Food watchdog calls for horse meat review
The FSA Board today agreed that a review will be carried out into the Agency's response to the recent incidents of adulteration of processed beef products with horse and pig meat and DNA.
The Food Standards Agency has announced it is to commission an independent review into the horse meat scandal.
Headed by Professor Pat Troop, the review will examine the Agency's response to the adulteration of processed beef products such as beef burgers with horse meat, including the speed and clarity of its communication. She will consider the enforcement response of the FSA, whether its powers are sufficient for such cases and what lessons might be learnt.
A statement from the FSA said: "It is important that consumers and other stakeholders continue to be able to trust the FSA. We use this trust in order to take action, and to get others to take action, that contributes to our overriding priority and statutory objective of food safety."
The FSA said that Troop would have unrestricted access to all documents it holds relevant to the review. Her findings will be presented to the board on 4 June 2013 before a formal report is submitted for publication at the end of June.
The Scottish Government has already announced a review and the FSA expects other UK administrations to commission their own reviews to address broader issues relating to the incident, such as systematic failures in the food supply chain, how different organisations interact within the current regulatory framework, and future approaches to managing food adulteration risks.
Professor Pat Troop is currently vice chair of Cambridge University Hospitals. She was previously chief executive of the Health Protection Agency.
