The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is addressing its science strategy for 2015-20 in a move designed to enable the organisation to “raise its game” as a science and evidence-based body, according to the agenda notes for next week’s FSA board meeting.
The meeting, due to be held at FSA headquarters in London on March 25, will include a report from the organisation’s chief scientific adviser, Professor Guy Poppy, in which he will deal with the “future strategy for FSA science”. He will ask the board to agree the framework for the FSA Science, Evidence and Information Strategy 2015-20 and that the framework should be used to develop a delivery plan.
“The strategy sets ambitious goals for FSA’s work to protect consumers’ interests in relation to food,” it is stated in agenda notes for the meeting. “We have to fulfil that ambition in the face of increasingly complex challenges to the wider food system, and of resource pressures that mean we must do more, and better, with less.”
The notes also state: “FSA has a good record as a science and evidence-based organisation, but to meet these new challenges we will need to raise our game. Our use of science will need to be focused, forward-looking, innovative and connected, making better use of data and other evidence to get the maximum value, and deliver impact and benefits for consumers and to develop our capability to do this in the longer term.”
Prof. Poppy is already creating a “strategic evidence programme”, for use by FSA, with a focus on building strategic partnerships. This will start to come on stream from April 2015.