"Half-baked" rules hit batch processors

"The rules as published on January 1 let the industry off the hook to a large extent," said Ian Smith, the chief executive of the Global Food Safety and Traceability Forum and manager of the EU-funded former Foodtrace Concerted Action Project. He said the Food Standards Agency (FSA) looked likely to take a "softly, softly approach to the entire question of traceability" under the new General Food Law to avoid piling extra costs on firms.

More diligent firms were frustrated by inconsistencies in the law, which left them uncertain about what they had to do, said Smith.

The result of the "half-baked" rules could be poor consumer protection and food safety crises: "It's like waiting for the next disaster to happen." Ultimately, he said, more regulation was likely if firms did not introduce internal traceability, as is likely to become the law in Belgium.

The companies most likely to fall foul of the law were those involved in batch processing, said Smith.

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