Following the reports last week which claimed that the Food Standards Agency was to be scrapped under the new coalition government, it has emerged that the FSA was 'under review' rather than definitely being axed. The situation has now been clarified:

On Tuesday this week (20 July) the Prime Minister confirmed the transfer of some Food Standards Agency (FSA) responsibilities in England to the Department of Health (DH) and the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs (Defra). 

The announcement and press release can be found here http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/jul/fsachanges.

The FSA will in fact retain a clearly defined departmental function focused on its core remit of food safety. Policy responsibility will shift with immediate effect for functions moving to Defra.  For functions due to move to DH, the policy responsibility will remain with the FSA for the time being as the scale of change is greater and the transfer more complex.  A date for the transfer is still to be determined and further information about timescales for completion of the shift will be provided as soon as this is possible.

In the meantime existing contacts within the FSA remain unchanged.

These changes aim to enable Government food policy to be communicated and delivered in a coherent and consistent manner. DH, Defra and the FSA will work together to ensure this new structure protects consumer interests, reinforces efforts to improve the public’s health and supports a competitive food industry. The three departments will also work closely together to ensure consumers and business find it easy to get joined up engagement from government on food labelling policy. Consumers will 'continue to enjoy high levels of confidence in the safety of their food, as the FSA will still be providing this crucial function.'