News

 FDF has updated the ‘Product Labelling Requirements’ section of its Ukraine webpage as follows:

"80% of global sunflower oil exports originate from Ukraine or Russia and many manufacturers will need to switch to alternative vegetable oils and certain other ingredients (e.g. emulsifiers). This has implications for information included on product labels. Based on our initial work with Government, pragmatic enforcement has now been advised in order to help minimise any supply disruptions. This includes a specific derogation for the substitution of sunflower oil with refined rapeseed oil. The FDF are in ongoing discussions to broaden out this derogation to other ingredients. Companies are strongly advised to have conversations with their Local/Primary Authorities for these case by case and temporary enforcement flexibilities to be permitted."

The Food Security page on the Food Authenticity Network has also been updated accordingly.

In response to requests for information on emerging food security issues from our Members, the Food Authenticity Network Team has created a ‘Food Security Resource Base’ on our website, which signposts stakeholders to third party content on potential / actual disruption to the food and drink supply chain resulting from the current conflict in Ukraine.

The information is presented in two sections:

• Government information
• Food Industry information.

Food and You 2 is a biannual survey which measures self-reported consumer knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to food safety and other food issues amongst adults in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The survey is primarily carried out online using a methodology known as ‘push-to-web’.

Fieldwork was conducted between 28 April 2021 and 25 June 2021. A total of 6,271 adults from 4,338 households across England, Wales and Northern Ireland completed the survey.

Topics covered in the Food and You 2: Wave 3 Key Findings report include:

• Confidence in food safety, authenticity and the food supply chain  
• Concerns about food  
• Food security
• Food shopping and labelling 
• Online platforms 
• Food-related behaviours and eating habits.

Read final report and technical report.

DOI https://doi.org/10.46756/sci.fsa.ejl793

USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) has published its annual International Food Security Assessment, which shows that the worldwide coronavirus pandemic has made food security worse.

The annual report determines how much access people in 76 low and middle-income countries have to food. The answer to that question requires tracking incomes, food prices, and other economic factors including agriculture production and market conditions.

“In the 76 low- and middle-income countries examined in the report, the number of people considered food insecure in 2020 was estimated at almost 761 million people or 19.8 percent of the total population. The shock to GDP from COVID-19 is projected to increase the number of food-insecure people by 83.5 million people in 2020 to 844.5 million and increase the share of the population that is food insecure to 22 percent.”

Read full article.

The UK food industry has asked the government to waive aspects of competition law to allow firms to co-ordinate and direct supplies with each other after a no-deal Brexit.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) said it repeatedly asked ministers for clarity on a no-deal scenario.

Existing rules prohibit suppliers and retailers discussing supply or pricing.

The industry says leaving in the autumn could pose more supply problems than the original Brexit date last March.

The FDF, which represents a wide range of food companies and trade associations, said: "We asked for these reassurances at the end of last year. But we're still waiting."

The boss of one leading retailer told the BBC: "At the extreme, people like me and people from government will have to decide where lorries go to keep the food supply chain going. And in that scenario we'd have to work with competitors, and the government would have to suspend competition laws."

Read full story.

This post-graduate course is the result of a partnership between the Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at Queen's University Belfast and multinational analytical laboratory instrument and software company Waters Corporation. It offers professionals the chance to learn remotely on a part-time basis from renowned experts to increase their knowledge of the threats to feed and food compromising food security, and also about the techniques and methods which can be used to confirm food safety and integrity. Topics include concerns around food fraud, authenticity and traceability, the links between chemical contaminants and human and animal health, the biological hazards and threats posed by animal feed and food, the various technologies used to enable rapid and early detection of food safety issues, and the current and future global food legislation needed to ensure and maintain sustainable food safety production. The course is currently accepting applications for October 2017 and February 2018 start dates.

Read the article and see a video at: On-line Masters in Food Fraud

A Chatham House report warns of 'chokepoints' in the supply of food, such as the Suez Canal, the US rail network and the Turkish Straits, could become 'epicentres of systemic disruption'. It also reports that the world’s food supplies are in danger as climate change and the increasing reliance on global trade threaten to create shortages and sudden, dramatic increases in prices. The report’s authors warned of a growing risk  to food security with the potential for systemic disruption. Investment in infrastructure lags demand growth: critical networks in major crop-producing regions are weak and ageing, and extra capacity is urgently needed.  

Read the report at: Climate change vulnerabilities of food security