The Chair of the UK Food Standards Agency, Susan Jebb, O.B.E., Ph.D., F.R.C.P., FMedSci, has announced her intent to step down on June 30, 2024 at the end of her three-year term of office. Dr. Jebb also serves as the Professor of Diet and Population Health at the University of Oxford’s Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, where she leads a large research team working to develop the evidence base for interventions to prevent and treat obesity, which is a project that she wishes to give her full attention after leaving FSA.

Dr. Jebb expressed her pride in the work of the FSA Board to enable the agency to move beyond the immediate consequences of Brexit, maintaining focus on important challenges to the UK food system and initiating a series of reforms. In the next four months leading up to her departure, Dr. Jebb said she will continue to work on the FSA’s reform program, which is “urgently needed” to enable the agency to ensure food safety and regulatory compliance.

The selection process for the next FSA Chair will be led by the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and a recruitment process will be launched in the near future. Appointment to the role is made by the UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and its counterparts in Wales and Northern Ireland.