Over the past half decade, Dame Deirdre Hutton has been a key figure at two identically titled regulatory bodies: the FSA and the FSA.
The Food Standards Agency, which she has chaired since 2005, Dame Deirdre has regulated with a fearsome zeal - spearheading the launch of a number of openly hostile industry regulations on everything from nutrient profiling to saturated fats and traffic-light labelling.
At the Financial Services Authority, on the other hand, where Dame Deirdre was deputy chair from 2004-2007, a culture of 'light-touch regulation' has prevailed.
Alas, if it had only been the other way round!
The food industry would have been spared millions of pounds fighting its inflammatory edicts and consensus-free 'proposals' - to little effect, I might add, either to obesity or sales of Coco Pops, Frosties and other breakfast cereals deemed 'junk' food by the FSA while rising by double digits.
And the economy? Well, Dame Deirdre: you could have been a hero to millions.
The latest salvos from the appropriately titled Aviation House are a timely reminder - lest recession lulls us - of the tactics adopted by Hutton and the board.
After a two-year FSA review, the panel's recommendation to tweak the Nutrient Profiling Model is ignored, so it will be possible to broadcast TV ads to children promoting condoms - but not cheese, raisins, olive oil, honey, or bran-rich cereals.
The satfat 'consultation', which was supposed to be 'discussing' the possibility of targets in May, when now, it emerges, targets have already been set.
And what of the FSA's research into traffic-light labelling, due out next month? It looks a foregone conclusion. The only consolation is that, whatever it decides, a simpler and cheaper front-of-pack labelling system looks likely to supersede it.
The Food Standards Agency, which she has chaired since 2005, Dame Deirdre has regulated with a fearsome zeal - spearheading the launch of a number of openly hostile industry regulations on everything from nutrient profiling to saturated fats and traffic-light labelling.
At the Financial Services Authority, on the other hand, where Dame Deirdre was deputy chair from 2004-2007, a culture of 'light-touch regulation' has prevailed.
Alas, if it had only been the other way round!
The food industry would have been spared millions of pounds fighting its inflammatory edicts and consensus-free 'proposals' - to little effect, I might add, either to obesity or sales of Coco Pops, Frosties and other breakfast cereals deemed 'junk' food by the FSA while rising by double digits.
And the economy? Well, Dame Deirdre: you could have been a hero to millions.
The latest salvos from the appropriately titled Aviation House are a timely reminder - lest recession lulls us - of the tactics adopted by Hutton and the board.
After a two-year FSA review, the panel's recommendation to tweak the Nutrient Profiling Model is ignored, so it will be possible to broadcast TV ads to children promoting condoms - but not cheese, raisins, olive oil, honey, or bran-rich cereals.
The satfat 'consultation', which was supposed to be 'discussing' the possibility of targets in May, when now, it emerges, targets have already been set.
And what of the FSA's research into traffic-light labelling, due out next month? It looks a foregone conclusion. The only consolation is that, whatever it decides, a simpler and cheaper front-of-pack labelling system looks likely to supersede it.
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