The Scottish government has announced its plans to create a stand-alone food standards agency for the region,which will cover food safety,standards,nutrition,labelling and meat inspection.
This decision comes two years after the responsibilities of the UK Food Standards Agency(FSA)were revised.
In 2010,the UK government decided to shift the responsibility for nutrition and food labelling in England from the FSA to the Department of Health and the Department of Environment,Food and Rural Affairs(Defra).
In response to this,the Scottish government,which felt that the power of FSA was weakened,commissioned a review that was led by Professor Jim Scudamore.
The Scudamore review,which was published in April,recommended that Scotland would be best served by an independent public body to fulfil the Food Standard Agency's functions for Scotland.
The new body will work closely withthe Scottish government.
Scottish Public Health Minister Michael Matheson said the changes in England weakened FSA's nutrition and labelling functions for Scotland,which needed to be addressed.
"A new body will allow a Scottish approach to be taken to tackle poor diet and food-borne diseases and should support our food and drink industry in growing its strong,international reputation for safe,quality food,"Matheson added.
Since primary legislation would be required to create the new body,the Scottish ministers plan to consult on options before the end of this year.
FSA noted that this decision will directly affect nearly 200 jobs based in Scotland,and it plans to work with the Scottish government to ensure that the concerns of the staff are appropriately addressed.
