Consumers in Britain anxious about the safety and quality of their food may be in for a long wait for an independent watchdog. According to a report in the Sunday Times, plans for the launch of the government’s much heralded Food Standards Agency have been put on hold to appease opponents of the agency in the food and retail industries. A Downing Street spokesman refused to comment on the report when pressed by New Scientist. “There’s a manifesto commitment to the agency,” he says. “There’s never a schedule as to when pieces of legislation will happen.”
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