Food Data Transparency Partnership

The Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) is a partnership to improve the environmental sustainability and healthiness of food and drink through better food data.

The Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) is a partnership between government, industry and experts. The FDTP aims to improve the availability, quality and comparability of data in the food supply chain to create a positive change in the food system towards the production and sale of more environmentally sustainable and healthier food and drink.

Programme groups

As part of an open policy design process, we have set up groups for engaging with different actors in the food and drink system, sharing and testing proposals as they develop.

The following groups will bring together industry and experts with government officials to develop policy proposals.

Eco Working Group

The Eco Working Group is developing the detail of proposals to measure and communicate carbon emissions in the food system.

The group is assisting government to achieve the following objectives:

  • to standardise the methodology and data sources used for measuring and reporting scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions of food and drink.
  • to establish a mandatory methodology for voluntary food eco-labels.

The group consists of around 20 members from industry and civil society with experience of working with sustainability issues in the food supply chain.

It is co-chaired by Judith Batchelar OBE (food sector expert and Environment Agency Deputy Chair) and Karen Lepper (Deputy Director for Food Data Standards and Sustainability, Defra).

Members have been selected by the co-chairs based on their professional experience both as subject matter experts and practitioners.

View the Eco Working Group membership (PDF, 11.1 KB, 2 pages).

Eco Working Group meeting summaries

Health Working Group

The Health Working Group has been created to consider metrics that support food and drink companies to voluntarily report on the healthiness of their sales in a consistent format.

Transparent and consistent data will incentivise and enable businesses to most effectively measure progress towards improving the healthiness of food and thereby supports efforts to drive the food system to be healthier. This is an important part of government’s strategy to address poor diet and reduce obesity.

The group consists of 15 industry members with expertise and experience from across all sectors of the food system.

It is co-chaired by Susan Barratt (Non-Executive for DHSC) and Natasha Burgon (Director of Health Improvement, DHSC).

Members have been selected by the co-chairs based on their professional experience both as subject matter experts and practitioners.

View the Health Working Group membership (PDF, 75.1 KB, 1 page).

Health working group meeting summaries

Data Working Group

The Data Working Group considers the FDTP’s technical requirements. It provides advice on the technical feasibility and deliverability of FDTP policy proposals.

The group consists of data experts and is co-chaired by Anne Godfrey (CEO, GS1 UK) and Julie Pierce (Director of Information and Science, Food Standards Agency).

Members have been selected by the co-chairs based on their professional experience both as subject matter experts and practitioners.

View the Data Working Group membership (PDF, 67.9 KB, 1 page).

Design Partnership Group

The Design Partnership Group focuses on the operational feasibility of FDTP policy proposals for different business models and sectors.

It consists of over 50 food and drink businesses and provides advice on policy proposals from an industry perspective.

The group is co-chaired by the Defra Director General for Food, Biosecurity and Trade and Chris Tyas (Chair, GS1 UK and Advisor to Defra).

Members of the Design Partnership Group have been selected to represent the broad range of food and drink industry organisations that will be affected by programme outputs.

View the Design Partnership Group membership (PDF, 74 KB, 3 pages).

Design Partnership Group meeting summaries

Food and Drink Sector Council

The Food and Drink Sector Council provides strategic advice to the partnership from an industry perspective. View more information about the Food and Drink Sector Council.

Wider engagement

The FDTP will also involve businesses and organisations including non-governmental organisations outside of these groups in policy development through an ongoing programme of engagement.

We welcome approaches from organisations or individuals with relevant expertise or insight to contribute to FDTP policy development.

Our papers

Terms of reference

Eco Working Group terms of reference (PDF, 103 KB, 4 pages)

Health Working Group terms of reference (PDF, 178 KB, 7 pages)

Design Partnership Group terms of reference (PDF, 88.8 KB, 3 pages)

Contact details

For the Defra team: FoodDataTransparencyPartnership@defra.gov.uk

For the DHSC team: FDTP@dhsc.gov.uk

Updates on the FDTP will be provided via the Defra Agri-Food Chain e-bulletin. Subscribe to the e-bulletin