Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to maintain UK food standards.

Food law provides a robust framework that protects public health and consumer interests and requires food businesses that produce, process, and distribute food to apply food safety controls that ensure food they place on the market is safe and is what it says it is. United Kingdom food standards are maintained through enforcement of official controls predominantly by local authorities.

Joint reports produced by the UK’s food safety bodies, the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland, show that food standards across the UK remained stable in 2021 and 2022 despite multiple challenges to the food system.

These reports use data and evidence gathered from activities undertaken to protect the consumer, such as targeted surveillance sampling to monitor the safety and authenticity of food and disruptions to criminal activity through the National Food Crime Unit.