Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of food (a) labelling practices by supermarkets and (b) processing legislation.

The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels, whether that be mandatory or voluntary, so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy

All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules. The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food.

Responsibility for assessing business compliance with the majority of food legislation rests with Local Authorities (LAs). The Food Standards Agency (FSA) provides a framework for LAs to regulate food businesses. A key aspect of this is the statutory Food Law Code of Practice (Code) and associated Practice Guidance, which establish a set of expectations for the activities LAs are responsible for under food law and how these are to be delivered.

Food law provides a robust framework that protects public health 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. The FSA completed a Post Implementation Review of the Food Safety and Hygiene (England ) Regulations 2013 in 2020.