Foul food: can the Government protect us from killer bugs?

There have been nearly 200 cases of serious food poisoning per day over the past decade. In the wake of BSE, E.Coli and salmonella, the Government yesterday laid out its plans for a food-safety agency. Glenda Cooper, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, examines how ministers plan to restore consumer faith in food.

The Government wants every shop and restaurant in Britain to pay pounds 100 a year to finance the Food Standards Agency, which it promises will protect consumer interests in every area of food safety.

But farmers and food industry lobbyists warned that forcing the industry to pay for the agency would amount to a "tax on food by the back door".

The creation of one of the most powerful food watchdogs in Europe comes after a loss of public confidence in food safety after fears over the link between "mad cow" disease and Creutzfeldt Jakob disease, the E.Coli 0157 outbreak in Scotland which killed 20 people and the scare over baby milk and "gender bender" chemicals.

The FSA will be responsible for ensuring that food is safe to eat, and for advising people on what makes a healthy diet.

The Scottish health minister, Sam Galbraith, said that one of the main catalysts for the White Paper had been the E-coli outbreak in Lanarkshire. "From the plough to the plate, the agency will put consumers first," he said. "It will have tough powers to make sure the high standards we are aiming for are met all the way from farms to shops, from restaurants and to our kitchens."

The Agency will also co-ordinate food law enforcement and commission research, taking over many of MAFF's roles. It will also have a key role in nutrition, identifying and recommending balanced and nutritious diets for the public, although Jack Cunningham, the agriculture minister, said that it would not mean the agency would be telling people what they should eat. The agency would, however, be "radical" and bring about "fundamental changes", he added.

Part of it will be paid for by the food industry itself which the White Paper says "should bear the bulk of the costs of improving food safety and standards" as the industry "will benefit from the improved public confidence in safety".

The suggestion is that the 600,000 shops, restaurants and manufacturing plants which are already registered with local authorities would have to pay a licensing fee. The suggested flat rate of pounds 100 per premises per annum would raise about pounds 60m, "a substantial amount". It is expected that the agency's total annual expenditure will be more than pounds 100m.

Frank Dobson, the Secretary of State for Health, stressed yesterday that that would not give the food industry power over the agency. "Industry will not be laying down conditions," he said.

Geoff Rooker, food safety minister, added: "There will be no `no go areas' as far as we are concerned. It will be an independent agency."

But the proposals in the White Paper were met with dismay by the food industry lobbyists who had argued against the inclusion of nutritional advice and have expressed opposition to any suggestion that businesses should pay for the agency's work.

"The Food Standards Agency should not jeopardise its independence through being funded by the food industry," Sir David Naish, president of the National Farmers Union, said. "Its remit includes food safety which is clearly a public health matter which should be funded by the public purse."

Doctors, consumer associations and public health experts welcomed the White Paper.

The agency, which will report to the Department of Health, not MAFF, will be made up of a commission of twelve independent people backed up by advisory committees and "several hundred" civil servants.

Earlier this week it was reported that a record number of people suffered from food poisoning last year - 100,000 cases. But scientists estimate the real number could be 10 times that figure.