The Scottish Consumer Council (SCC) says it is unacceptable that customers can find out more via the internet about the cleanliness of a burger joint in the US than they can about restaurants in Scotland.

They are calling for full inspection reports to be made available to the public and forcing food businesses to display details of transgressions on their premises.

The chairman of the SCC, Graeme Millar, said: “The stark reality today is that consumers in Scotland can log on to the internet and find out about hygiene standards in restaurants in Richmond, Virginia, but they cannot do the same for eating places round the corner.

Hang on a minute, Graeme, that’s not really true is it? The reality is that Scottish consumers have been able to check the scores on our website (and that of FSA and FSS) for well over a decade. Yes we know that for Scotland they can only see Pass or Improvement Required. And yes we know that FSS are considering moving to a more graded scheme like the rest of the UK.

But should full EHO inspection reports be made available to consumers? Well yes of course. And they actually already are. Although they can be quite complex and not easy to understand. Also, a consumer would need to write in to the relevant Local Authority under the Freedom of Information Act to request the document. Which in turn must be provided within 20 days.

Not very handy if you want to decide whether to get a take away from your local chippy tonight though is it? Which is why we introduced to 0-5 star grades online back in – wait for it – 2005.

Now recognised as the most effective measure of delivering improvement in compliance and voted in the top 20 of all Environmental initiatives this century by RSPH. Complaince up in Wales by 27 percentage points.

We would suggest the best response would be for Scotland to catch up with a 0-5 star rating scheme, matching the rest of UK. And make display of the sticker compulsory.

Full article from the Scotsman

FSA Chair to step down. Susan Jebb announced today that she will step down at the end of June 2024 marking 3 years since she was appointed.

First drug to reduce allergic reactions approved by FDA.

In the United States Xolair has now been approved. Through regular use of the treatment, the manufacturer claims it can help reduce the severity of allergic reactions.

Full story here

30 confirmed cases of E.coli may be linked to contaminated cheese that was recalled on Christmas Day. Urgent recall of Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese undertaken. If you have this in your fridge read the guidance below.

An urgent recall of four types of Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese, which is produced in Preston, began on Monday.

The UK Health Security Agency said at least 30 reported cases were of the “specific outbreak strain” thought to have been in the cheese.

Anyone who bought the cheese was told to follow advice and recall notices.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) and UKHSA have warned the public not to eat four cheeses:

• Mrs Kirkham’s Mild & Creamy Lancashire
• Mrs Kirkham’s Tasty Lancashire
• Mrs Kirkham’s Mature Lancashire
• Mrs Kirkham’s Smoked Lancashire

They said the cheese was “recalled as a precaution” because it may have been “contaminated with a specific type of E.coli bacteria called Shiga toxin producing E.coli, also known as STEC or VTEC, a pathogen that can cause food poisoning”.

‘Wash hands, clean surfaces’

The FSA said symptoms caused by STEC organisms include severe diarrhoea, abdominal pain, and sometimes haemolytic uremic syndrome, a serious condition that can lead to kidney failure and can be fatal.

It urged anyone who bought the cheeses to refrain from eating the product, thoroughly clean any surfaces, utensils and equipment it may have touched and make sure that fridges are kept at 5°C or below to “limit the growth of any harmful bacteria”.

The FSA’s head of incidents Tina Potter said consumers must “check whether they have bought or been gifted this product”.

“Due to this outbreak… we are urging all consumers to ensure they follow the advice in the product recall notices, which details all of the products which may pose a risk,” she said.

Amy Douglas, UKHSA’s incident director, said there had been “at least 30 confirmed cases of this specific outbreak strain of STEC in the UK”.

She said it was vital that people washed their hands “with soap and warm water” and used “bleach-based products to clean surfaces” to help stop infections from spreading.

She added that anyone who had symptoms should not prepare food for others until 48 hours after they stop.

“If you are unwell, you should avoid visiting people in hospitals and care homes to avoid passing on the infection in these settings,” she said.

“Do not return to work or school, once term restarts, until 48 hours after your symptoms have stopped.”

The two agencies said they would “continue to work closely together and with local authorities in response to this outbreak” and further recalls “may be undertaken” if any more products were found to be affected.

Congratulations to Morrisons who have become the first major supermarket to offer an option to consumers on their website to Buy British.

Allergens to be mandatory on menus. Great news for Allergen sufferers following last week’s report into yet another related death. Georgina Mansergh died in February this year after not specifying she had a nut allergy and being served sesame seed oil. FSA this week agreed to back moves towards introducing an ‘Owen’s Law’ forcing food businesses to list allergens on menus.

We’re not there yet, but this is a very welcome move towards preventing such tragedies in the future.

Wales celebrates 10 years of compulsory sticker display – compliance up 27 percentage points.

71% of Welsh food businesses now have the top hygiene rating of 5 – a jump from 44% from 10 years ago – making it the highest on record in Wales.

In 2013, Wales became the first country in the UK to make it a legal requirement to display hygiene rating stickers in prominent places, like front doors and windows of food businesses.

Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Lynne Neagle said:
“Everyone in Wales deserves to enjoy their food, with full confidence that it has been prepared in a hygienic manner – the mandatory display of food hygiene ratings has done just that.

Professor Susan Jebb, Chair of the Food Standards Agency, said:
“The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is rightly celebrated as one of the most significant public health achievements of the 21st century.

The striking black and green stickers on display at restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and online, are a simple and transparent way of giving people the reassurance that food is being prepared and served in a clean and hygienic way, and the business is meeting its legislative requirements for food hygiene. 

The scheme allows people to vote with their feet or by a click of a button and choose those businesses that take food hygiene seriously.

I’m grateful to the Welsh Government for their commitment to making this a mandatory requirement which has been crucial to the Scheme’s success.

A worker was caught peeing into a tank of ingredients at a Chinese beer factory in a disgusting video.

The clip, which went viral, shows a man in a uniform and a hard hat clambering into a container believed to hold raw ingredients for the beer and urinating inside.

Apparantly the man filmed was not a Tsingtao employee, but a loader hired by a third-party labour supplier.

Tsingtao commented “At present, the batch of malt in question has been completely sealed. The company continues to strengthen its management procedures and ensure product quality.”

Following the video going viral, Tsingtao shares on the Shanghai Stock Exchange dropped by 7.5%

Please be warned before clicking the link

Will we see compulsory display of stickers in England by 2030? Garry Perry, deputy leader from Walsall council continues to call for compulsory display of stickers in England. However the reality is that the issue is officially “paused” and any attempt at introducing legislation is only planned be progressed “sometime in the next parliament”.

If you look at the timeline for the legislative process, consultation and phased introduction, even our predicted timescales of 2030 is now starting to look less realistic…

Express and Star 19/10/2023

‘Disgraceful’ food business owners in Walsall who put people’s lives at risk have prompted renewed calls to make ‘scores on the doors’ compulsory.Top of FormBottom of Form

A rat in the window of Walsall takeaway, spotted by Environmental Health officers. PIC: Walsall Council

Councillor Garry Perry, Walsall Council’s deputy leader for resilient communities, said forcing operators to publicly display their food hygiene ratings could stop poor practice in some businesses.

And he called on the Food Safety Agency to focus on the issue instead of imposing ‘bureaucratic regulations’ on local authorities.

Councillor Perry presented the Food Law Enforcement Service Plan at a meeting of Walsall Council’s cabinet on Wednesday.

He said more than 1,600 businesses across Walsall registered have a satisfactory or higher – three to five star – rating for food hygiene.

But he added five businesses had been taken to court and temporarily shut down due to infestations of rats, mice and cockroaches.

Councillor Perry said: “Who would want to buy or purchase food from premises with that sort of operation in place? Nobody, I hope.

“That is sometimes what we are faced with when our officers go into some of these premises.

However, I wish the Food Safety Agency will pay as much attention to making the ‘scores on the doors’ mandatory.

“They put in lots of burdensome bureaucratic regulations on local authorities instead of dealing with something which, in my opinion, would actually deal with a lot of these exceptions overnight.

“I’d like to think the vast majority of the public would know if that’s a ‘zero to three’ rating you’d think twice about going in them. I’m not saying boycott them but the onus should be on the business operator.

“It’s the only way we’ll get some of these rogues who think it’s fit to allow cockroaches to breed in a food premise and to allow rats to go unnoticed and unchecked with their faeces that lays across counters where they prepare raw and fresh food, thinking they’ll get away with it and putting the public at risk.

“People have died from this nationally, as they have from incorrectly labelled food and as they have from counterfeit goods. All these things impact on people’s lives.

“Every time we have this debate, I always say the same – ‘let’s fire off a letter to the Food Safety Agency’ asking for this to be mandated. We will keep up the pressure.

“We’ll continue to push that. The serious side to all this is the public health risk associated with these disgraceful business owners who, to me, are as bad as the fly-tippers who treat us with contempt.”

Express and Star

Food fraud now estimated to be costing UK £1.9Bn per year

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently performed targeted surveillance sampling of food across the country:

• 20% out of 300 mince and processed meat products contained meat species not written on the label (although no horsemeat was detected);
• 8 out of 101 lamb products contained beef;
• 4 out of 375 herbs and spices samples had missing ingredients or were substituted with others;
• 3 out of 40 samples of basmati rice contained other rice varieties (from 9 to 29% of the total volume);
• 6 out of 39 dark chocolate samples contained milk proteins.