The burden of inspections on food businesses could be reduced as part of a new government strategy designed to ensure a vibrant, profitable and growing UK food and farming sector, a government minister indicated to the meat industry last month.
The cost of official food hygiene inspections remains a contentious issue for many primary meat processors that would like to see the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA’s) monopoly on inspecting abattoirs broken.
Food and farming minister Jim Paice has pledged to fight new EU rules ordering changes to the labelling of desinewed meat (DSM) products, which come into force tomorrow (May 26).
Recent research linking an increased risk of pancreatic cancer with sausages and other processed and red meats is unlikely to hit sales, according to informed industry insiders.
