News: Food Industry Warning from CIEH
- Date: 09/09/2010
- Author/Solicitor: Graeme Cushion
According to the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health it seems that the food industry has been cutting back on food safety training during the economic decline. Whilst this is in some ways not surprising, what is quite clear is that Enforcement Officers will not consider this to, in any way be an excuse for not complying with the law.
The Institute quite rightly points out that whilst a business may take the view that savings need to be made in this area, these savings could be massively outweighed by Court fines or even terms of imprisonment in the most serious cases. All of this would be in addition, for example, to the potential damage to reputation from an outbreak of food poisoning.
This is therefore a timely reminder of the responsibilities that those involved in the preparation and sale of food have in terms of making sure that they have adequate hazard analysis systems in place.
It is certainly not a time for feeling victimised as even the Environmental Health Officers' own cafeterias are being subjected to the same scrutiny. Another story from Stockport saw the Council's own cafeteria being closed down due to the presence of uninvited intruders!
For more information please contact Graeme Cushion.
