Food and feed law: legislation review (July to September 2017)
Second quarterly report providing information and updates on UK food and feed law and related scientific and regulatory issues
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This report updates our legislation review with developments in food and feed law and related scientific and regulatory issues for the period from July to September 2017.
It covers key publications by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the fundamental redesign of its regulatory role and regulations made by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) which underpin the Primary Authority scheme, allowing businesses to form partnerships with local authorities to receive advice on regulatory matters. There is also update on the 40th Session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission where decisions included guidelines on nutrition labelling, and a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on the future of food and agriculture.
The presence of cyanogenic glycosides in raw apricot kernels, aflatoxins in groundnuts, amendments to Materials and Articles in Contact with Food Regulations in Northern Ireland, Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations in Scotland and Wales are some of the areas where there have been updates to regulations.
A new topic is this review is the issue of dual quality food products, which has been a source of growing concern. There is also a section on novel foods that were approved for use in food supplements.
New legislation regarding sprouted seeds, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and other pathogenic bacteria has been brought in, following the Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) crisis of 2011, focused mainly in Germany, infected almost 4,000 people with 53 deaths.
The review also covers a number of court cases brought to the European Court, related to the designation of milk products, health claims made for glucose metabolism and the classification of “desinewed meat’.