The Food Standards Agency Board has agreed to move forward with designing plans to reform the UK's food safety system under its Future of Food Regulation programme, according to a 16 September 2026 news story. The proposals include strengthening local delivery across the UK, giving local authority food teams more tools, introducing a more consistent national approach to scrutinise the very largest food businesses, and maintaining food standards in a changing market.

Chair Professor Susan Jebb said the FSA had engaged with over 1,200 stakeholders across the UK. She said the proposals would improve local regulation for the vast majority of businesses while adding national scrutiny for a handful of very large businesses, and that ministers will make the final decision. The story says over 99.5% of food businesses are micro, small and medium-sized, while over 97% of food sold in shops comes from 10 national retailers.

Other planned measures include changes to business registration, better use of supply-chain data, clearer guidance, stronger enforcement tools and compulsory online display of food hygiene ratings across the UK, with in-shop display in England. The FSA said it would return to the Board in March 2027 with developed proposals, followed by a public consultation later in 2027.