Draft Food Additives, Flavourings, Enzymes and Extraction Solvents (amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Sharon Hodgson Excerpts

Monday 1st April 2019 General Committees

[Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Roger. We are very happy that you joined us by stepping in for your colleague. I thank the Minister for introducing the statutory instrument and summarising its provisions after it was withdrawn two weeks ago. I welcome him to his position, although I am not sure if it is permanent. I know he was already a Health Minister, but by taking on the public health brief, he will know he has big shoes to fill. His predecessor and colleague, the hon. Member for Winchester, who resigned from his ministerial position last week, was a formidable and accomplished Minister who I had a lot of respect for, and I wish him well.

Things are constantly changing and developing with Brexit, as we know. I would like to express once again my severe regret that almost three years since the referendum, the Government have failed to significantly prepare or lay sufficient Brexit legislation before the House in a timely manner. As I am sure the Whip especially will know, we have been very busy of late, and we have missed the 29 March deadline. Unless the Government can compromise on a way forward and secure support from across the House today or very soon, we are heading towards no deal on 12 April. In that scenario, this legislation will be vital. I hope that this week—I have been saying this for many weeks now—will be the week we achieve a good deal with the EU that will protect jobs, workers’ rights, our environment and, most importantly, our economy.

This SI was due to be debated two weeks ago, but was withdrawn from the Order Paper at the last minute. Can the Minister please illuminate and explain why that was? So far, an explanatory memorandum has accompanied all the statutory instruments that we have debated, apart from this one. Is that because the explanatory memorandum for the original draft still applies, or because the Government have omitted to provide one? I would be grateful if he could explain the reason for the delay and set out the differences between the two versions of the SI.

Throughout the debates on SIs, I have raised concerns about the time available to scrutinise them. This SI perfectly highlights my point that without a clear summary being available to the Opposition of what the SI is designed to achieve and what consultations the Government have undertaken, it is almost impossible to scrutinise the legislation properly in the given timeframe. There has been a lack of time to scrutinise properly the Food Standards Agency SIs that the Government have brought to the House and crucial details have been omitted from them, which industry representatives have raised concerns about, too. Now that the leaving date has changed, what conversations has the Minister’s Department had with the industry about what these SIs will mean for their businesses and day-to-day working, and has the Department provided more information and reassurance to them?

Food improvement agents are used in or on food for a technological purpose during its production or storage. They are also used to improve the taste, texture and appearance of food. Examples include artificial sweeteners, preservatives and flavourings. The majority of us will come into contact with food improvement agents daily. However, the Minister must appreciate that, for medical reasons, not everyone is able to consume food improvement agents. The relevant legislation provides specific labelling requirements for certain food products sold to consumers. An example would be mandatory warnings on products containing aspartame, as it is a source of phenylalanine, which could be detrimental to those suffering from PKU—phenylketonuria. Any reduction in standards for food labelling and mandatory warnings on products could be dangerous for people with dietary requirements. What may seem unnecessary to people who do not have those dietary requirements will be vital to those who do. What assurance can the Minister give that this legislation will not put PKU patients, in particular, in danger? I am particularly concerned that it could make the PKU diet even more difficult to maintain if warnings are removed from food labelling.

This SI will revoke for the whole of the UK a regulation that established a programme for the re-evaluation of approved food additives, as it is not thought appropriate or necessary to retain that legislation for the UK. Will the Minister elaborate on why that is? The SI goes on to say that there are other mechanisms by which new and emerging scientific data must be brought to the attention of decision makers by applicants. Will he please tell the Committee what those mechanisms are? The former Minister wrote to me about this SI, saying:

“I would like to reassure you that the UK will continue to monitor scientific evaluations and outputs from international assessment bodies such as EFSA and The Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives…to ensure that we remain alert to emerging scientific analyses.”

Has this Minister made any assessment of how long it would take to update regulations in the event of any new scientific analysis? What will happen if our European neighbours decide that a food additive is unsafe? Will we follow the lead of our neighbours? How will those decisions be made? Under these changes, if an application is made for a new additive to be introduced, will that be made public, and if not, why not? What will be the arrangements for collecting data, monitoring the effectiveness of the regulations and regularly reporting?

The Food Standards Agency will take on a lot of responsibility in this area after Brexit. Is the Minister confident that the agency is prepared and properly resourced to take on that extra burden? The health and safety of the public is paramount in all this, and I hope he ensures that safeguards are in place so that food containing any food improvement agents that are found to be harmful is quickly removed from the market. I look forward to his response.