Jose Bolanos of the UK Food Standards Agency writes in Organizations, culture and food safety, 2020that FSA has a longstanding interest in organisational culture and its impact on the capability of a food business to provide food that is safe and what it says it is.
However, while there has been some work carried out on assessing organisational culture in some regulatory areas, there has been limited progress in the development of a regulatory approach specifically for food safety culture.
And on it goes in bureau-speak.
Can’t take an agency seriously when they still recommend that meat be cooked until piping hot.
A catering firm that “spoiled” a couple’s wedding day with a salmonella-ridden hog roast has been ordered to pay nearly £250,000.
In total, 58 guests fell ill after tucking into the meaty centrepiece at Vicki and Phil Kemp’s reception.
The pair were so ill they had to cancel their Dominican Republic honeymoon, Cannock Magistrates’ Court heard.
Galloping Gourmet Ltd admitted two food safety offences, was fined £200,000 and ordered to pay £49,936 in costs.
Lichfield District Council, which identified the salmonella outbreak, described the contaminated meat as “dangerously undercooked”.
It added the firm had not taken customers’ health and safety seriously enough.
IT technician Mr Kemp, 35, of Burntwood, Lichfield, said in a statement: “My illness lasted around 10 days all in all, but the symptoms were so bad that we had no option but to cancel our honeymoon. I was totally devastated.
The Food Standards Agency reports Happy Hounds is recalling certain types of frozen raw dog food because salmonella has been found in the products.
Product details
Frozen Chicken & Beef Sleeve Dog Food
Pack size
1kg
Batch code
1205
Best before
3 September 2020
Frozen Chicken Mince Sleeve Dog Food
Pack size
1kg
Batch code
1205
Best before
3 September 2020
Frozen Chicken Mince Dog Food
Pack size
2.5kg (bag of 4)
Batch code
1205
Best before
3 September 2020
Risk statement
The presence of salmonella in the products listed above. Salmonella is a bacterium that can cause illness in humans and animals. The product could therefore carry a potential risk because of the presence of salmonella, either through direct handling of the pet food, or indirectly, for example from pet feeding bowls, utensils or contact with the faeces of animals.
In humans, symptoms caused by salmonella usually include fever, diarrhoea and abdominal cramps. Infected animals may not necessarily display signs of illness, but symptoms can include diarrhoea.
Action taken by the company
Happy Hounds is recalling the above products. Point of sale notices will be displayed in all retail stores that are selling these products. These notices explain to customers why the products are being recalled and tell them what to do if they have bought the product.
Our advice to consumers
Our advice to pet owners: If you have bought any of the above products do not use them. Instead, return them to the store from where they were bought for a full refund. When handling and serving raw pet food it is always advised to clean utensils and feeding bowls thoroughly after use. Consumers should wash hands thoroughly after handling raw pet food, bowls, utensils or after contact with the faeces of animals. Raw pet food should be stored separately from any food (especially ready to eat foods). Care should be taken when defrosting to avoid cross contamination of foods and surfaces.
Ian Hitchcock, 52, died in June after eating a contaminated meal – a scandal that appears to have claimed the lives of six people in the UK this year.
Today it emerged sandwiches at Royal Derby Hospital, where Mr Hitchcock was receiving cancer treatment, were kept in ‘ineffective’ fridges that warmed the food to above 8C – an offence under 2013 food safety laws.
The problem was found by experts inspecting the kitchen on June 4 and 5 where an environmental health officer said the broken fridges were serving food at illegal temperatures.
A report said the food was a particular risk to anyone with a weakened immune system, such as cancer sufferer Mr Hitchcock.
On June 8 he died after eating one of the pre-packed sandwiches.
Ian Hitchcock, 52, died after eating a pre-packaged sandwich while being treated for cancer at the Royal Derby Hospital last week. His death is being linked to an NHS listeria outbreak which has so far claimed five lives +2
Ian Hitchcock, 52, died after eating a pre-packaged sandwich while being treated for cancer at the Royal Derby Hospital last week. His death is being linked to an NHS listeria outbreak which has so far claimed five lives
In a letter, seen by the BBC, food safety inspector Jayne Hassall said ‘high risk foods’ such as sandwiches were ‘stored outside temperature control due to ineffective refrigerators’.
Nearly 4,000 people visited the Action Indoor Sports centre to celebrate Lego but after the event more than 40 attendees started experiencing sickness and diarrhoea.
One Lego fan, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he was not happy with the cleanliness of the venue.
He said: “The state of the place left a lot to be desired.”
“The food wasn’t great and over the weekend, the toilets weren’t well maintained, the basins didn’t work well and there was no hand sanitiser and that sort of thing.”
“At least 40 people that I know about have been affected.”
Bristol News reports employees at a Bishopsworth café have been fined for food hygiene offences after pleading guilty to a string of safety standards breaches.
Laura West and Donna Flanagan, who were running the small Butter Me Up premises at Highridge Road, were also ordered to pay totals including prosecution costs of £2,937 and £2,855 respectively at Bristol Crown Court last week after pleading guilty to a number of offences at an earlier hearing.
The pair were also given an open-ended Hygiene Prohibition Order, banning them from participating in the management of any food business which, if breached, amounts to a criminal offence which could lead to a prison sentence.
Environmental Health officers from Bristol City Council launched an immediate investigation and visited the café in July 2018, having been alerted to the death of an elderly gentleman from suspected food poisoning after he and a friend were hospitalised.
Officers discovered that the business had been operating since November 2015 but had not registered with the Council since it opened. The café was also displaying a food safety sticker with a rating of 5, the highest rating, which belonged to a previous business at the same address.
Environmental health officers noted a range of further food safety offences, including little to no food hygiene and safety training, no written food safety management, poor pest control and lack of reliable disinfection practices. Environmental swabs and a cloth that had been used for handling equipment showed that food poisoning bacteria were widespread throughout the premises, indicating poor cleaning practices.
A four-year-old girl was left fighting for her life after contracting the deadly E.coli infection after a trip to the Isle of Wight.
Isla Grainger had to be put in an induced coma in intensive care after the harmful bug caused her kidneys to fail.
Pippa Allen-Kinross of the Mirror reports Isla spent 17 days in hospital and is now recovering at home, but is still not well enough to go to school.
She began to have diarrhoea and sickness after a weekend trip to the Isle of Wight with her mum Lauren Aspery, 21, and mum’s partner Lewis Keith.
The family visited a petting zoo, arcades and a beach in Sandown on the island before Isla became unwell.
But, as yet, they do not know where the infection came from.
Mum Lauren, who lives in Whiteley near Fareham, also had painful stomach aches and nausea.
After Isla stopped eating and struggled to go to the toilet for three days, Lauren took her daughter to the emergency department at Southampton General Hospital.
The little girl was rushed into emergency surgery to insert a catheter and begin urgent dialysis after tests revealed she had E.coli O157.
Medics realised the E.coli had developed into hemolytic uremic syndrome, affecting Isla’s blood cells and vessels and resulting in kidney failure.
She had to undergo surgery to remove a twisted catheter and was later moved to intensive care and placed in an induced coma.
Devastated Lauren was left terrified she would lose her daughter, as Isla’s condition quickly became a “matter of life or death”.
She said: “It was terrifying. I thought the worst and that we were going to lose our little girl.
“I really believed this was just a bad case of sickness.
“The doctor took a breath and told us that ‘Isla is very, very poorly, much more sick than we thought’.
Allie Birchall came down with the severe illness after returning to the UK following a stay at a luxury resort east of the coastal city of Antayla.
Her family were forced to turn off Allie’s life support machine just two weeks after their holiday because of complications caused by the illness.
The family had travelled to Turkey with tour operator Jet2 Holidays on 12 July and said they had concerns about the hygeine of the Turkish resort.
Katie Dawson, Allie’s mother, said her daughter did not start getting ill until five days after getting back to their home in Atherton, Greater Manchester.
According to Ms Dawson, Allie began suffering with stomach cramps, diarrhoea, loss of appetite and lethargy before being admitted to Royal Bolton Hospital on July 30.
The hospital confirmed Allie had contracted Shiga-Toxin producing E.Coli (STEC), which later led to her developing deadly Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) – a life-threatening complication related to the poisoning.
Allie was moved to the Manchester Royal Infirmary and put in an induced coma on August 1.
An MRI scan was carried out, which revealed that she had sustained severe brain trauma and damage. Katie had to make the difficult decision to terminate Allie’s life support following the advice from doctors.
“While nothing will bring her back, we need to know what caused her illness and if anything could have been done to prevent it.
The family have now instructed specialist international serious injury lawyers, Irwin Mitchell, to investigate what happened.
Public Health England is also currently investigating the matter, and an inquest has been opened to examine the circumstances surrounding Allie’s death.
Queen Elizabeth has a crafty way to avoid getting poisoned at the dinner table. A new documentary called Secrets of the Royal Kitchen explores the ins and outs of Buckingham Palace’s kitchens, including the lengths royal staffers go to keep Elizabeth safe. Here’s a quick look at all the interesting elements that go into a state banquet with the Queen.
During state banquets, Her Majesty’s staff are required to follow a serious protocol to keep her safe – and the lengths they go for her safety might surprise you.
A personal chef at the palace prepares the dishes for all of the guests. According to the New York Post, Elizabeth’s staff members then chose a random plate for her in an effort to prevent someone from poisoning her food.
The only way someone would be able to poison Queen Elizabeth is if they contaminated all of the dishes. This tactic has paid off so far, though we couldn’t imagine why someone would want to poison the Queen.
“After everything is plated up, a page chooses at random one of the plates to be served to her majesty,” Emily Andrews, a correspondent for the royals, shared. “So if anyone did want to poison the monarch they’d have to poison the whole lot.”
The documentary also revealed that banquet guests are required to follow some strict rules while dining with Elizabeth Queen.
This includes finishing their plates before Her Majesty is done eating. This is an old tradition that used to be more of an issue in the past as guests would race to finish their food. It is unclear if the palace requires visitors to follow this protocol or if they have gotten more flexible in recent years.
There are, of course, plenty of other traditions guests are required to follow whenever they are eating with the Queen.
For starters, nobody sits down until Elizabeth has been seated. You also cannot start eating until she has taken her first bite.
Elizabeth also has a personal menu that has been crafted to her liking. She schedules her meals three days in advance to give the palace chef plenty of time to gather ingredients.
When picking her dining options, Elizabeth crosses out dishes she doesn’t like. She also crosses out entire pages whenever she has a royal event that evening and will not be dining in the palace.
I don’t cover all the norovirus outbreaks because there are far too many: but I do cover the unique and unintentionally sardonic.
Bethany Whymark of the Eastern Daily Press reports a primary school where scores of children are believed to have been struck down with norovirus has declined to confirm or deny whether an outbreak took place.
Of course not. They’re British.
Parents at Norwich Primary Academy say an outbreak of the vomiting bug at the end of last week caused dozens of children to fall ill.
One parent claimed almost a quarter of the school’s 350 pupils were absent at the end of last week and questioned why the school had not been closed.
Norwich Primary Academy did not confirm or deny whether any cases of norovirus has been reported, saying it could not comment on individual cases, but added that it took pupil health seriously and followed all relevant health protection guidelines.
Uh-huh.
One parent, whose children are in year one and year three at Norwich Primary Academy, said a group social media chat for parents at the school has reportedly been awash with talk of children and other family members falling victim to sickness and diarrhea.
“It is speculation from the teachers at the moment,” she said.
“There were 18 children in a year one class out of 30 on Friday morning and 10 on Friday afternoon. The children are dropping like flies.”
However, while there has been some work carried out on assessing organisational culture in some regulatory areas, there has been limited progress in the development of a regulatory approach specifically for food safety culture.
