We Will Be What We Will Be Eating

As George Bush once said, 'Most of our imports come from abroad'. That is certainly true of UK food, where 50% is imported. Key agencies are now warning that recent developments are conspiring to make food more risky in the UK (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jun/27/uk-faces-significant-risks-to-quality-of-food-imported-post-brexit-says-report). The Food Standards Agency (FSA) appear especially worried about the current relative dearth of quality controls on 'higher risk' food coming from the EU post-Brexit. Higher risk foods include dairy products, eggs, feed for animals and meat. Promised testing has been deferred again, because its costs would make the cost of living crisis worse. The FSA say that full UK import controls are needed post-Brexit. Post-Brexit deals with e.g. Australia and the US (with their very different welfare requirements) will only increase the demand for routine testing. The Covid19 pandemic has also reduced inspections of UK food businesses by Local Authorities. This is driven by shortfalls in both funding and specialist personnel. The Ukraine war and the energy crisis are also placing additional pressures on many people to choose the cheapest of foods. It would be unsurprising if this combination of factors, increased incidences of food poisoning and/or resulted in the importing of infections into the animal stocks of the UK.