Chris Elliott sounds wake-up call for new government
Leading food scientist Professor Chris Elliott has sounded a series of stark warnings on the state of Britain’s food safety. In an address to the recent Chartered Trading Standards Industry conference, Professor Elliott spoke of the gradual ‘decimation’ of the UK’s food safety as enforcement resources have been hollowed-out and a free market approach to food supply has lead to an increasing reliance on imports.
Professor Elliott described the increasing likelihood that the UK will be targeted by criminals. He said: “I know a company based in Spain who have taken the decision not to import anything into the UK anymore because it’s not a big enough market for them to deal with the amount of paperwork. If the good guys stop wanting to import stuff, the bad guys will step in, because the UK will be a much easier touch than Europe”.
Food Manufacture’s Bethan Grylls has an excellent write-up of Chris Elliott’s presentation.