8/9/2010 -

Restaurant, Catering and Hospitality E-bulletin - May 2010

 

Food Safety News

A spotlight on the hottest topics for the restaurant, catering and hospitality sectors

May 2010

 

In this issue:

1. UK ‘Scores on the Doors’ March 2010 Steering Group Update
2. FSA liaise with catering stakeholders on new gluten regulations
3. UK local authority enforcement monitoring data for 08/09 published
4. FSA publishes proposals for front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling
5. Date marking guidance – FSA consultation launched
6. UK FSA Food and Allergy Alerts (April/May ‘10)


If you have any queries or comments about the articles below please contact Chris Pratsis on 07831 859424, email retailservices@nsf-cmi.com or contact your Account Manager if you are an existing NSF-CMi customer.

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1. UK ‘Scores on the Doors’ March 2010 Steering Group Update

At the FSA’s UK-wide Scores on the Doors Steering Group meeting in March, recommendations for a consistency framework for operating the national scheme were considered and were due for finalisation in April by correspondence. Only if there are substantive changes will they be considered at the next meeting. To date no further report has been published.
The group also considered the Agency’s proposals for the IT platform and noted that development of this is underway.
Following media coverage about inspection of food premises and cost recovery, it was clarified that a national voluntary scheme for ‘Scores on the Doors’ is a key part of the FSA’s food hygiene strategy but policy on this has not changed since the Board decision in December 2008.
Food businesses will continue to be inspected by local authorities based upon risk, regardless of their Scores on the Doors rating and whether or not they choose to display their rating. Local authorities do not charge retailers and caterers for statutory planned food hygiene inspections. However, under the national Scores on the Doors scheme, the possibility for local authorities to charge for any re-inspections or re-visits requested by a food business operator with a view to being re-scored is being considered.
Link: http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2010/mar/sotdupdate

2. FSA liaise with catering stakeholders on new gluten regulations

Following a recent stakeholder meeting, the FSA have written to caterers and other interested parties to highlight ongoing concerns that caterers will be unable to comply with the proposed regulatory requirements in the draft ”The Foodstuffs Suitable for People Intolerant to Gluten (England) Regulations 2009”. These included proposed compositional criteria for the use of 'gluten-free' and 'very low gluten' claims for foods. At this time it was stated that the FSA intended to extend the scope to include non pre-packed foods e.g. those sold in catering establishments provided that they meet the stated criteria.

Key points emerging from the meeting included:
- In practice the majority of caterers will not be able to claim that their menu items are “gluten-free‟ due to cross-contamination.

- Caterers are wary of using factual statements – especially the phrase “we have taken steps to minimise cross-contamination”

- Caterers want further guidance on what would be expected in terms of risk assessment/ good practice in order to demonstrate due diligence and to avoid prosecution.

- There is a need to assess whether caterers who currently provide gluten-free meals would have to do anything additional to current practices in terms of risk assessment/good practice, in order to use the factual statements. At this stage it is thought that no changes would be required as a result of the regulations, other than substituting the words “gluten-free‟ or “suitable for coeliacs” with a factual statement e.g. “No gluten containing ingredients”.

In response to these points the Agency plan to include further advice in guidance documents (due end May) and are to establish a working group to take this forward.
Original consultation documents at: http://www.food.gov.uk/consultations/consulteng/2009/draftsiintolglutenregs09eng

3. UK local authority enforcement monitoring data for 08/09 published

The FSA has published a paper on the enforcement of food law by UK local authorities in 2008/09. The paper, which includes enforcement activity data that has been collected using a new monitoring system, LAEMS (Local Authority Enforcement Monitoring System); more than 95% of councils reported food hygiene data with the new system.
The data shows that just over half a million inspections and other visits were carried out by local authorities in 2008/09 and more than 86% of food businesses inspected, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways, had hygiene standards equivalent to the top three ratings (3-5 stars) of the planned national food hygiene rating ‘Scores on the Doors’ scheme.
There has also been an increase in total enforcement actions against food establishments that do not comply with hygiene regulations. Local authorities carried out more than 167,000 formal enforcement actions in 2008/09 and there was a notable increase from previous years in certain types of formal legal actions.
The report can be accessed at: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/board/fsa100309v3.pdf

4. FSA publishes proposals for front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling

At the FSA’s Board Meeting in March, a single approach to front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labelling was proposed. The Board paper proposes that the way information about the amount of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugars in a product is presented should use three elements: traffic light colours, text (high/medium/low) and % GDAs. Some companies are already using this approach whereas others are using FOP schemes that only provide some of these elements.
In March 2006 the Agency recommended a set of principles for FOP labelling that would help consumers easily understand the levels of fat, saturated fat, salt and sugars in food products. Currently, the majority of UK food manufacturers and retailers are voluntarily using FOP schemes although some schemes also use colours other than the Agency’s recommended 'traffic lights' or use colours as a design feature simply to highlight the different nutrients: for example, green for fat and yellow for salt.
An independent evaluation of the effectiveness of these schemes was published in May 2009. This robust study found that the co-existence of different FOP labels confused consumers. It concluded that the words ‘high, medium and low’ were understood best, and combining this text with traffic light colours and percentage Guideline Daily Amounts (% GDAs) would enable more people to make healthier choices easily.
The proposals can be found at: http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/board/fsa100307.pdf

5. Date marking guidance – UK consultation launched

New guidance is out for consultation designed to help industry when deciding appropriate date marks (‘best before’ or ‘use by’) to use on food products; current guidance was last re-issued in ’03.
The guidance sets out key principles that should be considered by food businesses when determining date marks, including a flow chart to aid the date-marking decision-making process. A simplified two-page version of the guide to legal compliance is also being issued in order to help small businesses.
The revision of this guidance is part of a wider programme of work being undertaken by Defra, WRAP, and the FSA, who are working closely with industry to identify and implement appropriate changes to practice which will help consumers better understand the date labels.
The consultation closes on 16/06/10 prior to finalisation of the guidance.
Consultation documents available at:
http://www.food.gov.uk/consultations/consulteng/2010/fsaguidanceappdatemarksfoodeng

6. FSA Food and Allergy Alerts (April/May ‘10)

Food Alerts:
14/04: Ella's Kitchen (Brands) Ltd recalls certain batches of Stage 3 Totally Cool Caribbean Chicken with Mangoes due to potential presence of hardened pieces of vegetables.
30/03: Wester Lawrenceton Farm Ltd recalls various batches of Carola and Caerphilly cheese.

Allergy Alerts:
29/04: ASDA withdraws its Garlic and Herb Coleslaw 300g due to incorrect allergen labelling information. Allergen: Shellfish (prawns).
23/04: Tesco recalls one batch of its own-brand Flaked Pudding Rice due to the presence of undeclared wheat (gluten). Allergen: Wheat (gluten)
16/04: The Healthy Bowels Company Ltd 'Lepicol' probiotic product contains incorrect allergen labelling information. Allergen: Milk.
07/04: Dorset Cereals withdraws certain batches of Simply Fruity Muesli (820g) due to possible nut inclusion, affected batches only in Tesco Stores. Allergen: Nuts (Brazil and hazelnuts).
30/03: Heineken UK withdraws a batch of Murphy's Stout due to a packaging error resulting in the presence of undeclared gluten (barley). Allergen: Gluten (from barley).


If you have any queries or comments about these articles please contact Chris Pratsis on 07831 859424, email enquiries@nsf-cmi.com or contact your Account Manager if you are an existing NSF-CMi customer.


NSF-CMi is the leading independent environmental health, food assurance and supply chain technical services provider working throughout the catering, foodservice and hospitality & leisure sectors. It is the UK market leader for bespoke, food safety, health & safety compliance support and provides a full range of technical services for the retail, catering and leisure sectors.

NSF-CMi works extensively with governments, UK and international executive agencies and industry bodies to develop solutions which balance the interests of all stakeholders in the quest to improve the quality of consumer safety, provide client protection and enhance brand equity.


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