Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Views towards the concept of regulatory Views towards the concept of regulatory divergence divergence• There was also low awareness around the FSA's connection to healthy and sustainable food.Participants were supportive of this new role despite it seeming distinct and separate from the FSA's remit to ensure the safety and quality of food.• Participants had not considered the scale of the Official Controls process and were surprised at the overall scale of the meat industry in the UK.The continuous presence of Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors was reassuring and led to some initial resistance towards any potential changes that regulatory divergence might bring.• It was argued that the FSA should tell the public more about their role and responsibilities and the extent of current regulations.• Participants initially struggled to understand the need for regulatory divergence and what form it could take.This was especially true when it came to food safety.Participants tended to assume that food would either be 'safe' or 'not safe'.• Trust in the FSA was very high and was reflected by participants' beliefs that food would continue to be safe regardless of the regulatory framework in place.• Despite spontaneous resistance, there was greater support for divergence if it avoided complications for businesses or helped to reduce administration or save costs.• Generally, participants did not believe that regulatory divergence would have a significant impact on them as individuals.There was indifference towards two products appearing for sale that followed two sets of regulations.Concerns arose when participants felt the impact of divergence could lead to negative changes in the quality of meat products.• Attitudes towards regulatory divergence were influenced by three key factors:• The scale of the change and whether it was perceived as significant or more 'cosmetic'.Significant changes included those which could have a detrimental impact on animal welfare.Consumer Views of Potential Regulatory Divergence in the Meat Sector FSA Research and Evidence Regulatory divergence in practice Regulatory divergence in practice How to read this report How to read this reportThis report provides a summary of the insights from the Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) OTP Consumer Panels conducted during July and August 2022.Our findings have been organised in the following structure:• Participants did not understand why there would be a need or desire for regulations to be different between the UK nations and argued that having a consistent regulatory regime would be less confusing for consumers, food businesses and for the FSA itself.
Source: FSA research and evidence.
DOI: 10.46756/001c.127179
Authors: Food Standards Agency, Ipsos UK
Language: English
Topic: Food Safety and Hygiene
Subfield: Food Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4405512850