Sir

In response to your story 'FSA and FDF continue to chew the sat fats' (Food Manufacture, August, p4), I would like to inform your readers that the Agency is on track to deliver a consumer awareness campaign focusing on saturated fat early next year.

We are building partnerships with industry groups and are in discussions about ways to reduce saturated fat in foods - there has been no disagreement over targets. We are listening to concerns and supporting industry to reformulate products in a way that will benefit consumers, maintain product quality and acceptability, and fit with manufacturers' reformulation and development programmes.

We have had positive discussions with a wide range of companies and are encouraged that industry has engaged with the Agency in its efforts to reduce the amount of saturated fat we eat in the UK.

A diet too high in saturated fat is linked to heart disease and so we take the job of trying to cut potentially life threatening illnesses very seriously - we hope that industry will do the same.

Rosemary Hignett

Head of nutrition

Food Standards Agency