DEFRA Secretary Hilary Benn selected members from throughout the food industry for his new Council of Food Policy Advisors this week.

Benn said the 14-member group “represents expertise in every aspect of our food system”.

“The members of the council provide experience from right across the food chain, including farming, retail, community food initiatives, and consumer groups.

“We need to ensure that our food supply in future continues to be secure and sustainable. That is why I've set up this new team of advisers who will look at food from farm to fork,” he said.

He said the council would provide a forum to look at food prices, obesity and health, the environmental impact of food, and links to the wider economy, as well as debate all food issues.

The group includes Sir Don Curry, who chairs a delivery group with responsibility for driving forward the government's 'Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy', Sue Davies, the chief policy adviser for consumer magazine Which? and Professor Elizabeth Dowler, Professor of Food and Social Policy in the department of sociology at the University of Warwick.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) welcomed the announcement on members of the council. Tim Smith, chief executive of the FSA, is among those who have been appointed to serve on the council.

The cross-government council, chaired by former FSA deputy chair Dame Suzi Leather, and co-ordinated by Defra, will work closely with the FSA and the department of health.

Tim Smith said: “I am pleased to be a part of this new group, and look forward to working with my fellow members to establish practical and innovative solutions to food issues.

“I will bring my experience and knowledge in food - feeding the agency’s work on food safety, health and nutrition into the council meetings,” he said.