IN our regular look at the work of Red Tractor Assurance, chief executive Jim Moseley says we must not let Covid-19 overshadow the importance of protecting food standards.

“It feels like a long time ago that journalists were taking a huge interest in writing stories about protecting food standards in the press,” says Jim Moseley. “In fact, it was only six months ago but so much has happened since then to knock Brexit and trade talks off the front pages.

“Lots has been written about food during the pandemic, but we mustn’t lose sight of the challenges Brexit could pose our farmers and our standards.”

Now though, trade talks are very much back in fashion and Brexit is beginning to climb up to the top of the media’s agenda – albeit sharing column inches with the pandemic.

Jim says he is determined that the world-leading food standards the UK has pioneered over the past 20 years are not forgotten the trade terms under which goods will move in and out of the country are negotiated. “Our concerns are that farmers who attain our high standards, and the consumers and customers who seek the reassurance of the Red Tractor logo will be let down if food produced to inferior standards is allowed to come in, potentially displacing British,” Jim said.

“We are rightly proud of how food is produced here. The standards we set have not been set overnight; they are the result of two decades of constant improvement. To give all that up would be criminal.”

Protecting consumers from food scares is one of Red Tractor’s reasons for being.

Jim explained: “Established in 2000 after a spate of scares which included BSE and outbreaks of salmonella, Red Tractor was created to transform and rebuild trust in British farming and food by improving standards of safety and quality for UK-farmed food.

“What we have created is the largest food and farming standards scheme in the UK – we are the industry benchmark, with all major supermarkets using our standards as part of their food sourcing and supplier specifications.”

As well us upholding farm standards, Red Tractor has played a fundamental role in reducing instances of food-borne related illnesses. A recent outbreak of e-coli poisoning on romaine lettuce that killed five and hospitalised hundreds in the US, occurred because of poor irrigation practices on farm.

By contrast, Red Tractor demands rigorous testing of irrigation water and detailed hygiene processes designed to reduce that possibility. As a consequence, foodborne related illnesses are far lower in the UK.

The UK is one of the most regulated in the world yet for the past 20 years Red Tractor’s standards have sat even higher than the legal minimum, pushing forward on the issues consumers care about.

Responsible use of antibiotics in livestock farming, a fully traceable supply chain and a set of protocols which ensure food safety from farm to plate are three examples.