Food Chain Strategy Research Programme (H01)

The aim of the programme is to underpin and take forward the strategic work carried out by the Division. In particular, it focuses on aspects of food safety in relation to farming practice, establishing critical control points throughout the food chain, and improving the technical knowledge of small food businesses. The research will contribute towards the FSA meeting its objective of reducing the incidence of foodborne illness.

The current programme is divided into two components:

• Research to prepare fact sheets on technical knowledge of food processes to assist small food businesses.
• Research to establish the nature of breakdowns in food safety that have occurred in the recent past, and, in the light of this exercise, to establish an ongoing monitoring system.

Technical knowledge of food processes

The FSA task force on the burden of food regulation on small food businesses (report published June 2001) said that in order to implement HACCP, a business not only needs to understand HACCP but it needs to have sufficient technical knowledge or assistance to identify the hazards inherent in the process.

However, the report concluded that the technical knowledge of small food businesses is variable. It recommended that the FSA take forward the provision of fact sheets on food processes, prepared by specialists in as non-technical a way as possible.

This will help the FSA meet its objective of reducing the incidence of foodborne illness.

The nature of breakdowns in food safety

In order to identify priority areas for action FSA needs an analysis of where past breakdowns in food safety have occurred and their causes. Within the FSA, knowledge about specific breakdowns in food safety tends to reside with individuals, and may be lost when they move on. There is no central data system that allows details of breakdowns to be stored. This makes analysis of trends and identification of critical control points in the food chain very difficult and based on incomplete evidence. No other organisation has collated a comprehensive set of data on breakdowns in safety.

The creation of a historical database, covering all types of food safety breakdown, across the range of hazards will provide the Agency with an invaluable resource to underpin many areas of work. An ongoing monitoring system will also allow future trends to be identified and tracked so that the most appropriate action can be taken. Analysis of trends over time will also aid evaluation of intervention measures.

This project will help the FSA meet its objective of reducing the incidence of foodborne illness. It also has the potential to underpin other priority objectives, such as those in the areas of enforcement, chemical safety, and promoting best practice.

Name: Ms Narriman Looch
Tel: 020 7276 8410
Email: narriman.looch@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk