Tim Smith (Tesco)

Tim Smith is the current group technical director at Tesco Plc. Smith who is a former boss of the Food Standards Agency has headed up operating standards at the supermarket giant Tesco Plc since 2012.

Career

Smith has spent his entire career in the food industry and has held leading roles in various food manufacturers such as Northern Foods, Sara Lee, Express Dairies and Arla. ref name = "Smith" [http://ife.co.uk/visit/whats-on-at-ife-2015/the-hub/tim-smith

In 2008 Smith became chief executive of the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA), an independent government department that is responsible for food safety and hygiene across the UK. The FSA works with businesses to ensure that the food industry. Smith fulfilled this role that until he joined Tesco Plc in 2012. About us food standards agency accessed 23 February 2015 </ref>

Controversy

When Smith took on the role as technical director at Tesco it was under the precedent that he could not lobby ministers or civil servants on behalf of the company for his first two years in the job.

In 2014 Smith was surrounded by controversy as he was believed to have warned the Department of Health that revealing food poisoning contamination rates would provoke a food scare and therefore cause potential damage to the food industry.

The health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has since then admitted that Tim Smith had contacted the government to argue against the plans to publish the food poisoning contamination rates for chicken in each supermarket chain. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/10034745/Food-Standards-Agency-tells-board-to-reveal-contact-with-Tesco-director-Tim-Smith.html

This issue surrounding Smith and his attempt to lobby against the revealing of food contamination rates is particularly controversial due to rules surrounding employee legislation under the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA) rules. These rules state that when you take up any new paid or unpaid appointment within two years of leaving ministerial office or Crown service, you must apply for advice on the suitability of the new post from the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA).

It is not yet clear when Smith allegedly lobbied figures linked to the FSA report, but the timing of his intervention could see him in breach of these conditions.