One of these new groups will consider what lessons might be learnt from the current scandal to improve Scotland's new stand-alone Food Standards Agency, while the other will look at applying the Scotch fresh meat industry's traceability rules to processed meat.
The moves were announced by CabSec Richard Lochhead in a statement to MSPs late on Tuesday, during which he also confirmed that almost 50% of meat processing premises in Scotland have now been inspected, with no evidence of horsemeat found to date. Local authorities are continuing inspection visits to all 229 approved meat processing premises and 29 cold stores in Scotland.
(For the full story see The Scottish Farmer this week, February 23, 2013)
