A Practical Guide to the Law of Animal Feed in the United Kingdom

While animal feed law rarely makes headline news, its contents are – and always have been – an important means by which the safety of the human food chain is secured.

Indeed, the very existence of UK food regulators in the form of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) owes itself to a food crisis which certainly was headline grabbing: “mad cow” disease.

That disease, at its peak in the 1980s and 1990s, known properly as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, or BSE, was almost certainly brought about by the since banned practice of feeding ruminant animal protein to cattle.

Since those times, feed law has been tightened and refined and arguably now forms an important and distinct element of European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) food law.

This book draws together and examines animal feed law in a practical way. It will be a helpful resource for regulatory lawyers who need a quick introduction to the topic, and it provides a valuable text for feed enforcement officials or policy specialists, in both local and central government. It will also be of interest to anyone who wants to develop their understanding about how feed for animals is regulated in the UK.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris McGarvey is an experienced food lawyer who has been involved in animal feed law for many years. Dual qualified in both England and Wales, and Alberta, Canada, he has a professional interest in food and feed law and is a Director in the Regulatory and Compliance Team at Walker Morris LLP.

Chris spent some eight years at the Food Standards Agency and led the in-house Legal Team through Brexit, the Pandemic, and supply-chain challenges associated with the conflict in Ukraine. He lives in Cambridgeshire.

CONTENTS

Chapter One – Development of Feed Law
Chapter Two – Feed Law Basics
Chapter Three – General Feed Law Obligations
Chapter Four – Other Legislation Affecting Feed
Chapter Five – Official Controls and Enforcement
Chapter Six – Sampling and Analysis
Chapter Seven – The Future Regulation of Feed