ABSTRACT
As the main source of food law, EU Directives are continually being transposed into the UK to regulate issues such as: food composition; food labelling; food marketing; food standards; additives and contaminants in food; food nutrition; and food fraud. In addition to this hard law there has been a proliferation of ‘guidance’, whether through the use of protocols or of codifi ed rules. Earlier chapters have identifi ed the dynamics, of the gradual Europeanisation of UK food policy. There is a diversity of organisations within the European framework exerting an infl uence on, and articulating different knowledge, concerning food, health and ethics. For example, animal welfare groups and consumer groups now propound the precautionary principle in application to genetically modifi ed organisms (GMOs) and traceability; such new concerns are added to the NGO agenda, and in turn, brings a new set of organisations into food policy debates. Europeanisation involves accommodating a wider and more disparate range of concerns and interests than those just associated with food quality and safety. In the area of red meat, concerns over safety and quality have triggered debate and stimulated regulatory reform at the EU and national levels and demonstrated that Europeanisation is not simply a one-way process but a dynamic one between different tiers of government.
