The government is to announce a shake-up of the Food Data Transparency Partnership amid claims from ministers it has “lost the voice of consumers” and does not have enough scrutiny from outside the ranks of industry bosses.
The FDTP was set up under the Tory government in response to calls in Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy for greater transparency on the environmental and health agendas of the food and drink industry.
It has proved controversial after dropping initial plans to create mandatory targets on both key areas, though the body has been drawing up major new initiatives on health reporting and eco-labelling, which have been put on hold since the election.
The Grocer now understands talks will be revived as early as next week, but with the government demanding wider involvement from consumer groups.
Bodies including the BMA, the Food Foundation, ShareAction and the Obesity Health Alliance have worked with the group, but it has been largely led by leading food and drink companies.
The move comes with growing pressure on Labour to distance itself from food and drink companies in policy setting on areas such as obesity. A recent report by the House of Lords called for food companies to have no part in discussions on public health policies.
As well as shaking up those in the room within the FDTP, the government has stripped the Food & Drink Sector Council of its role as an advisor to the body, with the council having previously been briefed behind closed doors about its discussions ahead of any public announcements.
The council has been told Labour wants to see the FDTP have a more “independent mandate”.
Industry sources are confident that the government will continue to want to work with it. Health secretary Wes Streeting has already signalled that it has a key role to play, and this week environment secretary Steve Reed said he “would always listen” to the industry.
However, sources have suggested the move by Labour will increase the changes of the FDTP’s work leading to the introduction of mandatory reporting for the industry, despite fears over the bureaucracy and cost involved.
There had also been speculation the government might change the name of the body, to mark a clean break with the last government and cement the new rules of engagement.
“The government think that they have slightly lost the consumer voice with the FDTP,” a source told The Grocer. “They don’t want to shut down the FDTP. It will continue but it will flex.
“It will continue in some form, renamed or otherwise, but they want to ramp up the consumer aspect to make sure it’s a genuine collaboration between industry and consumers.”
Another source added: “Labour is much more in favour of having consumer groups represented in these talks than the last government.”
Some consumer groups, including the Children’s Food Campaign, boycotted the original talks when the FDTP was set up, claiming it was an “industry talking shop”, but are thought to be more likely to join with the prospect of mandatory targets.
Rebecca Tobi, senior business and investor engagement manager at the Food Foundation, told The Grocer: “Transparent and honest reporting by businesses on the healthiness and sustainability of their sales is absolutely crucial for identifying what food is being sold and eaten and pointing to areas for improvement.
“The government needs to urgently move forward with the FDTP to ensure standardised reporting. Reporting should be mandatory to level the playing field and raise standards across the board.
“The stop-start nature of the FDTP over the past two years means UK businesses are currently stuck in uncertainty, with no clear guidance on which metrics to use or how to measure them.
“Action on the FDTP Health Working Group has ground to a complete halt post-election, and very little has been revealed in terms of its future. This feels like the most enormous waste given the progress that had started to be made and the large amount of time many in industry have already invested in the FDTP.
“Wes Streeting has mentioned working with a coalition of ‘willing businesses’ on the health agenda several times. There’s already a ready-made coalition of businesses in the FDTP Health Working Group that are keen to see the FDTP succeed – Labour should seize this opportunity and move quickly to resurrect the FDTP and place it on a mandatory footing.”
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