To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to enable the food and drink industry to use safe, alternative products where ingredients become unavailable due to shortages in world markets.
Answered on
20 April 2022
We are acutely aware of food supply chain disruption due to the current conflict in Ukraine with particular regard to sunflower oil. The food industry has been faced with the need to reformulate products at short notice to maintain food supply. As it is not always possible to reflect this on product labelling in the immediate term, we have put in place measures to help support industry while they adjust product labelling. Defra has been working with the Food Standards Agency (FSA), Food Standards Scotland (FSS) and the Department of Health and Social Care to consider approaches to help maintain food supply in a way that is safe and in the interests of consumers.
Use of refined rapeseed oil as an alternative to sunflower oil was an immediate priority. Defra worked with the FSA which carried out a risk assessment on substituting sunflower oil with refined rapeseed oil without this being reflected on the label, which concluded that the safety risks are very low. Subsequently, the FSA and FSS wrote to enforcement authorities regarding the substitution of sunflower oil with refined rapeseed oil, encouraging them to adopt an enforcement approach to labelling that is reasonable, proportionate, risk-based and considered on a case-by-case basis.
We are currently considering proposals for the use of other vegetable oils as replacements for sunflower oil due to the additional pressure that has been placed on refined rapeseed oil. A fundamental principle of the Government’s approach, and where pragmatic and proportionate enforcement has been encouraged, is that consumer safety must be protected. Businesses are being encouraged to take all possible steps to bring their labels in to compliance as quickly as possible, and retaining consumer trust remains an absolute priority for the Government.