Current work

Pupils not eating School lunches

Scottish Executive statistics show that only 46.15% of school pupils had school lunches in 2006 with the figure for secondary schools being even lower(43.4%). Many of these children purchase food from local outlets. The West of Scotland Liaison Group found on surveying food that children had bought that compared with Hungry for Success targets, 55%of the samples were above the recommended fat content (34% more than double)and 85% were above the recommended sodium level (50% more than double).

The SCC is researching further what choices pupils who do not

eat school lunches make and exploring further the reasons behind their choices.

Questionnaires have been sent to S3/4 pupils  and retailers in 3 areas and in depth paired interviews with pupils carried out. A Chairmans Lunch was held to discuss the issue and the report  has now beeen agreed by Council. It should be published shortly.

Commercial Sponsorship in the Public Sector

In 2006 the SCC published a set of guidelines on commercial activities in schools following wide-spread concern that there had been a steep increase in sponsorship, advertising and marketing projects targeted at UK schools.  To read the schools guidelines, click here.

The SCC, at the request of the Scottish Government, is now drafting guidelines to cover all public sector organisations. It is anticipated that the work will encompass both health services and local government services (such as libraries and leisure centres).

The aim of the guidelines will be to help providers and other key stakeholders assess any commercial sponsorship offered to the service and to aid businesses by providing them with clear criteria for best practice in providing sponsorship to the public sector.

The guidelines are due for publication in June 2008.

For further information please contact Jennifer Wallace, Policy Manager (email: jwallace@scotconsumer.org.uk) or telephone 0141 227 6450.

Young People and Food Safety

In Feb 2002 the SCC published consumer research on 13-14 year olds to examine their knowledge of basic food safety and hygiene principles. This work enabled SCC to establish a robust evidence base of food safety awareness among young people and to make a series of recommendations.

Following discussions with REHIS and the Food Standards Agency Scotland, the survey (with amendments ) was carried out again to enable comparisions to be made. This work was published in May and can be downloaded from our publications pages. A press release is also available.

The research demonstrated that there is good and reasonable knowledge of food hygiene issues in some areas. However the areas of poor knowledge are remarkably similar to those found in 2000.

The gap in this knowledge needs to be addressed and SCC have listed recommendations to this end. These include the call to the Scottish Food Advisory Committee to set targets for the Food Standards Agency in this area. In particular we are concerned that the language used in food hygiene messages is reviewed so that it is easy for consumers to understand.

SCC has produced a leaflet for 13-14 year olds summarising our findings and sent these to all schools in Scotland.

The Scottish Food Advisory Committee (SFAC) discussed the Report and set up a Working Group to discuss the recommendations. This Group reported back to the SFAC and it was agreed that the FSA should review the term "piping hot" and advice on egg storage and re-heating of food.

Independent Review of the Scottish Diet Action Plan 1996-2005

NHS Health Scotland commissioned a review of the Scottish Diet Action Plan in 2006. A Review Panel was set up which Prof Tim Lang was asked to chair.

As part of the review process, they gathered information from key stakeholders identified in the Diet Action Plan about activities which they had undertaken in their sector over the last ten years to implement the recommendations of the Diet Action Plan.

SCC submitted detailed answers to the questionnaires. A covering letter was also been sent outlining our activities and interests in food in the last ten years.

Following the publication of the Report, the SCC held a Chairmans Lunch to discuss the content with a wide range of stakeholders.The occasion saw a very lively enthusiastic debate with a marked consensus on many issues. It was agreed that that these views should reach a wider audience. All attendees were asked to write short articles giving their perspective. Other stakeholders not present also kindly agreed to contribute.

These views have now been published by the SCC in the publication "Stakeholder Perspectives on the Scottish Diet Action Plan Review".  Copies can be downloaded from the publications pages of this website.

Please note that copies of the Review itself are available on the NHS Health Scotland website. http://www.healthscotland.com/understanding/evaluation/policy-reviews/review-diet-action.aspx

Food Promotion to Children

The SCC is supporting the Sustain (Alliance for better farming and food) national campaign to protect children from unhealthy food promotions.

We replied to the Food Standards Agency's initial consultation indicating that we feel that legislation should be introduced to protect children from being directly targeted by advertising that promotes foods that contribute to an unhealthy diet. These include breakfast cereals, soft drinks, confectionary, crisps, savoury snacks and other products containing high levels of fat sugar or salt. We believe that voluntary approaches are not working and that statutory controls are needed.

All the SCC responses to the various consultations can be found under Consultation responses. The SCC have also commented on other specific items and detailed initiatives already taking place in Scotland. SCC press releases following Ofcom activities can also be found.

Up to date details on the Sustain campaign can be obtained from their website www.sustain.org.uk.

Cross party group: Food issues

The SCC worked closely with some MSPs to set up a Cross Party Group within the Scottish Parliament to look at food issues.

The Inaugural meeting of the Cross Party Group: Food, was held at Holyrood on November 3 2004. Officers were elected and the main item discussed was local food procurement. Papers for this meeting are available here.

The second meeting of the Cross Party Group was held on 23 February 2005. There was a short presentation from Laurent Vernet (Quality Meat Scotland) on some new information on Sustainability and Local Authorities in Scotland.

The main Agenda item covered Responsible retailing in Scotland. This was introduced by short presentations from Dame Deidre Hutton CBE Chair of the National Consumer Council (NCC) (consumer perspective) and Michelle Lewis Head of Governmental Affairs Asda (industry perspective). Papers for this meeting are available here.

Members of the Cross Party Group were keen to have a Sub Group on Local Food Procurement. The first meeting was held at the Parliament on September 14 under the Chairmanship of John Scott MSP. Papers for this meeting are available here.

The third meeting of the full Cross party Group on Food was held on October 26th 2005. The main item for discussion was the Skills Shortage in the Food and Drink Industry in Scotland . There were presentations from Sylvia Halkerston (Macphie/SFDF)giving the manufacturers viewpoint and from Prof John Palfreyman (Uni of Abertay) presenting his new research "Education and Sustainability for the Scottish Food and Drink Industry." Papers for this meeting are available here.

The fourth meeting was held on 3 May 2006 and discussed how to improve the food access infrastructure serving disadvantaged communities. There were presentations from Ian Shankland (ECFI) and Bill Gray CFHS).

Members of the Group felt that a Working Group should be set up to take these ideas further. A meeting was held in June. Following this, CFHS agreed to fund a scoping study of the existing and potential capacity for collective action to improve the supply chain infrastucture by the community and the voluntary sector tackling food access. EKOS were engaged

to carry out this work. They are keen to talk to Members of the Cross party and to hear their views. Papers for this meeting are available here.

The fifth meeting was the AGM and officers were elected. The Secretariat is now shared between Mary Lawton (SCC) and Flora McLean (SFDF).The main topic was that of Success stories of the food chain and three case studies wwere presented and discussed. Speakers were

- David Austin - a farmer from Boreland of Girthon Farm

-Karol Rzepkowski -organic cod-Johnsons seafarms

- John Etherington -salt reformulation-Baxters Food Group

Papers for this meeting are available here.

The sixth meeting was a joint meeting with the Scottish Environment Link(SEL) and focussed on the Scottish Diet Action Plan (SDAP) Review. There were the following speakers

- Prof Tim Lang-City Uni and Chair of SDAP Review Panel

-Prof Charlie Jeffrey- Edinburgh Uni and Institute of Governance

-Bill Gray -CFHS

-Hugh Raven-SDC/SEL

-Dr Laurence Gruer - NHS Scotland

Papers for this meeting are available here.

Re Registered Group

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE GROUP HAS NOW BEEN RE-REGISTERED.

FOLLOWING THE ELECTRONIC ELECTION THERE ARE NOW 5 JOINT CONVENERS.

JOHN SCOTT (CONSERVATIVE)

LEWIS MACDONALD (LABOUR)

ROB GIBSON (SNP)

JIM HUME (LD)

PATRICK HARVIE (GREEN)

Minutes of the previous session can no longer appear on the Government website and we are currently in the process of placing them here. Minutes and Agendas from the current session are on the Parliamentary website.

The first meeting of the new session was held on 28 November 2007 and where Alllan Burns introduced a debate on the newly formed Scootland of Food and Drink

The second meeting was held on 6 February 2008 where the two Ministers Richard Lochhead and Shona Robison discussed the discussion document on a national food policy -Choosing the Right Ingredients -the Future for Food In Scotland.

The third meeting was held on 5 March 2008 and was the first of two meetings scheduled to discuss themes raised for a national food policy raised by CPG members. This meeting covered health (introduced by Fergus Millan) and inclusion (introduced by Moyra Burns).

The Working Group looking at Improving Food Access Infrastructure Serving Disadvantaged Communities met on 4 March 2008. Minutes have been distributed. The accompanying documents are available here.

Ekos Final document

Ekos presentation

The fourth meeting was held on 16 April 2008 and was the second meeting covering themes. This meeting discussed Skills(introduced by Sylvia Halkerston) and Sustainability (introduced by Duncan Oswald). Copies of the presentation by Duncan Oswald are available here.

Minutes of the last three meetings together with the Working Group minutes have been submitted for inclusion in the national food policy debate.

Please note that any member of the public can attend a Cross Party Group meeting.

Food Hygiene Information Scheme

In Feb 2004 the SCC published the Food Law Enforcement Report looking at the views of environmental health and food safety officers in Scotland in February. This report is available in our Publications section.

One of its recommendations was for the Food Standards Agency to set up a working group to examine the best way of making the findings of inspection reports public.

A presentation was made by the SCC to the Scottish Food Advisory Committee (SFAC) in June 2004 and a Chairman's Lunch hosted in September 2004 to discuss the report.

Following this meeting the SFAC asked for a paper outlining the SCC views on Consumer Information on the Inspection of Food Premises.

  SCC Report on Consumer Information on the Inspection  of Food Premises.

This report was circulated widely. It was discussed at the SFAC meeting in January 2005 and it was agreed that the Food Standards Agency (FSA) should set up a Working Group to find a system of informing the public of outcome of restaurant inspections.

The FSA Working Group was set up in May and a Report produced in October 2005.This is available on the FSA website. This report recommended that a Stakeholder Steering Group be established to oversee a pilot scheme that would provide information about the level of compliance with hygiene legislation to consumers . This information should be in a consumer friendly format and available at the premises.

SCC (as a member of the Working Group) presented the recommendations of this report to SFAC in November 2005.

FSAS set up this Steering Group of which SCC was a member. A pilot scheme was launched on November 6th and is being run in parts of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Fife and Renfrewshire. it applies to all premises supplying food to the public in these pilot areas.There are around 3000 establishments taking part . Thye have been asked to display certificates prominently on the door or window of their premises which show how well they did in their hygiene inspections. These certificates state "Pass" or "Improvement Required". New businesses have an Awaiting Inspection certificate.

Further details of the scheme can be found on the FSA website and a press release found on our Publications pages.

The scheme will be evaluated by the Scottish Steering Group and will also be discussed along with other schemes at FSA UK. Mary Lawton has been asked to be a member of this UK Advisory Group.

At the FSA board meeting on12 March 2008 it was agreed that ther should be a consultation on a hybrid (3 star scheme) which takes some elements of different regional English schemes and the Scottish Food Hygiene Information scheme.

Food labelling

It is vital that consumers have relevant information about the food they eat that they can easily understand.

SCC have responded to various consultations regarding labelling.

These can be found under Food -Publications and cover such areas as use of the terms "vegetarian" and "vegan", labelling of natural mineral water and bottled water  and labelling of allergens.

Signpost Labelling

A current labelling issue is that of signpost labelling.

Food Standards Agency research in 2001 found that many consumers had difficulty using nutritional information as presented on food labels.

The NCC held a seminar on nutrient profiling and produced a report "Traffic Lights for Food" in June 2004 that can be downloaded from their website.

Since then SCC have responded to several consultations from the Food Standards Agency on nutrient profiling and more recently on a voluntary front of pack labelling scheme. The last response was written jointly with the NCC. These responses can be found under Food-Publications.

The joint response welcomed the proposals for a multiple traffic light scheme and supported a roll out scheme to include all pre-packaged foods within two years. Our main concern was that the key to the success of this voluntary scheme was the support given by and uptake from industry. Some companies had already introduced some form of labelling and our view was that a consistent approach was essential so the consumer is not confused.

SCC therefore believes that the FSA traffic light scheme is the best way forward.

The Food Standards Agency has launched a new front of pack food labelling system for food designed to make it easier for consumers to choose the healthier option. Click the logo for further information.

Martyn Evans, Director of the Scottish Consumer Council said:

“Consumers need clear information to allow them to make healthy choices. We are wholly in favour of the FSA traffic light scheme. It has the merit of simplicity and clarity. In addition it has been rigorously tested with consumers. We expect all responsible retailers and manufacturers to adopt the scheme”.

Nutritional strategies in the UK

The SCC organized a UK Nutritional Strategies Round Table Discussion, held in Glasgow on 25 November 2004. There were attendees from each country in the UK representing their

Representatives from the World Health Organization and the European Commission also attended.

There was a dynamic exchange of views and attendees learnt from each others experiences. Those present were keen to have a follow up meeting.

Minutes of the meeting can be downloaded from here.

A Paper was also drawn up giving Key Elements of a Successful Strategic Approach.

This can be downloaded here.