Future of Food Standards Agency and other quangos is uncertain

The future of the Food Standards Agency and other arm’s length health bodies is still uncertain after this week’s health service white paper.

The agency, the UK watchdog that monitors food safety and standards, was rumoured to be a target for closure by the coalition government in its attempts to save money, but closure was not mentioned in the white paper published this week (BMJ 2010;341:c3796, doi:10.1136/bmj.c3796).

The Department of Health in England is due to publish a review of arm’s length bodies within the next month, which …