Question reference: S6W-15306
- Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 23 February 2023
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Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 9 March 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what criteria Food Standards Scotland uses to decide whether to (a) launch and (b) continue an investigation into a food producer.
Answer
FSS use the following to define an incident.
“any event where, based on the information available, there are concerns about actual or suspected threats to the safety, quality or integrity of food and/or feed or fraud that could require intervention to protect consumers’ interests”.
Only notifications meeting this criteria are recorded as such.
All incidents reported to FSS are classified using the FSS Incident Classification Matrix. The matrix is used to help assign a level to the incident to determine the appropriate response.
The coordination of food/feed incidents will continue until the identified risks have been appropriately mitigated.
Whilst FSS maintain the coordination role providing guidance, assistance and advice, Local Authorities as the competent authorities will routinely carry out the investigations. Local Authorities will report incidents to FSS dependant on the food law code of practice which stipulates which incidents need to be reported to FSS.