News that horse meat and traces of pig have been found in burgers on sale in UK supermarkets should be a wake-up call to the government and food industry.

The full scale of the problem and lessons to be learned have yet to be revealed. But it is already clear how essential effective controls and the ability to trace the origin of food are, given the complex, global nature of the food chain. The incident has also put the importance of food labelling and composition in the spotlight. The fact that people were buying something quite different to what they expected and considered acceptable has caused an understandable outcry.

But while this incident has focused everyone’s minds on the important of reliable labels, Defra has been consulting on proposals to relax the laws around labelling of meat products and their enforcement. Defra’s proposals for implementation of the EU’s Food Information Regulations would, for example, change what is an offence under the law.

“Now recent changes to FSA responsibilities seem ill-judged”

At the moment, it is an offence to fail to comply with all aspects of the food labelling regulations, including putting misleading labels on products. Defra only want this to apply if there is a health risk, ie failure to label a product that people could be allergic to. Otherwise, local authorities will have to rely on improvement notices. The rationale is to reduce the burden on companies. The current requirements to give a full “name of the food” on meat products sold loose would also go, as would quantifying the main ingredients.

The Food Standards Agency Scotland’s consultation proposes to maintain the existing arrangements and Scotland, Wales and Northern Irish consumers look set to continue to have clear labels on meat products whether sold loose or pre-packed.

The incident therefore shows how the handling of food issues is becoming increasingly fragmented across the UK - as well as between government departments. Although we have yet to see the full outcome of the FSA’s investigation, recent changes to its responsibilities now seem ill-judged. Policy for food labelling and standards is Defra’s responsibility, but incident handling is still the responsibility of the FSA. The FSA has a clear remit to put the consumer first Defra has to look after consumers and the industry. As this issue illustrates, it can be difficult to see where labelling, standards and cultural aspects begin and end.

Hopefully, something positive can come out of this incident. The government needs to think again about how food issues are dispersed around government departments and ensure that food standards issues and consumer protection are given much greater priority.

Sue Davies is chief policy officer at Which?

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