Food

Since we all consume food, this policy area impacts on all consumers which makes it of great importance and interest.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in food and more specifically food and health, food labelling and food risk. For this reason the SCC's work in the policy area of food is very broad often crossing many policy areas. It covers all topics of interest to the consumer from ingredients through to the food on the plate, for example:

Nutrition and diet are also part of the remit and examples of issues here are:

The SCC ensures that the consumer voice is heard in all these areas. In order to do this we have contact with many different groups, agencies and institutions including the Food Standards Agency, Scottish Executive, Scottish Parliament, European Commission, World Health Organization, the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland  and the food industry.

As well as the Food Policy Manager, there are also two projects located in the SCC offices, which were set up following direct recommendations from the "Eating for Health A Diet Action Plan for Scotland" commonly known as the Scottish Diet Action Plan. For more details on the Action Plan click here.

The two projects are:

• Community Food and Health (Scotland) which was set up following the recommendation in the Report to "promote and focus dietary initiatives in low income communities and bring these within a stategic format."

Website: http://www.communityfoodandhealth.org.uk

• The healthyliving award is a national award for the food service and catering sector in Scotland. It was established to make it easier for people eating out to know where to go for healthier food, and to encourage the food service industry to provide healthier food on their menus

healthyliving award website: www.healthylivingaward.co.uk

Current work: Food