FSA chief draws fire over call to name failures

There was a rebuff for Food Standards Agency chief executive Tim Smith yesterday after he suggested meat plants that have continued to fail inspection should be named.

Board members at the meeting in London were taken aback by the proposal. Tim Bennet, a former president of the NFU of England and Wales, said he was worried he was being asked to support a proposal without any background justification.

And Professor Graeme Millar pointed out that the publication of the names of offending processors might have legal consequences that did not seem to have been considered.

In the year to October last year, 79 per cent of plants passed the FSA's inspections. This left 43 plants failing to meet the FSA standards.

Ian Anderson, executive manager of the Scottish Association of Meat Wholesalers, stressed that these failures did not mean any threat to human health. "The FSA has the power to close down any plant where there is any risk to public health. They have not taken that move," he said.