Following a public consultation in the summer of 2009, the Food Standards Agency has today recommended that food manufacturers reduce saturated fat in foods such as biscuits, cakes, buns, chocolates and added sugar in soft drinks.The Agency also wants to see more smaller single-portion sizes available in some of these foods, which contribute much of the saturated fat and calories in our diet. The Agency is encouraging industry to: * reduce saturated fat in biscuits, cakes, buns and chocolate confectionery *... ...Read more »

European politicians have voted against imposing traffic-light nutrition labels on foodstuffs sold across the EU. Members of the European Parliament, sitting on the European Parliament’s Environment Committee, decided against making the use of traffic lights mandatory but said EU member states may adopt national rules. Two weeks ago, the UK’s Food Standards Agency recommended the use of “flexible” front-of-pack labelling scheme that would include text, traffic lights and Guideline... ...Read more »

The UK’s Food Standard Agency this morning (10 March) agreed to the implementation of a single approach to front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling.At an open meeting held in Cardiff today, the FSA’s board said food businesses will now be encouraged to use all three elements – traffic light colours (red, amber and green), text (high, medium or low) and percentage Guideline Daily Amounts (% GDAs) – on the front of packaging. Businesses are also being encouraged to ensure that... ...Read more »

British consumers are eating less saturated fat, less trans fat and less added sugar than they were 10 years ago, according to results published in the first annual National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS). The UK Food Standards Agency announced yesterday that saturated fat intakes in adults have dropped slightly to 12.8% of food energy, compared with 13.3% in 2000/01, and men and children are eating less added sugar. These results reflect the vast improvement in public awareness and understanding... ...Read more »

 Australian producer The Chia Company has applied to the UK Food Standards Agency for an opinion on the ‘equivalence’ of their chia seed to be used in bread products in the EU.  Their chia seeds will be eligible for a simplified novel foods approval procedure if the Australian grown seeds are substantially equivalent to the South American grown chia seeds already on the market. The Chia Company is currently the world’s largest producer of natural, raw chia seeds, and gaining entry... ...Read more »

The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has created a list of recommendations to the food industry designed to reduce saturated fat and to increase the availability of healthier options and smaller portion sizes in savoury snacks. Meat products and dairy foods are key contributors of saturated fat and calories to our diet, the FSA noted. Many savoury snacks have been reformulated to reduce saturated fat recently, but they remain a focus because they are often high in fat and calories. As a result, the... ...Read more »

Over three quarters of people (77%) are not aware that bread and breakfast cereals are among leading salt-contributing foods in our diet, according to a new UK Food Standards Agency survey.Foods that contribute the most salt to the average diet are not necessarily the saltiest, but the ones consumers eat most often. The top three salt-contributing foods are bread, followed by meat products, then breakfast cereals, the Agency suggests. When asked to pick the top three from a list of the 10 foods that... ...Read more »

A local city council in the UK and the Food Standards Agency have successfully prosecuted the company behind an organic food scam worth more than half a million pounds (~A$1million). A home delivery and wholesale business named One Foods Limited supplied a range of products falsely described as organic to consumers and businesses across the UK. The fraud took place over a five year period. One Food Limited Director Neil Stansfield has received a 27 month prison sentence, while Company Secretary Kate... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest organic body – the Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA) – has rejected claims by Britain’s Food Standard Agency (FSA) that organic produce has no health or nutritional benefit over conventionally produced food. Shane Heaton, nutritionist spokesperson and researcher for the BFA, said that, despite the review finding that organic produce contains only slightly higher nutrient levels, the wider health and environmental benefits of organic over non-organic... ...Read more »

The UK’s food watchdog believes there are “no important differences in the nutrition content, or any additional health benefits” of organic food when compared with conventionally produced food, after receiving the results of an independent review. The focus of the review, commissioned by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), was the nutritional content of foodstuffs. Gill Fine, FSA Director of Consumer Choice and Dietary Health, said that the study did not suggest organic food wasn’t... ...Read more »