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In the overall consideration of the bill, I am suggesting that we amend the rural support plan to explicitly put the food security issue at the heart of the plan.

Members around this table agree that it is important that food security is considered. We have heard about amendments relating to the issue earlier. Having it explicitly put at the heart of the rural support plan is something that I am sure members would agree to support, and we have heard representations for doing so. I would like to see it made explicit that food security is of paramount importance. For those reasons, I ask members to support amendment 47.

Good morning, Dr Cass. Thank you for being here this morning. I am interested in the recommendation that young people should remain within the young people’s service from the age of 17 to the age of 25. The recommendation says that NHS England should ensure that each regional centre has

“follow-through services for 17-25-year-olds ... either by extending the range of the regional children and young people’s service or through linked services”.

I am interested in hearing about how that recommendation means that those young people should stay under the care of the same service from the age of 17 to the age of 25 and how that would work in practice. I think that there has been some misrepresentation of the recommendation as meaning that no one would be able to transition before the age of 25.

I want to pick up on what you said about the misrepresentation of that recommendation or other parts of the report. You talked about a holistic assessment for young people for the whole process. One of the comments that have been made is that the recommendation is based on “dubious science”. Can you solidify for us your advice or your recommendation around having a whole process for young people right up until the age of 25?

There are alternatives to meat. I looked up what 70g means. A plate of spaghetti bolognese has about 100g of meat; a quarter pounder beef burger has 90g. I was trying to work out what that all means. A full Scottish breakfast can also have about 90g, so you get your whole daily recommendation in one meal. However, if you were vegetarian for the rest of the week, that might be acceptable.

I am interested in how we support people to replace red meat with things such as eggs, legumes and other vegetable options to give them the nutrients that you talked about. What could Food Standards Scotland do to recommend alternatives to people?

I am conscious that there is loads to cover, but I want to focus on ultra-processed foods.

Henry Dimbleby and Jemima Lewis were co-authors of a book called “Ravenous”. Recently, Henry Dimbleby gave a presentation at the shaping the science for the Scotland’s food future event at Dynamic Earth. It was really interesting to hear him talk about his research and his work on a proposed food strategy.

We know that the food system is really complicated, but is it a good idea to replace Scottish lamb and Scottish beef that are produced to high welfare standards with meat replacements containing chemicals such as stabilisers, emulsifiers, xanthan gum, guar gum, colours, flavourings and stuff that has been labelled as “industrially created enteric substances”? Is that really food? Given that we produce meat to the best welfare standards, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on replacing that with ultra-processed food that has unpronounceable chemicals in it, and how that links with, for example, the issue of the high levels of fat, sugar and salt in food.

I have a wee supplementary question. One of the questions in the Scottish Government’s consultation was about restricting the sale of foods with high levels of fat, sugar and salt within 2m of the checkout. What Sandesh Gulhane said about product placement in supermarkets is valid. There are challenges for us in Scotland when it comes to marketing and advertising; we cannot control what Ofcom does about advertising on television, because that is a reserved matter. However, with regard to supermarkets, we can certainly advocate for restrictions on product placement at the end of the aisle or within 2m of a checkout. Is that something that we could support?

I am looking at the Food Standards Scotland website. The “Eatwell Guide” is available in British Sign Language—there is a wee video—so it is probably worth us sharing that on our social media.

I have a question on food crime. That is another area where people seem to be unaware of the work of Food Standards Scotland. I know that time is tight—we might need to get more information by writing to you—but that work is really important and I am interested to hear a quick word on the food crime prevention strategy and what that means.

We have also not really talked about food for cattle and the role of Food Standards Scotland in the regulation and monitoring of feed for animals that end up in our food supply chain. However, food crime is something that you were probably expecting to be asked about, so I am happy to hear about that.

Good morning to the witnesses. From what you have just described, Food Standards Scotland’s remit is pretty huge and broad-ranging, and I am really interested in the work that Food Standards Scotland does on a range of issues, as you know.

I will come on to issues around ultra-processed foods in a wee minute but, first, I will talk about the University of Edinburgh’s research and recommendations on red meat consumption. We keep hearing about beef being really bad for the climate, and I worry that our farmers in Scotland are condemned for beef production, although they do it really well. Scotland is just a wee country that, compared with China, the USA and Russia, has really low carbon emissions.

I am interested in hearing about the recommendations for a reduction in red meat consumption. To achieve a 20 per cent reduction in the average intake, the previous recommendation of no more than 70g a day has been reduced to no more than 60g a day. There are a lot of figures around that, so I am interested to hear what consideration Food Standards Scotland has given to the findings from the University of Edinburgh’s research into recommendations for reduction in red meat consumption.

That is great; thank you. I know we might have to get some further information from you.

It is really about the wider recommendation on supporting young people right through the process. The information that we have says that it has been said to be based on dubious science. I would be interested to hear how that is one of the misrepresentations of the report.