Accounting for Taste: Contested Accountability Regulation in Food

Aims and Objectives:

To identify ways in which the state, corporate and private interests, consumers and social interests build relationships in response to the need for accountability within the agri-food chain,
To identify how the establishment of the Food Standards Agency has impacted on the context and implementation of food regulation in the UK,
To explore the potential impacts of the European Food Safety Authority on regulation and accountability within the agri-food system in the EU and the UK.
What are the different forms of accountability to consumers and regulators that currently prevail in the food sector?
Within the different retail settings, whom do consumers hold to account for food quality and safety?
How do retailers manage consumer demands for quality and food safety?
By going beyond baseline standards, corporate retailers perform a public interest role, but how should regulators respond if standards fall?
The public system of food regulation in the UK, which is characterised by defined geographical (local authority) boundaries, is proving to be increasingly irrelevant to the diverse sourcing strategies and regulatory abilities of corporate retailers. How might the state seek to regulate these firms effectively?
Within the context of different types of supply chain management, how does the evolving context of food regulation within the EU affect the sourcing strategies of corporate retailers?
How do corporate retailers assure quality within their overseas supply chains?
To what extent are the risks associated with food safety internalised amongst food suppliers and retailers, externalised or shared with regulators?
What is the relationship between risk, different supply chain relationships and accountability to consumers and regulators?

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