According to The Guardian, after last year's horsemeat scandal, the Food Standards Agency has brought a call for new powers of investigation for EU countries. The British agency fears that the UK will not be able to fight the fight on fraudulent food alone.
There was speculation of the agencies hope to install a "Food Crime Police", but the report states they would be able to institute something of lesser severity which would be able to detect, monitor, and punish those who are selling and distributing fraudulent and dangerous food throughout the European Union. Director of Legal Strategy for the Food Standards Agency, Rod Ainsworth, says the FSA needs these powers to be installed in order to actually have any impact on the industry.
"To state the obvious, legal powers, whether conferred on the FSA, or local authorities, the police or any other organisation, are of little consequence without the resources - people and funding - to use them," said Ainsworth.
The food safety concerns brought on by the horsemeat scandal are on the rise, yet without a backing of other countries, Ainsworth feels their efforts to quell the trend of fraudulent food may be in vain. The present rules also limit the FSA's ability to take action against those who are committing food fraud.
