Food Standards Scotland is set to start on April 1. The Food (Scotland) Bill to set up the stand-alone body passed the Scottish Parliament in early December and received Royal Assent — meaning that the queen formally agrees to make the bill into law — on Jan. 13. Food Standards Scotland (FSS) will take over the work of the UK-wide Food Standards Agency’s division in Scotland and will tackle nutritional health, in addition to regulating food safety. “Attaining Royal Assent was the final hurdle in the primary legislation process towards a new food body for Scotland and marks the end of a mammoth task,” wrote Fiona Comrie on the Creating a New Food Body project blog. Plans for the new agency arose after the UK government transferred nutrition and food labeling in England from the Food Standards Agency to the Department of Health and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Scottish Public Health Minister Michael Matheson said the changes in England “removed significant capacity” in the agency’s nutrition and labeling functions for Scotland and needed to be addressed. It is estimated that foodborne illness affects about 132,000 Scots each year, resulting in 2,330 hospitalizations, 50 deaths, and £140 million in costs. The profile of foodborne disease varies across the UK, with higher rates of particular illnesses reported in the Scottish population compared to other countries. For example, E. coli O157 is consistently reported more frequently in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.
The News Desk team at Food Safety News covers breaking developments, regulatory updates, recalls, and key topics shaping food safety today. These articles are produced collaboratively by our editorial staff.
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
The Food and Drug Administration has named Donna Garren as the new director for its office of produce safety.
The office is housed in the FDA’s office of microbiology
California has become the first state to standardize sell-by dates on food labels.
The law was touted as a way to decrease food waste in the state, but it
The Food and Drug Administration uses import alerts to enforce U.S. food safety regulations for food from foreign countries. The agency updates and modifies the alerts as needed.
Recent
Fayus Inc., doing business as Yusol International Foods of Sacramento, CA, is recalling OLA-OLA POUNDED YAM because the product may contain undeclared milk in the form of sodium caseinate,
Eunha Fisheries Co. Ltd. of Busan, Republic of Korea, is recalling certain Sliced Korean Halibut and Flounder Sashimi products because the accompanying soy sauce and vinegar red pepper paste packets
Gellert Global Group of Elizabeth, NJ, is recalling 8.1 oz packages of ALDI Brand Fusia Asian Inspirations Kimchi & Tofu Kimbap because they may contain undeclared tuna.
People who
