Susan Knox – Chairperson, Foodaware
Ms Penny McNeill – National Council of Women (Northern Ireland)
Ms Helen Millar – Individual member
Ms Sue Payne – National Consumer Federation
Ms Elena Renier – Islamic Foundation for Ecology & Environmental Sciences
Ms Jacqui Salfield – Pesticides Forum
Ms Barbara Saunders – Consultant Policy Advisor
Mr Alick Simmons – Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Defra

Apologies:

Mr Paul Allen – European Food Law Association UK
Mr Dozie Azubike – Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs
Ms Hilary Burrage – Science Advisory Council, Defra
Ms Judy Brander – National Council of Women
Ms Fionnuala Cook – ex Consumer Council of Northern Ireland
Ms Dorothy Craig – Veterinary Residues Committee
Ms Jayam Dalal – ACNFP
Dr John Godfrey – ERICA
Ms Kathryn Higgs – Cooperative Group
Ms Fiona Hodgson – Individual member
Mr Salim Ingar – Halal Monitoring Committee
Dr Majid Katme – Muslim Council of Great Britain
Ms Jeanette Longfield – Sustain
Ms Diane McCrea – SCAF, SEAC, ACP
Dr Tom MacMillan – Food Ethics Council
Ms Jill Moss – Bella Moss Foundation
Ms Sylvia Owen – Advisory Committee on Pesticides
Ms Katie Palmer – Welsh Food Advisory Committee
Dr Mary Parkinson – National Pensioners Forum
Ms Hazel Phillips – Advisory Committee on Pesticides
Mr David Pickering – Trading Standards Institute
Ms Christine Sanderson-Fagan – Soroptomists International of Great Britain
Dr Mary Parkinson – National Pensioners Convention
Mr Om Prakash Sharma – The Hindu Council UK
Mr David Smith – Welsh Food Alliance
Ms Marilyn Taylor-Cotter – Hyperactive Children's Support Group
Mr John Verrall – Veterinary Products Committee
Mr Michael Walker – NI Food Advisory Committee
Ms Stella Walsh – Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition
Ms Grace Wedekind – European Centre, International Council of Women
Ms Alma Williams – COT, ECOSOC

1.     Welcome and apologies

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting and, in particular, Rhiannon Batsford (TG) who had not attended a meeting before. A full participants’ list was circulated. A number of apologies had been received which would be included in the minutes.

2.     Approval of minutes of last meeting (CFG 32/07)

Members were invited to comment on the draft minutes of the last meeting (CFG 32/07) held in September. There were no comments or amendments. The minutes were then approved as final.

3.     Matters arising from the minutes of the last meeting

3.1   Update on funding

The Chair told members that, unfortunately, the application for funding from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust had been unsuccessful. The Steering Group would follow up with the Trust to get more details as to why.

A funding application had also been made to the Garfield Weston Foundation (a general grant giving charity established in 1958 by the founder of Associated British Foods). It was hoped there would be news early in the New Year. [Note: Since the meeting, Foodaware has been informed that this application has also been unsuccessful.]

It was noted that Chris Andrew had followed-up the other suggestions made at the last members’ meeting but so far none had proved appropriate

3.2   Article in The Bridge

The Chair said that, with a view to promoting Foodaware and raising its profile externally, an article about its work would appear in The Bridge in January. This quarterly magazine was published by the Industry and Parliament Trust and circulated to all MPs, Peers, UK MEPs and about 1,500 senior business representatives. The organisation produced the magazine as a charity and so the content could not be used for lobbying purposes, but the article put Foodaware’s interests and concerns into the public arena. Copies would be received nearer the time. [Update: copies of the article are now available]

4.     Updates

4.1   Co-ordinators report – for information

Lucy briefly ran through this report. She noted that Foodaware had continued its high level of activity (input at stakeholder meetings and submission of consultation responses) over the last quarter despite the uncertain situation over future funding for Foodaware.

Sue Payne noted that the Defra Farming for the Future Conference in November had been a major event. She added that the Defra Dairy Taskforce would be holding an event in January to brainstorm ideas. It was hoped Mike Jobson would continue to represent consumers on this.

It was noted that Penny McNeill had attended the Veterinary Residues Committee open meeting on 31 October and this should be added to the report. Teresa Baldwinson would be going to the FSA Board meeting on 13 December and Lucy Harris would attend the FSA Salt Targets Review meeting on 20 December.

4.2   EU/ECCG update – for information

A couple of points were raised on issues mentioned in the EU report. It was noted that the bluetongue crisis had died down, that vaccination was probably the best tool for tackling it but time was needed to develop this ready for use.

It was agreed to ask Alick Simmons (see agenda item 5) about poultry and pig protein being used as animal feed and any associated BSE risk. For more information on BSE issues members were recommended to refer to the Which? quarterly review covering scientific and regulatory developments. It was very useful and highly respected.

On electronic tagging for animal tracking, it was agreed that Foodaware should comment on this where appropriate e.g. in contributions to the EU animal health strategy.

On additives, it was noted that the European Food Safety Authority was reviewing the Southampton study examining the effect of mixtures of certain additives on children’s behaviour. Members expressed the view that the study had born out what people had been observing for many years and action should be taken to reduce or remove these synthetic dyes from food in line with the evidence.

Barbara said she had attended a meeting held at Which? reporting on the European Consumer Consultative Group (ECCG) meetings held this year. Key points were the appointment of Monique Goyens as new Director of BEUC in place of Jim Murray who had retired. Few food issues had been covered but a review of the ECCG’s working methods had taken place. The Commission had been considering another major reform of its consultative structures. ECCG members were in favour of retaining the structure but would look at how to use it more effectively. Copies of a presentation by Barbara Saunders on this topic had been circulated with the papers.

4.3   Defra Consumer Engagement Project - Ann Davison

Ann thanked the Chair for the opportunity to update members on this project. The meeting noted the recent retirement of the Chief Veterinary Officer, Debby Reynolds, and expressed their sincere thanks to her for all she had done and particularly her support for greater consumer engagement with Defra.

The next Defra meeting of consumer representatives with the CVO/Defra officials would take place on 31 January. Suggestions for the agenda would be welcome. While the group’s central focus would continue to be Animal Health and Welfare issues, there was a move to broaden the scope into new areas, for example: water, nitrates, wine etc.

Ann informed members that Defra had issued a consultation on its relationship with the Third Sector in which stakeholders were invited to comment on how Defra could work more closely with voluntary organisations in the future. Within this consultation some limited support was available for organisations wishing to work in partnership to produce a ‘think piece’ on a specific aspect of the consultation.

It was noted that the consumer movement was having an influence, for example, representatives had taken an active part in Defra teleconferences in response to the recent crises on Foot and Mouth Disease and Avian Influenza. The fact that consumers had reacted calmly to these crises was helpful. Mike Jobson and Sue Payne were involved in the Defra Milk Roadmap stakeholder group which was holding a major conference on 14/15 January. Barbara Saunders had been invited to serve on the Responsibility and Cost Sharing Forum.

Ann also mentioned that the Defra Food Chain Programme was working closely with WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) and listening to consumers and consumer organisations on such issues as fridge temperatures, cooking skills, the effect of drop in household size and food wastage. Two-way communication on these issues was essential.

5. Guest Speaker – Alick Simmons, Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Defra
Presentation on current issues and challenges facing Defra and the role of the Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer

Alick thanked the Chair for the invitation to the meeting and said that he had joined Defra three weeks previously from FSA where he had been Veterinary Director since 2004. He had spent most of his career involved in livestock disease control and food safety. He had worked in private practices in the UK and as a state veterinarian in a number of countries where he had been involved in the control of livestock diseases including BSE, FMD, bovine TB and many others. He had also worked as a slaughterhouse vet in the UK, Belize and Australia and inspected meat premises overseas on behalf of the EU and the UK Government.

His role was to give strategic direction and oversee a team of just over 100 people. Risk management was a major feature of his responsibilities, for example, assessing how disease threats might have an impact on the rural economy, public health and the economy as a whole. He said information about risk must be clear, prompt and accurate and people should be well informed about uncertainties. These were essential to increase confidence in the work of Defra. All parties needed to be clear about their roles and responsibilities and held to account when things went wrong.

While government and its agencies must retain an overarching role, Defra had as its stated aim the transfer of more responsibility to industry. Regulation was an effective tool in managing risk, and a raft of legislative requirements remained in place. However, the market could also be used as a tool. Industry should be encouraged to address problems, for example, the zoonotic action plan which had been an industry initiative. The combination of regulation and the market had worked well in managing veterinary residues in meat and milk. There were sound principles in favour of sharing responsibility such as farmer contributions to BSE/TSE testing etc. Again, good communications were necessary for this to work with everyone clear about their responsibilities.

Alick thanked Foodaware for its contributions to Defra’s work in recent years. He noted that Defra had had a difficult few months with FMD, Blue Tongue and avian flu outbreaks. He was encouraged by the fact that sales of red meat, milk and poultry had not radically altered during this time. This suggested that consumers had a good understanding of risk, and that FSA and Defra had communicated well over these crises.

The Chair thanked Alick for his presentation and invited questions from the floor.

Questions

A number of questions were raised including:

Monitoring levels in airports and ports:
Alick said that a lot of effort had gone into creating appropriate control structures and there were good communications between Defra, FSA and local authorities about this. The UK had huge amounts of movement through its airports but surveillance and intelligence systems were good. The checks focussed on people and goods arriving from risky destinations in order to target areas where risk was greatest.

Quality of science teaching in schools and impact on consumer understanding of risk:
Alick stressed that the veterinary profession working in government had an opportunity to have some influence over the curriculum for graduate training. It was important to make sure the wider issues such as food policy were covered. It was also important to have a good mix of people going into teacher training.

Role of Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) and Deputy CVO as head of profession. Veterinary training needed to emphasise the links between policy-making and delivery on the ground e.g. in relation to zoonoses:
Alick said the lack of rural vets was a concern because this would impact on surveillance mechanisms. The better pay, conditions, and intellectual stimulation in other aspects of veterinary practice was a problem. It was important for state vets to have opportunities for career development. There was generally good coordination between different government agencies, e.g. between Defra and the Meat Hygiene Service etc., but devolution could open up new risks and of course cracks in the system could appear in times of crisis.

Electronic tagging (E.I.D):
Electronic tagging offered substantial improvement to conventional identification methods. However, it was some way off and was still only as good as the people implementing it. In the interim, improvements to existing systems were taking place but there was a burden on small farmers and food businesses to keep up.

Foot and Mouth Disease:
Alick noted that the final epidemiological report was yet to come out on the recent outbreaks. There were a number of theories as to what had happened and huge amounts of work going into how to prevent and manage future situations. Rules for lab workers were in place such as not having contact with animals including not keeping pets.

Horizon scanning for future risk areas e.g. arising from climate change:
Surveillance work continued on where Blue Tongue might appear again especially in the late spring/summer. There was concern it might reappear on a larger scale. Avian flu was likely to remain at a low background level as long as it continued to be well-managed. Vector borne diseases (i.e. via midges and mosquitoes etc.) might get worse.

Prioritisation of issues:
Defra, including its officials and advisors, was always interested to hear the views from interested parties about priorities.

Internet access to veterinary medicines including antibiotics etc:
Checks for veterinary medicines, heavy metals, pesticides and illegal hormones, took place on samples of meat at slaughter. There was also some on-farm sampling and the screening of milk by dairies and government. Medicines bought over the internet were often counterfeit or had very low levels of active substances.

Implications of devolution:
The Meat Hygiene Service and State Veterinary Service (now renamed Animal Health) remained GB-wide organisations and this was helpful in maintaining standards.

Pig/poultry protein in animal feed and BSE:
Animal protein was not permitted in animal feed as part of the safety measures introduced following BSE. However, the European Food Safety Authority had been asked to assess the risks of small amounts of poultry protein going into pig food and vice versa. EFSA had recently issued an opinion to the effect that risks to public health would be negligible although it had attached certain qualifications to this conclusion.

Bovine TB:
There had been a slow but steady increase in levels of Bovine TB and it was not clear why numbers were going up. Some policies introduced in the last few months had been effective in limiting the spread. No badger culling, except experimental, was taking place as yet. Badgers remained heavily protected. A badger vaccine was being developed but it would be hard to administer to wild populations.

The Chair thanked Alick for sharing his time and expertise with Foodaware members. It had been a very useful session.

6. ‘Prevention is better than cure’ – a new Animal Health Strategy for the EU (2007-2013) - Foodaware’s impact on the Strategy and outstanding issues (CFG 36/07)

The Chair invited Barbara Saunders to introduce the draft paper. Barbara said that Foodaware had already sent comments to the Commission on the draft Animal Health Strategy (CFG 30/06) and participated in the Presidency Conference on the subject during autumn 2006. The Commission’s first draft had taken on board most of Foodaware’s concerns, and DG Sanco had acknowledged that protection of consumer health would remain a priority with actions focussing on prevention. The Commission had adopted its final text on 19 September in the form of a Communication to the Council, Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.

Four goals have been identified which were welcome:

to ensure a high level of public health and food safety
to promote animal health by preventing/reducing the incidence of animal diseases
to improve economic growth/competitiveness assuring free circulation of goods and proportionate animal movements
to promote farming practices and animal welfare which prevent animal health related threats and minimise environmental impacts

The Strategy also contained four ‘Pillars’:

Prioritisation of EU intervention (categorisation of animal health threats)
A modern animal health framework (regulatory framework, cost and responsibility sharing schemes, international standards, export strategy)
Animal-related threat prevention, surveillance and crisis preparedness (on-farm biosecurity, identification and tracing, border biosecurity)
Science, innovation and research

Members were generally supportive of the draft paper but added a number of specific comments:

They stressed the need for wider participation in the proposed Animal Health Advisory Committee e.g. through co-option of people with relevant expertise and more inclusive working methods such as teleconferencing. They were concerned that only a small number of people would be involved in making decisions if the Committee was too limited.
They agreed Foodaware should strongly reiterate its view that priority should be given to zoonoses control and prevention.
They were concerned that governments were not making extra resources available for enforcement. Emphasis needed to be given to risk assessment and targeted enforcement.
Transparency was essential and members supported the development of ratings according to disease free status, biosecurity measures, animal welfare and veterinary control. This information should be publicly available to enable consumers to identify the origins and status of the produce they buy.
They agreed with the comments on cost and responsibility sharing.
On traceability and electronic tagging, members strongly supported this but recognised the cost of implementation. They pointed out that users of the system would need to be trained and clear about its purpose.
The subtitle ‘Climate Change and New Diseases’ should be amended to read ‘New Emerging Diseases’.

Action: Paper to be amended, finalised and sent to Commission with copies to FSA and Defra.

7.     Food labelling (CFG 37/07)

Barbara introduced this paper which summarised the state of play on the EU Food Labelling Review and three separate FSA consultations. She noted that the Commission proposals were expected on 19 December and could develop into a major piece of legislation including stronger origin labelling. . [This document has now been published and is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/foodlabelling/proposed_legislation_en.htm
The press release is at: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/112&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr

The three FSA consultations had deadlines during December and January:

a) Country of origin labelling guidance for use in the UK
Members questioned why FSA was publishing draft new guidance when EU proposals covering origin labelling were expected in December. This should be expressed in Foodaware’s letter to FSA. They agreed the guidance would benefit from updating and the proposed revised format appeared to be clear to follow. They urged that the advice in relation to catering establishments should be clarified and given more emphasis as people were increasingly consuming food outside the home.

b) Updated FSA guidance on clear food labelling (England)
Members generally welcomed the proposals for clearer presentation and for recognising the importance of taking account of the interests of partially sighted people. Foodaware should continue to support the inclusion of pictures and visual materials in the guidance. The FSA front of pack traffic light labelling scheme was an example of good practice.

c) Revision of FSA guidance: criteria for the use of terms fresh, pure, natural etc in food labelling
Members agreed with the proposed comments in the draft paper. For example, the need to define such terms according to the interpretation of ordinary people. Mandatory information should be much clearer and separate from additional information.

Action: Response letters to the three FSA consultations to be prepared based on the agreed comments. These should be sent to FSA in time to meet respective deadlines.

8.     Meat hygiene and related issues (CFG 39/07)

Barbara introduced this item. She started with the news that the Portuguese presidency had withdrawn the proposal on HACCP which would have exempted some small businesses from full HACCP requirements. Foodaware, as part of a consortium of organisations including the Food and Drink Federation, had lobbied hard against the proposal and this was welcome news.

She introduced the paper which summarised three food hygiene related consultations:

a) FSA consultation on Draft Food Hygiene (England) (Amendment)
Regulations 2008

Members noted that the UK appeared to be flexing its muscles in relation to subsidiary rights, for example, on the issue of mince meat and the length of time meat was kept before mincing. FSA considered the time limits to be too prescriptive, not based on risk and contrary to the British tradition of ageing meat before mincing. Members acknowledged the value of hanging meat and were content with the FSA proposals. On the questions relating to slaughterhouse practices, members agreed that risk based assessments should be used and that meat should be appropriately marked post mortem. Members reiterated their concern about the loss of rural abattoirs and the importance of being able to source food locally, but expressed concern at the proposal to exempt such premises from a requirement to have refrigeration facilities on site.

b) FSA consultation on Proposed Amendments to the TSE (no. 2) Regulations

Members had no objection to the proposal to increase the age at which bovine vertebral column was classified as specified risk material (SRM) from 24-30 months. They understood this was in line with the revised risk assessment which indicated no increased risk.

c) Veterinary Residues Committee (VRC) consultation on the Non-Statutory Plan for
Veterinary Residues

Members were interested to see the list of potential foods being considered for inclusion in the VRC surveillance scheme and were supportive of the work being done. However, they questioned how much could actually be covered given the VRC’s limited budget. Imported farmed fish, imported honey and imported raw pork were highlighted as categories to be given priority. It was acknowledged that many products had to be tested as laid down in EC regulations. Information was shared between member states and alerts took place when problems were found.

In summary, it was noted that many of these consultations were long and technical and locating the consumer issues had been time consuming.

Action: Response letters to be prepared and sent off to meet the deadlines.

9.     Any other business

The Chair said that future meetings would be dependent on funding which at the present time was uncertain. Members would be kept informed.

Some suggestions for possible funders were mentioned including the Princes Trust, All Saints Educational Trust, Awards for All (part of the Lottery) which gave grants up to £10,000 for regional projects. The NCVO funders’ database might also be a useful resource.

Members thanked the European Parliament office for accommodating the meeting and the Foodaware officers and staff for their commitment. The meeting ended at 4.00 pm.