Board meeting minutes: 14 October 2004

Monday 13 December 2004

Hilton Hotel, 4 Lanyon Place, Belfast, BT1 3LP.

Open session 9:15 ' 12:35

Present:
Sir John Krebs, Chairman
Julia Unwin, Deputy Chair
Sati Ariyanayagam (until 10:50 am)
Chrissie Dunn
Maureen Edmondson
Michael Gibson
Ann Hemingway
Valerie Howarth
Iain MacDonald
Andrew Miller
Vernon Sankey
Sandra Walbran
Nelisha Wickremasinghe

Officials attending:
Jon Bell ' Chief Executive
Alison Spalding ' Head of Food Chain Strategy Branch, Consumer Choice, Food Standards and Special Projects Division (item 4 only)
Steve Wearne ' Head of Strategy, Risk and Regulation Division (item 5 only)
Paul Holley ' Head of Specified Risk Materials (SRM) Branch, Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) Division (item 6 only)
Keith Gregory ' Board Secretary
Barbara Gallani ' Board Secretariat

Others attending:
Barbara Saunders ' Member of the Patrick Wall Independent
Inquiry Steering Group

Chairman's Introduction

1. The Chairman welcomed observers to the third FSA open Board meeting held in Belfast, and the fifth held in Northern Ireland. He informed them that participation in FSA open Board meetings, either in person or via the internet webcast, played a crucial role in fulfilling the FSA's commitment to openness.

2. The Chairman informed Board members that apologies had been received from Richard Ayre and that Sati Ariyanayagam would need to leave before the end of the meeting.

3. The Chairman reminded Board members of their obligation to declare interests before discussion of relevant items.

4. There were two items raised for discussion under Any Other Business:

• the information paper on Evaluation of Catering for Health (Michael Gibson); and
• the information paper on Review of MHS Performance against Targets 2004/05 (Chairman).

Item 1 - Minutes of the Meeting on 9 September, Swansea
(Paper FSA 04/09/01)

5. The Board agreed the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2004 at the Brangwyn Hall in Swansea as an accurate record.

6. In considering matters arising and the table of follow up actions, the following points were made:

• Index 229, p.18: A note had been circulated to Board members on notification of Specified Risk Material (SRM) control breaches explaining that the FSA currently published this information on a monthly basis.
• Index 91, p.19: The draft final report on the research on M.Bovis in tissues from animals with localised disease was expected by the end of October 2004. The scientific report would be accompanied by an assessment of the potential implications for risk management.
• Index 211, p.19: A report on trends and lessons learned from audits of local authorities would be circulated to Board members by the end of October 2004.
• Index 225, p.19: A tabulated summary of the actions, events and milestones set out in the action plan on promotional activity and children's diets would be circulated to the Board by the end of October 2004.
• Index 134, p.20: An information paper on the impact of the new EU Regulations on traceability would be circulated to the Board by the end of October 2004. A paper including the agreed Guidelines would be presented to the Board in 2005.
• Index 233, p.21: A note on the implications of the relevant section of the Food Standards Act 1999 on the delegation of the Chair of an Advisory Committee had been circulated to the Board on 11 October 2004. Some Board members felt that the position was not entirely satisfactory but recognised the constraints posed by the Act.

Item 2 - Chairman's Report

Salt Awareness Campaign

7. The Chairman reminded Board members that the FSA's salt awareness campaign had been launched on 14 September 2004. The launch had been attended by a number of Board members as well as a range of speakers including Melanie Johnson MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Public Health (PS(PH)); Barbara Gill, Chair of the Women's Institute; Peter Hollins, Director General of the British Heart Foundation; a representative from the Stroke Association; and Gavin Neath, Chair of Unilever.

8. The campaign had received extensive TV and press coverage, which had helped to consolidate the FSA's message on salt consumption. The FSA would carry out an evaluation of the impact of the campaign in raising awareness and would continue to work with industry on the reformulation of foods to reduce their salt content.

9. The Chairman informed Board members that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) had told the FSA that they had rejected a complaint lodged by the Salt Manufacturers Association (SMA) about the campaign. The Chairman added that experts on the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) had studied around 200 references before reaching their conclusions and that the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England had referred to the importance of reducing salt in the diet in his annual report.

10. Some Board members noted that the campaign could only be considered successful if long-term sustained changes in behaviour were achieved. The Chairman commented that it would be possible to determine this by monitoring salt consumption using the data collected as part of the annual Health Survey for England.

Party Political Conference Fringe Meetings

11. The Chairman informed Board members that he had accepted an invitation from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Cancer Research UK (CRUK) to speak at their fringe meetings at each of the recent party political conferences. The subject ('The Obesity Timebomb: solutions to better health') was currently high on their agenda. All three of the fringe meetings had been well attended.

Review of the Food Standards Agency

12. The Chairman informed Board members that Baroness Brenda Dean had accepted their invitation to conduct a review of the FSA. The review would look at whether the FSA had delivered on its promises to date and at the extent to which it had lived up to its core values. Baroness Dean would report to the Board in early 2005 and her report would be published.

Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) Governing Board

13. The Chairman informed Board members that work was in hand to establish the new MHS Governing Board, which will report to the FSA Board and hold the MHS accountable for efficient and effective delivery. FSA Board member Chrissie Dunn had agreed to Chair the new Board. The other MHS Governing Board members would comprise two additional FSA Board members (Richard Ayre and Maureen Edmondson); two members of the FSA Executive (Jon Bell, Chief Executive and Alick Simmons, Veterinary Director); and two independent members who were to be recruited by open advertisement. As the appointment of the independent members would take some time, the vacancies would be covered by the interim appointment of Valerie Howarth (another FSA Board member), who had served on the Meat Hygiene Advisory Committee (MHAC).

14. The first meeting of the MHS Governing Board would take place in York on 2 November 2004. Secretariat services would be provided by the MHS. Regular reports would be given by the Chair of the MHS Governing Board to the FSA Board.

15. Some Board members asked for clarification of the audit arrangements for the MHS and noted the advantages in providing a link through an element of common membership between the MHS Audit and Risk Committee and its equivalent for the FSA, as had been the case in the past. It was agreed that the Chair of the MHS Governing Board and the FSA Deputy Chair would consider this issue and report back to the Board at the next meeting.
Action: MHS Governing Board Secretariat

Item 3 - Chief Executive's Report

Investigation into beef fat and sausage casings derived from category 3 animal by-products

16. The Chief Executive informed Board members that a Doncaster based company had been found to have been processing category 3 animal by-products into beef dripping for food use. The investigation had started when a State Veterinary Service (SVS) inspection at Alba Proteins in Swalesmoor (an animal by-products premises) found evidence that category 3 animal by-products that had been consigned to Nortech Foods Limited (which operated premises supplying food products and pet foods) had been processed into beef dripping.

17. Nortech Foods Limited had almost completed a trade withdrawal of the affected produce from several thousand customers. A food hazard warning and press notice had been released in relation to the withdrawal and investigations were continuing. Further investigations by the Dumfries and Galloway local authority had suggested that Alba Proteins had been supplying category 3 animal by-products in the form of animal intestines to a number of companies which might then have used them as sausage casings.

18. In order to investigate the wider extent of any trade in category 3 animal by-products for ultimate food use across the country, the FSA had asked local authorities to investigate other fat renderers and sausage casing manufacturers. These investigations had uncovered no other use of category 3 materials for fats for food use. However, two other companies had been identified as potential suppliers of category 3 intestines for sausage casings. One of these, a German company, had subsequently been found to have received food grade material wrongly labelled as category 3. The other company was still being investigated.

19. The Chief Executive confirmed that the FSA would be discussing with Defra, the SVS, the Illegal Meat Task Force and local authorities how best to ensure that tighter controls were exercised on animal by-products. The British Retail Consortium (BRC), Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and representatives of the sausage casings manufacturers and meat processors had all offered their assistance with the investigations and any product recall and withdrawal. The Chief Executive confirmed that details of the names of any companies involved in the illegal supply of category 3 material for food use would be published.

20. One Board member suggested that there were large profits to be made from the redirection of animal by-products into the human food chain and asked whether it might be appropriate to reconsider the issue of staining material that was not to be used for human consumption , as recommended by the Waste Food Task Force . Some Board members noted that disclosure of information about the companies involved should only be made after a thorough investigation had been conducted to establish whether or not category 3 animal by-products had been deliberately used to increase profit.

Salmonella in Spanish eggs

21. The Chief Executive informed Board members that the FSA and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) would be issuing a joint press release later that day announcing that action would be stepped up to protect public health following the continuation of outbreaks of Salmonella enteriditis, many of which had been linked to Spanish eggs used in the catering trade.

22. A National Outbreak Control Team, including members from FSA, Defra and DH, had been convened by the HPA to investigate and had recommended various actions aimed at preventing further outbreaks. Importers had been reminded to ensure that any Spanish eggs they received were subject to commercial heat treatment. Caterers were being reminded that they should use pasteurised eggs in any uncooked or lightly cooked products in addition to following good hygiene practices. Consumers who may have bought Spanish eggs from markets were advised to cook them thoroughly before consumption. However, the great majority of eggs sold in shops and supermarkets were not Spanish. Spanish eggs could be identified from the marking on the shell: 'ES'.

It was also noted that good food hygiene practices in the home remained very important for everyone. In response to a question from one Board member, the Chief Executive confirmed that advice had been given that it would be sensible to avoid using these eggs when feeding the sick, the elderly or young people, in line with existing advice involving vulnerable groups.

23. The Chief Executive confirmed that officials from the FSA and the HPA would be meeting with the Spanish authorities within the next few weeks to encourage them further to resolve this problem at source . The FSA also intended to carry out a survey of imported eggs over the next year.

Salmonella in lettuce

24. The Chief Executive informed Board members that the HPA had issued a press release on 5 October reporting a number of outbreaks of Salmonella newport, a rare strain, across the UK that may have been caused by lettuce in salads in catering outlets. The investigation of the outbreaks was being co-ordinated by a National Outbreak Control Team (of which the FSA, and DH were members), which was trying to trace the source. Advice had been issued on how to minimise the risk of infection by thorough washing of lettuce and ensuring that prepared lettuce was kept properly chilled until use.

Folic Acid

25. The Chief Executive reminded Board members that they had last discussed the issue of folic acid fortification of foods in May 2002 . At that time, concern had been expressed that such fortification could mask vitamin B12 deficiency in the elderly and so the Agency had advised health departments that fortification should not be advocated. The Scientific Committee on Nutrition (SACN) had recently convened to look at evidence on the positive and negative effects of folic acid for different population groups that had been obtained since 2002. It was expected that the outcome would be reported by SACN in February 2005. This could be presented to the Board for discussion in the first half of 2005.

Item 4 - Sustainable Development and the Food Standards Agency's Policies
(Paper FSA 04/10/02)

26. The Chairman invited Alison Spalding to introduce the paper on sustainable development. Alison Spalding reminded Board members that this paper followed on from a paper that had been considered at the May 2004 open Board meeting. Taking into account that earlier discussion, and the outcome of the public consultation on the FSA's new Strategic Plan, the present paper sought Board members' agreement to the overall FSA policy in relation to sustainable development and the mechanisms for its implementation.

27. Any consideration of sustainable development needed to take into account environmental, social and economic impacts and ensure that the interests of both today's and tomorrow's consumers were adequately protected. As for all Government departments, the challenge to the FSA was to take sustainable development into account when assessing risks, costs and benefits. A number of Government departments had worked together to develop a system of Integrated Policy Appraisal, which the FSA had further developed into a Policy Assessment Framework that was consistent with the five principles of better regulation: proportionality, accountability, consistency, transparency and targeting (as set out in Annex C to the paper).

28. The Chairman, in noting the importance of this issue, referred to the FSA's recent advice on oily fish consumption as an example of its complexity. He invited the Chairs of the Advisory Committees for Northern Ireland (NIAC) and Scotland (SFAC) to report on the discussions on sustainability that had recently taken place at their meetings. The Chair of SFAC reported that his Committee had also acknowledged the complexity of the issue and, in particular, the need to strike a balance between choice and sustainability when dealing with food access in remote areas. The Chair of NIAC reported that the Committee had taken the view that sustainability considerations should not compromise safety but that in some cases there might be a conflict between providing choice to consumers and minimising costs to the environment.

29. Board members agreed that the FSA's approach to sustainable development had to be consistent with its role of protecting consumers' interests in relation to food and take into account the FSA's core remit in relation to food safety and standards, nutrition and helping consumers to make informed choices.

30. Some Board members suggested that the position statement proposed in the paper should be strengthened and several suggestions were made rewording it to reflect this need. Board members agreed that the Chairman and the Deputy Chair should agree the final drafting of the FSA's Position Statement in the light of the points made in discussion.
Action: Alison Spalding

31. The importance of working with others to complement the specific remit and limited expertise of the Agency in this area was recognised. Board members also referred to the importance of judgement when weighing the impact of a policy on the environment, and its benefit to consumers, as part of considerations of proportionality. The FSA had already been taking into account sustainability issues in developing policy and an analysis of different case studies would be undertaken as the policy was implemented.

32. Board members urged that a pragmatic approach should be taken. Some Board members suggested that it would be important in future to include sustainability issues as part of the impact statements prepared for Board papers.

33. In summary the Chairman noted that the Board had:

• commended the clarity of the paper and expressed strong support for the work that had been done on this issue;
• noted that sustainability was already being implicitly considered by the FSA in many aspects of its policy development (as illustrated in the examples provided in the paper at Annex D);
• recognised the complexity of the issue and the need for a pragmatic approach;
• agreed that the Chairman and the Deputy Chair should agree the final drafting of the FSA's Position Statement in the light of the points made in discussion;
• noted that officials would continue to develop the framework set out in Annex C to the paper and that, as the framework was developed, guidance on the relative importance of the different areas would be required; and
• agreed to reconsider the issue in 12 - 18 months time, drawing on the outcome of pilot exercises and actual experience in using the framework.

Item 5 - Food Standards Agency Strategic Plan 2005-10: Putting Consumers First
(Paper FSA 04/10/03)

34. The Chairman invited Steve Wearne to introduce this paper, which sought Board members' agreement to the publication of the FSA's strategic plan before the end of 2004.

35. Steve Wearne reported that the consultation had been very successful: more than 200 responses had been received from organisations and individuals, many making comprehensive comments which had contributed to the overall strengthening of the plan. Respondents had generally welcomed the overall direction of the new strategy and there had been particular support for the three headline priority areas: food safety, eating for health, and choice.

36. A comprehensive summary of the responses was presented at Annex 3 to the paper. These had been carefully analysed and the changes that had been made to the Strategic Plan as a result had been indicated in the revised version shown at Annex 1 to the paper. Stakeholder engagement would, however, continue through stakeholder fora and other events during the process of developing delivery plans.

37. The Chairman commended Steve Wearne and his team for the work that they had done and in particular for showing the links between the comments received from stakeholders and the changes that had been made to the strategic plan. The Chairman also thanked stakeholders for submitting very extensive and constructive comments and for showing such a high level of interest in the work of the FSA.

38. Most Board members agreed that the theme 'Eating for Health' should be broadened but favoured an alternative term to 'well-being'. After some discussion it was decided that the Chairman and the Deputy Chair should agree on a form of words on the Board's behalf.
Action: David Atkins/Julie Norman

39. Some Board members suggested that the original message of working with schools and educational departments in the UK had been unintentionally diluted. Whilst they recognised that to some extent this was inevitable as references to working with schools necessarily appeared in several different parts of the plan, they felt that it would be helpful to look again at the wording.

40. Some Board members felt that the level of detail that had been added to the plan in the light of the consultation detracted from its aims as a strategic document. One Board member commended the executive for the punchy nature of much of the document but felt that adding a further chapter on sustainability issues would be unnecessary. He proposed instead that sustainability considerations should be integrated within the existing text.

41. One Board member, recognising that consumers had a right to be able to gain easy access to the information that they needed about the food they buy, expressed concerns about pursuing policies that encouraged all of this information to be given on the label. This might make it difficult for them to find the information they were looking for and, therefore, hamper choice. She suggested that the FSA had a unique role to play here in catalysing discussion about consumers' information needs and encouraging more innovative responses and solutions.

42. Board members acknowledged the need for the FSA to work with stakeholders to deliver the new strategic plan and to conduct more horizon-scanning. They felt it important to reserve the right to continue to publish information about the extent to which guidance on good practice was taken up by the industry. They recognised the need however to ensure that this was presented in a fair and constructive way.

43. Some Board members felt that the Chairman's Foreword to the strategic plan would be important in setting the tone for the document as a whole and therefore asked that it be circulated to Board members for comment before publication.
Action: Secretariat

44. Some Board members expressed concern about the target for reducing Campylobacter levels in chicken. Following discussion, Board members agreed that this target should remain but be reviewed in the light of further work to determine an appropriate baseline.

45. The Chairman summarised the main points raised in the discussion. The Board had:

• commended the executive for the thorough and transparent consultation process, and for the summary of responses given at Annex 2;
• noted the list of detailed points in Para 44;
• noted that there would be financial implications;
• expressed the need to review and improve the references to educational aspects mentioned in the plan;
• requested that the executive streamline the additions to the strategic plan, leaving the detail to be included in the action plans;
• asked the Chairman and Deputy Chair to decide on alternative wording to 'well-being' in the section on 'Eating for Health';
• requested some additions to the chapters on working in partnership; and
• agreed to publish the document by the end of 2004, following circulation for comment to Board members of the Chairman's Foreword.

Item 6 ' Report of the Patrick Wall Independent Inquiry

[Prior to the discussion of this item Michael Gibson declared an interest as an independent butcher and Chrissie Dunn declared an interest as a non-Executive Director of a meat marketing company. The Chairman considered that these were not material interests and that Michael Gibson and Chrissie Dunn should participate in the discussion and determination of this issue.]

46. The Chairman invited Barbara Saunders and Paul Holley to the table for discussion of this item. Barbara Saunders had been one of the members of the Steering Group, chaired by Professor Patrick Wall, that had been asked to oversee the inquiry initiated by the FSA Board in June 2004 into the failure of the Meat Hygiene Service (MHS) to test an estimated 261 casualty cattle for BSE. Investigations had been undertaken on behalf of the Steering Group by the independent auditors PKF. Paul Holley had acted as Secretary to the Steering Group.

47. The Chairman informed Board members that he had received the Report, which had been published on 11 October , on behalf of the Board and that Patrick Wall had confirmed that the conclusions had been unanimously supported by the Steering Group. It was now proposed that an action plan to address the recommendations made in the Report should be prepared by the Executive and presented to the Board for consideration at its open meeting in December. The Chairman invited Board members to comment on the findings of the Report and on the inquiry process.

48. Board members welcomed the Report and commended the Steering Group for the speed with which it had been produced, its thoroughness and its clear observations. Some Board members commented on the differences between the situation reported for Northern Ireland compared to that for the rest of the UK. One Board member pointed out however that the MHS was a much larger service than that in NI.

49. Many Board members noted the clarity with which deficiencies had been identified in the Report and felt it would be important for the new MHS Governing Board to play a full part in taking forward the necessary changes. Board members also noted the importance of the audit processes and procedures and the need properly to address these in the action plan. Finally, it was noted that all the organisations ' FSA, Defra, MHS and their contractors ' contributed to the testing failures to one degree or another.

50. Barbara Saunders informed Board members that it was important to recognise that the twelve recommendations in the Report addressed the identified failings in a structured way and that the Steering Group had felt that many of them could be acted upon without difficulty. The Report had made clear that the failures carried very low risks to public safety. The lack of clarity in instructions on these testing requirements was in clear contrast with the clarity, and rigorous enforcement, of the BSE controls. The situation in Northern Ireland (NI) appeared more satisfactory but here there was a smaller, more compact, industry and it would not be possible to transfer the NI model to the rest of the UK.

51. One Board member, referring to the detail of the Report, sought clarification on what a measure of technical performance might be (Para 22, bullet point 1). It was explained that an example was the comparison of an expected level of failures against that actually recorded. In response to a further question about the level of ante-mortem inspection applied (Para 24) it was explained that what had been required was that all animals displaying any injuries or abnormalities, no matter how insignificant, be tested and not that an enhanced level of ante-mortem inspection be carried out.

52. The Chief Executive of the FSA assured Board members that the FSA, Defra and the MHS would work closely together to draw up an action plan for the Board to consider in December. Both the MHS Governing Board and the Steering Group would be asked to consider the action plan. The Chief Executive reminded Board members that he had regularly reported, and would continue to report, to them on the corrective actions that had previously been taken by the MHS and would be discussing with Defra how best to clarify the appropriate instructions and clarify delivery on the ground as soon as possible.

53. The Chairman thanked Barbara Saunders for attending the meeting at very short notice and noted that the Board had:

• welcomed the Report and commended the Steering Group for its clarity and the speed with which it had been produced;
• accepted the Report and its conclusions;
• accepted that the action plan to address the recommendations made in the Report should be discussed at the December 2004 open Board meeting.

Item 7 ' Reports from Chairs of Advisory Committees
(Papers FSA 04/10/04, FSA 04/10/05 and FSA 04/10/06)

Northern Ireland

54. The Chair of the Northern Ireland Food Advisory Committee (NIAC) reported on the meeting held on 5 October 2004 in closed session. The Committee had discussed its future plan and the FSA's role in sustainable development. The Chair also noted that she was establishing contacts with many stakeholders and representatives of the NI administration and would continue to do so in the future.

Scotland

55. The Chair of the Food Advisory Committee for Scotland (SFAC) informed Board members that 300 information packs had been requested, following the advertisement for five vacancies on the Committee.

Wales

56. The Chair of the Welsh Food Advisory Committee (WFAC) reported on some initiatives funded by Welsh local authorities in primary schools. These could provide an example for work that might be done outside of Wales.

Any Other Business

57. There were two items of other business:

Evaluation of Catering for Health
(Paper INFO 04/10/01)

58. In response to a question from Michael Gibson, the Chief Executive agreed to circulate to Board members a note clarifying the position of the FSA with regards to the curriculum for food related National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). Ann Hemingway asked for confirmation that attention would also be given to the standard text used by students and the assessment process. The Chairman also noted that the next progress report on nutrition would include issues related to catering for health.
Action: Rosemary Hignett

Review of MHS Performance against Targets 2004/05
(Paper INFO 04/10/02)

59. The Chairman noted that this information paper would be considered by the MHS Governing Board on 2 November 2004 and that the Chair of the MHS Governing Board would report back on it at the December 2004 open Board meeting.
Action: MHS Governing Board Secretariat

Date of Next meeting

60. The next open meeting would be held on 9 December 2004 in London.