Targeted Surveillance of UK Retail Food Products Finds 87 Percent Compliant With Standards
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The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the results of its fourth national surveillance project investigating the rate of compliance with food safety standards among retail food products, which found 87 percent of samples to be satisfactory.
Throughout 2023–2024, FSA Official Feed and Food Laboratories purchased and analyzed a total of 1,025 food samples from large and small food retailers across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, as well as from some online retailers. Samples comprised 31 targeted commodity types, including 15 frequently consumed foods known to have higher rates of safety and authenticity issues, 12 commodities for which surveillance is useful to inform FSA’s knowledge of emerging risks, and four commodities for which more data is required to inform science and policy.
Samples were deemed satisfactory or not satisfactory by public analysts based on testing results or the identification of any noncompliances. For the total basket of foods sampled, 87 percent were deemed satisfactory. Samples purchased from large retailers had a compliance rate of 90 percent, versus an 86 percent compliance rate among samples from small retailers. Only a small portion of samples were purchased from online retailers, which had a compliance rate of 94 percent.
The following reasons caused samples to be deemed noncompliant:
- Undeclared allergens were detected in less than 2 percent of 180 foods tested, and all cases of noncompliance were attributed to the presence of undeclared milk protein at levels between 0.2 and 0.4 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg).
- Adulteration or substitution of products (including olive and coconut oils, meat, coffee, cheese, pasta, and herbs) was confirmed or inconclusive in three percent of 390 foods tested.
- Food composition was misrepresented on the label for 9 percent of 470 products analyzed; 250 of which were meat and meat products with a 13 percent noncompliance rate, most commonly attributed to low meat content and undeclared/incorrectly declared added water. Lower alcohol content than described on the label was found in 9 percent of spirits/cocktail cans, and 10 olive oils did not meet appropriate compositional characteristics.
- Physical contamination was found in one of 90 samples tested for contaminants—a pebble found in oregano.
- Chemical contamination was notable in two commodities; specifically, elevated levels of the mycotoxin ochratoxin A was detected in 13 out of 30 soy samples. Acrylamide exceeding the national benchmark of 750 micrograms (µg)/kg was detected in 27 percent of potato snacks tested.
- Food labels were not compliant with national regulations or industry guidance for 11 percent of the 710 products analyzed.
In cases where significant risk to public health was identified, such as the presence of undeclared allergens, FSA was notified immediately. Reports of all noncompliant samples were given to FSA for follow-up.
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