Tag Archives: fsa

UK FSA publishes local authority food enforcement info

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The information provided by local authorities and compiled by the UK Food Standards Agency, gives a detailed breakdown of enforcement activity across the country.

Monty_Python_reuni_2738729bThe figures for 2014/15 show a continuing trend of increasing compliance levels across the UK.

David Hart, Head of Local Authority Enforcement and Policy Unit, said: ‘I am pleased to see that the figures this year show business hygiene compliance levels are continuing to improve with 93.0% now broadly compliant with hygiene law – this equates to having a food hygiene rating of 3, 4 or 5. The improvement in broad compliance levels was seen in all four countries.’

In Wales the improvement has been more pronounced, increasing over the past three years to 94% from 88% in 2012/13.

For Northern Ireland, the returns covered only the first three quarters of 2014/15. This was agreed, in view of the need for local authorities to focus on preparations for the local government reorganisation, effective from 1 April 2015.

The trend for local authorities to target food hygiene and standards activities at higher risk establishments, rather than carrying out due interventions at lower risk establishments, has continued across the UK. There was a slight reduction in interventions overall – down by 0.8% on the number reported in 2013/14. And there was a further reduction in local authority professional staffing levels – down 3.9% on 2013/14 levels.

The statistics in the report will help the FSA consider  how best to support  its local authority partners.

The FSA monitors local authority performance through Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System (LAEMS) returns and reports on an annual basis.

Seek and ye shall find: Salmonella in UK raw milk cheese

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The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has issued a statement to say that they have advised Barton Farm to stop selling raw drinking milk.

colbert.raw.milkTests carried out by the FSA and the local authority found samples containing levels of microorganisms that breach food safety regulations. The local authority North Devon District Council also found salmonella in a batch of cheese made with raw drinking milk by the company.

The affected batch of cheese has been withdrawn from sale and consumers alerted.

Barton Farm has issued the following notice on its website: “Due to more harassment from the Food Standards Agency, all sales of our raw drinking milk are currently suspended. All our own test results are clear. Online orders will be fulfilled once the licence has been renewed or a refund will be issued. We would like to thank everyone for their patience while we undergo yet another investigation. Someone definitely doesn’t want us to sell our raw milk.”

In response, the FSA has said that it rejects Barton Farm Dairy’s claim that the action is harassment.

A lot of poop on UK birds: Campylobacter survey report published

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The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the final report of its year-long survey of Campylobacter levels on UK fresh shop-bought chickens.

chickenThe report is an analysis of the data from the survey carried out by the FSA between February 2014 and March 2015, which showed the levels of Campylobacter found on fresh, whole chickens sold in the UK.

The results for the full year, as previously published, showed:

19% of chickens tested positive for Campylobacter within the highest band of contamination*

73% of chickens tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter

0.1% (five samples) of packaging tested positive at the highest band of contamination.

7% of packaging tested positive for the presence of Campylobacter.

* more than 1000 colony forming units per gram (>1000 cfu/g). These units indicate the degree of contamination on each sample.

The survey results, which were published on a quarterly basis throughout the year, allowed consumers for the first time to compare the Campylobacter levels found on chickens from all of the major retailers. The final report contains data sets of the results from all of the retailers and includes comparisons between different sized birds.

UK says rare burgers OK given a plan; still say cook thoroughly, no thermometer

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Ridiculous.

And the UK Food Standards Agency calls itself a science-based outfit.

hedgehog.dartsThe salaries sitting around the advisory table would be better spent on hedgehogs throwing darts at a food-safety-options board.

The FSA Board today agreed that the preparation and service of rare burgers in food outlets is unacceptable unless a validated and verified food safety management plan is in place.

But they don’t say what a validated and verified plan is, short of irradiation.

The FSA’s long-standing advice to consumers that they should cook burgers thoroughly to kill any bugs that may be present is unchanged.

Use a thermometer and stick it in.

The FSA Board had been asked to consider a range of controls businesses should make sure are in place if they are serving rare burgers. These include sourcing meat only from establishments which have specific controls in place to minimise the risk of contamination of meat intended to be eaten raw or lightly cooked and providing consumer advice on menus regarding the additional risk from burgers which aren’t thoroughly cooked.

hedgehog.suitThe FSA Board voted to support the new approach but with the following requirements:

  • businesses wanting to serve burgers rare pre-notify their local authority;
  • the Board is given reassurances on the controls that suppliers of mince intended for consumption rare or lightly cooked in burgers have in place;
  • effective consumer advisory statements will be required on menus where rare burgers are served;
  • the Board agreed the FSA should take a lead ensuring these statements are consistent; and,
  • an FSA communications plan is implemented to explain the risks and controls to the public infection rates continue to be kept under close review and any changes brought to the attention of the Board.

The approach agreed by the Board will improve consumer protection by making it clear to businesses the circumstances under which service of rare burgers is acceptable and the stringent controls that must apply, and supporting local authority enforcement where controls are not in place or are not applied consistently.

The controls are vague, not stringent.

In light of the Board’s decision, the FSA will continue developing guidance for local authorities, businesses and consumers.

More salaries sitting around a table. I’d rather pay hedgehogs.

barfblog.Stick It In

 

Surveys still suck: US and UK ask food safety questions but answers don’t predict behavior

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Good money follows bad.

The top food safety concern among Americans is no longer “foodborne illness,” having been overtaken by “chemicals in food,” according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation’s 2015 Food and Health Survey.

larry-david-yawn-knicks-otHowever, when it comes to risks to consumers, foodborne illnesses are far and away the greater health concern.

This year, 36 percent of Americans cited “chemicals in food,” such as pesticide residues, as the most important food safety issue for them and their family, edging out “foodborne illness from bacteria” (34 percent). The increase in the number of people citing “chemicals in food” as their top concern is striking. Last year, only 23 percent of Americans chose that option.

116lzja.jpgThe UK Food Standards Agency in their biannual survey found the top two food safety issues of total (ie spontaneous plus prompted) concern for respondents were food hygiene when eating out (37%), and the use of additives in food products (29%).

The top wider food issues of total concern were the amount of sugar in food (51%), food waste (49%) and the amount of salt in food (47%).

‘Some pink or no pink?’ Hamburger safety BS

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My latest from Texas A&M’s Center for Food Safety:

HomePage_BURGERThe UK Food Standards Agency, created in the aftermath of the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) mess, has sunk to new science-based lows and should be abolished.

This is not an evidence-based agency, but rather a lapdog for British arrogance.

For years I have criticized the FSA for their endorsement of piping hot as a safe cooking standard.

It is a regulators job to promote policies based on the best scientific evidence, not to appeal to cooking-show inspired public opinion.

For all the taxpayer-supplied millions provided to FSA the best they can do is appeal to the lowest common denominator.

FSA has published details of a proposed new approach to the preparation and service of rare (pink) burgers in food outlets.

The increased popularity of burgers served rare has prompted the FSA to look at how businesses can meet this consumer demand while ensuring public health remains protected.

hamburger.thermometerThe FSA’s long-standing advice has been that burgers should be cooked thoroughly until they are steaming hot throughout, the juices run clear and there is no pink meat left inside.

This long-standing advice is stupid, because hamburgers can appear pink yet safely cooked, or brown and undercooked. It has to do with myoglobin in the animal at the age it was slaughtered.

This research was published by Melvin Hunt of Kansas State University in 1998.

But FSA knows better.

They say controls should be in place throughout the supply chain and businesses will need to demonstrate to their local authority officer that the food safety procedures which they implement are appropriate. Examples of some of these controls are:

  • sourcing the meat only from establishments which have specific controls in place to minimise the risk of contamination of meat intended to be eaten raw or lightly cooked;
  • ensuring that the supplier carries out appropriate testing of raw meat to check that their procedures for minimising contamination are working;
  • strict temperature control to prevent growth of any bugs and appropriate preparation and cooking procedures; and,
  • providing consumer advice on menus regarding the additional risk from burgers which aren’t thoroughly cooked.

Maybe British inspectors have special bacteria-vision goggles.

Professor Guy Poppy, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Food Standards Agency, said: ‘We are clear that the best way of ensuring burgers are safe to eat is to cook them thoroughly but we acknowledge that some people choose to eat them rare. The proposals we will be discussing with the FSA board in September strike a balance between protecting public health and maintaining consumer choice.’

Not once was a thermometer mentioned. And that’s standard procedure in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

It didn’t take the Daily Mail long to point out that under the proposal, people can eat burgers that are cooked rare and pink in the middle in restaurants, but not at home or on the barbecue.

barfblog.Stick It InThe move follows pressure from some gourmet burger, pub and restaurant chains who argue that the meat tastes better if it is still pink in the middle.

The proposal, which will have to be approved by the FSA board next month, will also lift the risk of prosecution of food outlets by council environmental health officers.

Officials at the FSA say consumers should be allowed to take an adult decision when eating out whether they want to eat a burger that is pink in the middle.
But it is also arguing that people cannot take this same adult decision when cooking burgers at home.

‘The FSA’s long-standing advice has been that burgers should be cooked thoroughly until they are steaming hot throughout, the juices run clear and there is no pink meat left inside.

These piping hot morons should not be taken seriously by any scientist and should be turfed.

Color sucks. Stick it in and use a thermometer.

 Dr. Douglas Powell is a former professor of food safety who shops, cooks and ferments from his home in Brisbane, Australia.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the original creator and do not necessarily represent that of the Texas A&M Center for Food Safety or Texas A&M University.

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Lancashire food hygiene shock as nearly 120 outlets deemed in need of ‘urgent’ or ‘major’ improvements

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Almost 120 food outlets in East Lancashire have officially been deemed in need of ‘urgent’ or ‘major’ hygiene improvements.

fsa.scores.doorsThe fact that so many restaurants, takeaways, cafes and shops come the lowest two of five ratings for a healthy environment has alarmed MPs who care calling for tougher action to improve standards.

Blackburn MP Kate Hollern and Hyndburn’s Graham Jones are urging people to check the national food standards ‘Scores on the Doors’ website before purchasing food.

Out of a total of 4,473 outlets across East Lancashire 117 come in the lowest to two categories – One ‘Urgent Improvement Necessary’ or Two ‘Major Improvement Necessary’.

The worst figure comes from Hyndburn where 44 of 656 premises come in the bottom two scores.

Use a thermometer, color sucks: UK FSA says don’t serve your duck pink

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Color is a lousy indicator.

But that doesn’t stop the taxpayer-funded UK Food Standards Agency from issuing nonsensical advice.

smoked-duck-breast1I’ve asked the UK food safety types why they don’t recommend that people use thermometers – as is the advice in the U.S., Canada and Australia – and the response is usually along the lines of, people can’t handle such complicated information.

A colleague received similar advice yesterday from the UK FSA.

Arrogant bullshit.

And not science-based.

The Telegraph reported today that duck should never be served pink as diners could be poisoned by a potential deadly bug more commonly associated with chicken, food officials have said.

While many upmarket restaurants recommend their duck dishes medium-rare, the Food Standards Agency said the poultry should always be cooked “thoroughly” at home.

It warned that the prevalence of the campylobacter bug among ducks was “not dissimilar” to the levels among chickens, where seven in 10 birds are infected.

The bacterium, which makes 280,000 ill every year, is only killed when meat is fully cooked.

On Wednesday the food watchdog said it was concerned that there was a public misconception that duck was different to chicken in that it could safely be served pink.

There’s a public misconception because the bureaucrats are not offering clear, evidence-based information.

Stick it in.

 

Promote food safety at retail: UK may do it to control Campylobacter

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The UK Food Standards Agency is to ramp up its campaign against shops that continue to sell a high proportion of chickens with Campylobacter, admitting that “much further work needs to be done.”

campy.chickenThe bug makes 280,000 people ill each year, with 20,000 admitted to hospital.

Under proposals to be discussed this week, shoppers could be told to avoid certain supermarkets if they continue to sell high numbers of infected chickens in an explicit bid to change consumers’ “purchasing habits.”

The highly unusual intervention is likely to provoke legal challenges from retailers if it is forced through.

Officials will also consider whether the law should be changed to make it illegal to sell highly-contaminated poultry. Shops that fail to meet new requirements might be told to cook or freeze the infected chickens to kill the bacteria before the birds go on sale.

In a document outlining the proposals, Steve Wearne, director of policy at the FSA said: “The indications are that the prevalence of campylobacter in chickens is beginning to come down.