025
July 2012
London 2012
FOOD HYGIENE
Let the Games begin!
No one can guarantee that the next few weeks will pass
without incident, but if preparation and application count
for anything, London 2012 should be the safest Games yet
in terms of food safety
T
he Agency and its
partners have provided
extra training for local
authority enforcement officers
No, it’s not a javelin: Debra Read, Port
Health Officer with London Port Health
Authority, samples for legionella on a
cruise ship hosting Olympic guests
and food safety coaching for
food businesses. Emergency
exercises have also been
organised by the Agency to
prepare officers for all
eventualities.
The Agency’s Food Hygiene
Rating Scheme has been
established in three quarters of
all London boroughs (see next
page), and grant funding was
awarded to help local
authorities carry out additional
inspections prior to the Games.
The impact of this approach is
highlighted by the fact that an
extra thousand of the Agency’s
‘Safer food, better business’
(SFBB) food hygiene packs are
now being despatched each
Newsletter of the Food Standards Agency
NEWS IN THE NATIONS
RESEARCH
INTERNATIONAL
week to small businesses. The
London Borough of Merton
piloted swab kits – supplied by
the FSA – with local
restaurateurs and café owners
before the recent Wimbledon
tennis tournament to highlight
the importance of leaving
sanitisers on cutting boards and
work surfaces long enough for
them to have an impact.
The FSA has also provided
water-testing equipment to the
Port of London Authority and
the London Borough of
Greenwich to help ensure the
safety of the water supply to
ships berthing in London during
the Games and of the
temporary water supplies in
Greenwich Park.
If there are food safety
problems, the Agency’s
Incidents Unit will be staffed
from 7am to 8.30pm Monday to
Friday and from 8am to 6pm on
weekends throughout the
Olympic period to address
issues such as food poisoning,
food contamination and food
fraud (see further information).
Sarah Appleby, head of local
authority enforcement at the
FSA, said: ‘The value of
partnership working will hold us
in good stead – regardless of
what happens over the next few
weeks, and we would like to
thank all of our partners,
including local authority
enforcement staff, the Health
Protection Agency and the
London Organising Committee
of the Olympic Games.’ n
food.gov.uk
© Crown Copyright
FURTHER INFORMATION
More on SFBB is on food.gov.uk.
The Agency’s Incidents Unit
can be contacted by telephone
at 020 7276 8448 or by email
at: foodincidents@
foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk
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‘
We’ve had a very positive response from many of
the 5,000 plus food businesses in Westminster
LONDON 2012
FOOD HYGIENE
NEWS IN THE NATIONS
RESEARCH
London raises its game on food safety
W
ith London expected
to host up to 600,000
extra visitors during
the next few weeks, the Agency
and local authorities in the
capital have made Olympian
efforts to maximise the safety of
all food on sale.
The FSA’s Food Hygiene
Rating Scheme (FHRS) now
includes 25 out of London’s 33
boroughs (75%), and the
ratings website contains data
on nearly 40,000 premises
across the capital.
Catriona Stewart, head of the
FSA’s hygiene ratings team,
said the Agency is working
closely with the remaining
boroughs – some of which are
running similar schemes – to
help them join the FHRS by the
end of the year.
To highlight the continuing
expansion of the FHRS in
London, an event was held
recently at the Imperial War
Museum in Southwark. The
museum’s café has achieved
an FHRS rating of ‘5’.
Representatives attended
Newsletter of the Food Standards Agency
James Armitage, Service
Manager for Food, Health &
Safety at Westminster City
Council, said: ‘We’re really
pleased to be part of the
national scheme and to have
achieved this before the
Olympics. We’ve had a very
positive response from many of
the 5,000 plus food businesses
in Westminster, and plenty of
enquiries from businesses
wanting to know how they can
improve their scores.’
food.gov.uk
Annual report shows
Agency is on target
Catriona Stewart said: ‘It’s
been a major challenge to get
so many London boroughs
running the FHRS before the
Olympics, but it will stand us all
in good stead – during the
Games and as a legacy for
Londoners and visitors to the
city in the future.’ n
The FSA has continued to make
progress towards meeting its
2010 Westminster Spending
Review savings target, according
to its Annual Report and
Accounts 2011/12. While making
these savings, the FSA has
continued to deliver on its
objective of ensuring safer food
for the nation.
The report notes that
participation in the food hygiene
rating schemes across the UK
has gained real momentum, with
94% of local authorities now
running the schemes or making
a commitment to do so.
And as part of its core work,
the FSA handled 1,787 foodsafety incidents during 2011/12,
an increase of 187 on the
previous year. Six of these were
‘high-level’ incidents that had the
potential to cause deaths,
serious injury or generate
widespread concern.n
FURTHER INFORMATION
FURTHER INFORMATION
The front line on food safety: representatives from the Association of London Environmental Health Managers, the Chartered
Institute of Environmental Health and 19 London boroughs attended the event at the Imperial War Museum
from the Association of
London Environmental Health
Managers, the Chartered
Institute of Environmental Health
and 19 London boroughs.
Wandsworth Deputy Council
Leader, Councillor Jonathan
Cook, said: ‘Wandsworth
transferred to the FHRS in
April 2012. We are grateful to
the FSA for providing financial
and technical support, which
enabled us to achieve a
smooth transition.’
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INTERNATIONAL
More details are on
food.gov.uk/ratings
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© Crown Copyright
More details are on
food.gov.uk
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02
‘
FHIS provides reassurance for
consumers on food
’
LONDON 2012
FOOD HYGIENE
NEWS IN THE NATIONS
RESEARCH
FHIS reaches remotest
part of British Isles
S
Shellfish tested
for chemicals
ince its launch in
December 2008, the
Food Hygiene
Information Scheme (FHIS) in
Scotland has been casting its
net far and wide, and has now
reached the remotest part of
the British Isles, St Kilda.
St Kilda is an archipelago
situated 40 miles further out in
the Atlantic than the nearest
Scottish island of North Uist.
It has no permanent residents,
and visitor numbers rarely
exceed 2,000 people.
There are two catering
establishments on St Kilda –
a National Trust for Scotland
kitchen and a kitchen on the
Ministry of Defence military
base. Both received an FHIS
‘Pass’ certificate from the
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
local authority.
The National Trust for
Scotland kitchen is used by
small groups of trust members
coming to St Kilda to participate
in conservation work. So far
this year, three work parties
have visited – each with their
own cook. The kitchen facilities
underwent major renovation a
couple of years ago and
separate records are kept by
each of the work party cooks,
based on the CookSafe Food
Safety Management System.
Hotel and catering services
at the Ministry of Defence
radar tracking station on St
Kilda are contracted out to
Compass ESS.
FSA in Scotland Director
Charles Milne said: ‘I am
delighted that FHIS has
reached St Kilda. FHIS
provides reassurance for
consumers on food.’ n
‘Bag it up’
tips issued
by FSA in
Wales
The FSA in Wales has produced
tips for shoppers on how to
reduce the risk of crosscontamination when packing
raw and ready-to-eat food.
Since October 2011, when
a 5p levy was introduced on
plastic and paper bags issued
by retailers in Wales, there
has been a considerable
increase in consumers
reusing carrier bags, according
to information produced by the
Welsh Assembly Government.
The Agency’s tips include:
•• Keep raw meat and fish
separate from ready-to
eat-foods, in separate bags.
•• If your bags are re-useable,
keep one or two just for use
with raw meat and fish.
Don’t use meat and fish
bags for ready-to-eat foods.
•• Bags should be disposed
Newsletter of the Food Standards Agency
INTERNATIONAL
John McGale, ESS Hebrides Manager at the Ministry of Defence establishment
on St Kilda, along with Ian Taylor, Capability Manager for the Hebrides Range.
Gert Petersen, Danish cook for one of the St Kilda National Trust working parties
food.gov.uk
FURTHER INFORMATION
More on the FHIS can be found
at food.gov.uk/ratings
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© Crown Copyright
Sampling of shellfish from
classified shellfish harvesting
areas in Scotland has
established that none of the
samples exceeded European
Commission chemical
contaminant limits for bivalve
molluscs or were likely to
pose a risk to public health.
The shellfish were analysed
for heavy metals, dioxins,
polychlorinated biphenyl
and polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons.
The 2011/12 results have
been published online for the
first time as an annual report. n
FURTHER INFORMATION
The report is in full on
food.gov.uk nnnnn
of if there’s been any spillage
of raw meat juices. n
FURTHER INFORMATION
More is available on
food.gov.uk
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03
‘
Working with the FSA, the fellows will be encouraged to use their
research expertise to contribute to relevant policy initiatives
London 2012
FOOD HYGIENE
’
NEWS IN THE NATIONS
RESEARCH
Projecting into
the future
Survey of allergy
advice labelling
The Agency is developing projects to drive forward
innovation in food safety and to support scientists who
may see food safety as part of their future work
T
he Agency is inviting
researchers to develop
innovative proposals that
will improve food safety and
address its key objective of
safer food for the nation.
The Agency issued a call
for tender, with total funding
available of £500,000 to
develop further the strategic
challenge initiative started in
2011. The projects should
address one or more of the
issues affecting food safety,
such as the production of safe
food, safe use of food by
consumers, or effective controls
ensuring safe food.
Meanwhile, the Agency has
joined forces with the British
Biotechnology and Biological
Sciences Research Council to
fund two early-career
fellowships in food safety.
The five-year fellowships will
support scientists pursuing
research into areas such as
combating foodborne disease
People and projects: the FSA is looking to the future
or emerging issues affecting
food safety. Working with the
FSA, the fellows will be
encouraged to use their
research expertise to contribute
to relevant policy initiatives.
Agency Chief Scientist
Andrew Wadge said the
initiatives would deliver
important developments in food
safety science. n
FURTHER INFORMATION
You can find more online about
the call for research and the
fellowship applications
FSA experts play role in EFSA scientific committee
Three scientists from the
Food Standards Agency are
now serving as independent
experts on scientific panels
of the European Food Safety
Authority (EFSA) Scientific
Committee
This reflects the FSA’s
commitment to working with
EFSA to ensure the safety of
food within the EU.
Dr Paul Cook, FSA head of
microbiological food safety,
has been appointed to the
Newsletter of the Food Standards Agency
INTERNATIONAL
Panel on Biological Hazards.
Dr David Gott, of the
Agency’s chemical risk
assessment unit, is in his
second term on the Panel on
Food Additives and Nutrient
Sources added to Food.
food.gov.uk
Dr Diane Benford, head of
the chemical risk assessment
Unit, has been appointed for
a third term to the Panel on
Contaminants in the Food
Chain and elected by panel
members to be its chair. n
© Crown Copyright
The Agency has begun a
UK-wide survey to compare the
levels of allergens in foods that
have voluntary allergen labelling
with levels in similar products
not labelled in this way.
Many manufacturers label
their products with statements
such as ‘may contain nuts’. This
is intended to alert consumers
with allergies that a food may
not be suitable for them, as it
may unintentionally contain
small amounts of an allergen as
a result of cross-contamination
during production.
The survey could help
determine if such labelling is
being used appropriately and if
manufacturers are following
Agency best practice guidance.
No other survey of this kind
has been carried out in the UK,
and results are expected to be
published in autumn 2013. n
FURTHER INFORMATION
You can read more online
about the survey on
food.gov.uk
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04
‘
Our staff will be sharing their expertise with local fishermen
to help them improve fish farming techniques
London 2012
’
FOOD HYGIENE
NEWS IN THE NATIONS
RESEARCH
05
INTERNATIONAL
Farmers in Kenya
to benefit from
FSA expertise
M
assimo Rescigno, a vet
and expert in food
quality and hygiene, will
be supporting the charity Farm
Africa to train Kenyan farmers
to improve food standards.
His visit will focus on teaching
African fish farmers how to
produce high quality fish to
reduce hunger and poverty.
The project is situated near
Kisumu town, by Lake Victoria.
The lake provides more than
90% of Kenya’s fish supply, but
recent dwindling stocks have
pushed up prices.
Western Kenya is an area
that suffers from high levels of
poverty and hunger. The
decline in fresh water fisheries
is affecting the affordable fish
supply in the region, making
fish expensive for local people
to buy.
Farm Africa is teaching
farmers how to farm fish, and
providing local entrepreneurs
with the skills and training to set
up aqua shops to underpin the
Kenyan Government’s fishfarming push.
The FSA has undertaken this
ground-breaking interchange to
enable its high skilled staff to
apply their expertise to make a
positive difference
internationally.
The FSA has a tradition of
encouraging its staff to widen
their expertise by taking part in
secondment and exchange
schemes with other
Newsletter of the Food Standards Agency
Photo: Farm Africa
A lead veterinarian with the Food Standards Agency is
swapping his desk for the fields and fish ponds of western
Kenya, as part of the Agency’s first international staff
ambassador programme
A woman feeds ‘fingerlings’ in a fish pond near Kisumu, Western Kenya
organisations, including the
British Retail Consortium,
PepsiCo and Hampshire
County Council. Massimo is the
first of two staff to take part in
the international scheme and
will be in Kenya several times
over three months.
Looking forward to the
interchange, Massimo said:
‘It represents a lifetime dream
for me. This is my chance to
make a real difference to
someone’s life.’
The FSA was introduced to
the work of Farm Africa when
food.gov.uk
FSA Chief Executive Tim Smith
joined a UK food sector
fundraising climb of Mount
Kilimanjaro last year. The
team’s aim was to demonstrate
the UK food sector’s support for
smallholder farmers who are
also part of the global food
supply chain. The team raised
more than £250,000 to improve
the lives of African farmers.
Tim Smith said: ‘Our staff
will be sharing their expertise
with local fishermen to help
them improve fish farming
techniques. They will also use
© Crown Copyright
their knowledge to support
local retailers, advising them
on food hygiene and safety to
improve the availability and
quality of fish through the food
supply chain.
‘I’m delighted that the Food
Standards Agency is supporting
Farm Africa in this important
initiative.’n
FURTHER INFORMATION
To learn more about
Farm Africa, go to:
farmafrica.org.uk
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Issue 08
The Food
Standards Agency
is running the
anchor leg for
food safety
team UK
14>
We spend
a day with a
local authority
enforcement officer
in Tower Hamlets,
one of the Games’
host boroughs
Tower of strength
08>
On your marks, get set…
The
Olympics were
previously held in
London in 1908
and 1948. Are we
now eating better
and more safely?
History in the making
04>
The Food Standards Agency magazine with teeth
Already out
of the blocks
Food safety: meeting an
Olympian challenge
London 2012
food.gov.uk
is the Food Standards
Agency’s main website.
It contains the latest
Agency news, food alerts,
consultations, science,
research and regulatory
information.
food.gov.uk
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Bite
is the Food Standards
Agency’s new quarterly
magazine. It provides an
in-depth look at
challenging policy issues
and includes stakeholder
discussion and opinion.
food.gov.uk/bite
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the newsletter of the Food Standards Agency
Email us at: [email protected]
To subscribe online go to: food.gov.uk/subscribe/specialistinformation/
Editor: Frank Chalmers
Tel: 020 7276 8805
Newsletter of the Food Standards Agency
food.gov.uk
© Crown Copyright