Foodlaw-Reading Dr David Jukes, The University of Reading, UK
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Food Law News - UK - 2023

FSA News Item, 20 January 2023

ADMINISTRATION - The FSA publishes its Annual Report and Accounts for 2021/22

Food Standards Agency: Westminster Annual Report and Accounts 2021–2022 A copy of the report is available on this site (click on image). Provided under the Open Government Licence. The original document was accessed from:

We have today published our Consolidated, Westminster, Wales and Northern Ireland Annual Report and Accounts for the past financial year. These cover our performance and activities in 2021/22 across England, Wales and Northern Ireland at a net cost of £130.5 million.

In her foreword to the report, Professor Susan Jebb, FSA Chair wrote:

'I welcome this Annual Report and Accounts and am pleased to see the progress being made against the objectives previously agreed by the FSA Board. While acknowledging the work that was ongoing through the year to manage the impact of COVID-19 and EU Exit, it has been good to see a growing emphasis on recovery from the pandemic and adaptation to the expanded role for the FSA post EU Exit. Ongoing work in areas ranging from food hypersensitivity to regulatory reform, and further investment in science and research are all to be welcomed.'

Chief Executive Emily Miles explained in her foreword that last year the FSA took on responsibility for many of the risk analysis functions previously carried out by the European Commission and the European Food Safety Authority, progressing 428 live regulated products applications and providing risk assessments and advice on a number of topics.

Emily Miles also explained: 'We have progressed reforms and continued with our key regulatory responsibilities, from classifying shellfish beds to operating meat hygiene inspections, to investigating the most egregious examples of food fraud. We also saw a 21% increase in the number of notifications of food incidents during the reporting period.'

Our year in numbers

Activity and performance across England, Wales and Northern Ireland included the following.

Hygiene and standards:

• Public attitudes – 75% reported that they trusted the FSA to ensure food is safe and what it says it is.
• Foodborne disease(footnote 1) – laboratory confirmed cases in UK per 100,000 population in 2021(footnote) were Campylobacter 101.9, Salmonella 8.8, Shiga-toxin-producing E.coli 0.89, Listeria monocytogenes 0.28.
• Our total science and research spend: £16.6 million.
• 98.9% meat food business operators rated ‘Good’ or ‘Generally Satisfactory’ for compliance.

Delivery:

• Food and feed incidents – 2,336 food, animal feed and environmental contamination incidents.
• Animal welfare – 1,036,098,739 animals inspected. 99%+ recorded compliance with animal welfare legislation in slaughterhouses.
• National Food Crime Unit – first conviction following an investigation led by the Unit.
• Nutrition: Northern Ireland – 63% increase in recipes added to MenuCal.

Our people:

• Civil Service people survey – 68% Employee engagement index score.

For additional specific reports relating to Wales and Northern Ireland, see the FSA page: Reports and accounts