The Food (Scotland) Act 2015

The 2015 Act sets out the objectives, general functions and powers of FSS, and provides for governance and accountability arrangements as a Scottish public body.

The Food (Scotland) Act 2015 established FSS on 1 April 2015 as the public sector food body for Scotland. The Act was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 9 December 2014, and received Royal Assent on 13 January 2015. 

The 2015 Act sets out the objectives, general functions and powers of FSS, and provides for governance and accountability arrangements as a Scottish public body.

The objectives of FSS are:

  • To protect the public from risks to health which may arise in connection with the consumption of food;
  • To improve the extent to which members of the public have diets which are conducive to good health;
  • To protect the other interests of consumers in relation to food

The general functions of FSS are summarised as:

  • To develop and help others develop policies on food and animal feed;
  • To advise the Scottish Government, other authorities and the public on food and animal feed;
  • To keep the Scottish public and users of animal feed advised to help them make informed decisions about food and feed stuffs; and
  • To monitor the performance of food enforcement authorities

A full copy of The Food (Scotland) Act 2015 is available from the legislation.gov.uk website at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2015/1/contents