In moves to make more of its work and advice available to the public the Committee will be publishing quarterly newsletters. Minutes of its meetings will be published and from December detailed Committee papers will also be made available following each meeting. A new lay member has also been appointed to the Committee.
Mr Rooker said:
"I'm pleased to see the FAC taking steps to make its work more widely available. The Committee provides Ministers with invaluable advise on a wide range of food issues and it is important that consumers are aware of this work. I also welcome Mrs Matti Alderson and Dr Maureen Edmondson the new members on the committee."
Mrs Jowell added:
" This is a most welcome first step towards greater openness of the food advisory committee system. It is vital that people have access to information about the way food safety decisions are made so that they can be confident that the system is operating correctly and takes proper account of their interests. I am also pleased to see that the Committee is being strengthened by the appointment of a new lay member."
The FAC will also consider :
The FAC has been advising the government on food safety issues since 1983. Ministers announced on 30 July that the Committee's remit would be expanded in the run up to the Food Standards Agency. The Committee will take on responsibility for:
Committee membership is being widened to include another lay member - Mrs Matti Alderson, who is Director General of the Advertising Standards Authority.
Dr Maureen Edmondson (International Scientific Affairs, Mars Inc) will be replacing Mrs Joy Hardinge (Head of Flavours and Ingredients Legislation, Quest International) who has served on the Committee since 1991.
The following FAC members have been re-appointed: Professor Sir Colin Campbell (Chairman), Mr Roger Manley (Deputy Chairman), Mr Tom Miller, Mr Philip Strachan and Professor Christopher Ritson.
These appointments will take effect from November 1 1997.
The Food Advisory Committee's new Terms of Reference are:-
"To assess the risk to humans of chemicals which are used in or on food and to advise Ministers on the exercise of powers in the Food Safety Act 1990 relating to the labelling, composition and chemical safety of food. The Committee will also advise Ministers on general matters relating to food safety.
“In exercising its functions the Food Advisory Committee will take the advice and work of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT), the Advisory Committee on Novel Food and Processes (ACNFP), the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF) and other relevant advisory committees into account."
The Committee is a non-statutory body comprising a chairman and fifteen members appointed for their personal expertise and not to represent a particular interest. The Committee's main task is to review and prepare reports on all matters within its terms of reference and where necessary to make recommendations for legislation. Ministers pay high regard to the Committee's recommendations which form the basis of much of the UK's food legislation.