Meeting of the Parliament 02 October 2014
Thank you, Presiding Officer.
I thank the members of the Health and Sport Committee for their detailed consideration of the proposals in the Food (Scotland) Bill and for their report on the bill.
As members have often said, we are rightly proud of the quality of Scottish produce and of the many Scottish food and drink brands that are recognised across the globe. It is not just high-end brands that have a global reputation; members should remember how Irn-Bru and Tunnock’s teacakes took centre stage at the Commonwealth games opening ceremony—they are national icons.
Despite our international reputation for high-quality food and drink products and for products that are regularly found in the shopping trolleys of families throughout the UK, only 18 months ago reports of the horsemeat fraud filled the media and provoked widespread concern and uncertainty about the origin and quality of the food that is on sale across Scotland, whether it is intended for domestic consumption or for children in schools, patients in hospitals or residents in care homes.
The revelations focused public attention on how our food is produced and processed as it makes its way along the chain from source to store. The timely Scudamore report had been published some months earlier and contained proposals for the establishment of a Scottish food standards body. It was noted in the report that food safety in Scotland seems out of step with the position in the rest of the UK, given that Scotland has experienced higher reporting levels of E coli.
The inspection and regulation of the food industry across the board, whether we are talking about supply and production or hospitality and catering services, are much needed. Therefore, I was worried to read about the concern that Unison expressed, in evidence to the committee, about cuts in recent years in the number of environmental health officers. Given the history of food safety in Scotland, it is vital that the food inspection workforce remains adequately resourced and supported. Further detail on such issues and other aspects of FSS’s work would be welcome as the bill progresses. I look forward to the issues being explored at stage 2.
A key objective of the new body will be:
“to improve the extent to which members of the public have diets which are conducive to good health”.
As is the case with aspects of food standards Scotland’s administration and governance, the detail of how FSS will address Scotland’s dietary challenges needs to be explored further. I note that the Scottish Government has confirmed that the detail will be firmed up when the organisation is properly established.
It is vital that food standards Scotland’s powers to improve diet and nutrition are used and function well alongside the powers of, for example, the NHS. I look forward to learning more about how FSS will interact with existing bodies and stakeholders, including local government and the third sector, in improving the wellbeing of Scotland’s people.
Throughout Scotland there are examples of community-based food-growing projects, schools that work with parents to improve knowledge of nutrition and cooking, and projects that bulk-buy food and make it available to communities where the choice in local shops might be limited. I firmly believe that such initiatives have a big role to play in changing behaviour and raising awareness.
I hope that that will be recognised as we move forward, because we remain a nation that has worryingly high levels of obesity among men, women and children. Scottish health survey data indicates that in 2012 as many as one in six children were at risk of obesity. We are what we eat, but although that is perhaps irrefutable it is not enough in itself to influence behaviours and attitudes to food. I say that as a grandma who has been known to treat the family to a fast-food feast. Members should consider my use of the word “treat”, which says something about our attitudes to food. I confess that my grandchildren would probably choose the fast-food option over Grandma’s home cooking any day. The health implications of the food that we eat are huge and directly impact on day-to-day quality of life as well as long-term wellbeing.
At the time of the horsemeat fraud last year there was renewed focus on how people can access good-quality, affordable, fresh food. Many people simply have neither the money in their pocket nor the time in their day to pop along to their local organic market, even if such a thing exists in their area, and many people do not have the skills or equipment to produce a nutritious home-cooked meal. None of those are circumstances over which people might have much control, so realistic discussions are needed about how people access food in their communities and what choices are available.
We need to consider the quality of food when the consumer may be vulnerable and yet have little choice available. Members will recall that there was widespread concern about the content of meals in schools, hospitals and care homes as well as about the meat that was being sold in supermarkets up and down the country.
That horsemeat fraud episode flagged up a clear breach of trust, which is why the bill’s provisions on food labelling are so important. We must be able to trace food back through the chain to the production stage—to the slaughterhouses and suppliers at the beginning of the process. Many of the problems last year were traced to international suppliers. There was a good response to that scandal, but I am keen to see clear measures on how we can prevent such incidents from ever occurring again.
Although there were some reservations from those who gave evidence, on the whole there has been clear support for the establishment of a separate food standards body and I am happy to lend my support to that. However, as others have noted, we must ensure that cross-border regulations work well and that Scottish producers are not faced with additional labelling burdens or different requirements if they are selling to markets in the rest of the UK.
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