This is appreciated by most progressive individuals who act accordingly, but the majority of industry participants will now be subject to a greater degree of scrutiny. That much was made clear last week in Aberdeen by George Paterson, chief executive of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Scotland.

The FSA was established in 2000 by the government in the wake of an apparent lack of public confidence in food following a range of major scares, including the BSE crisis and the serious outbreak of E coli from a butcher's shop in Wishaw. Both of those events happened ten years ago, but much has been accomplished since then.

However, a new regulation from the European Commission in Brussels - H123 - seeks to give even greater assurances to consumers. This regulation, which comes into force from the beginning of December, will see 17 of the current directives consolidated into just five.

Source: business.scotsman.com