UK Food Standards Agency to review its response to horsemeat scandal

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) is set to conduct an independent review of its response to the horsemeat scandal.

On 16 April, the FSA board agreed to conduct the review, which will be led by Professor Pat Troop with a secretariat provided by the FSA.

Pat Troop will have unrestricted access to all relevant documents held by the body as well as to FSA board members and officials.

Professor Troop, who is currently the vice chairwoman of Cambridge University Hospitals, previously worked as chief executive of the Health Protection Agency for five years and deputy chief medical officer at the Department of Health from 1999 to 2003.

The review will evaluate the FSA’s response to any prior intelligence of horsemeat in beef products, its relationship with food companies, and its powers to look into violations of the law.

The review findings will be presented at the board’s meeting on 4 June, while a formal report will be submitted to the agency by the end of June for publication.

The move to conduct an independent review follows criticism that the FSA was not stringent enough with food companies following the horsemeat scandal, and had downplayed the risks to consumers.

Commenting on the review, Food Minister David Heath said that it will check for vulnerabilities in the food chain that could be exploited by fraudsters.

Labour’s environment spokesman Mary Creagh said the government’s fragmentation of the FSA in 2010 has left the food regulatory system unfit for purpose.

"The FSA knew that the Irish were testing for horse meat last November, yet did nothing until positive results came back," she added.

The horsemeat scandal began in mid-January, when Ireland’s food safety watchdog announced that it had found traces of horsemeat DNA in burger products sold by major British and Irish supermarkets.

Subsequently, several products were recalled across Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway over horsemeat contamination, while food manufacturers and supermarkets were asked to test beef products for horsemeat DNA.

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Image: The review will evaluate the FSA’s response to the horsemeat scandal. Photo courtesy of John Nettleship.