On 1 October, Wales will be first to implement the new Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, a rebranded version of Scores on the Doors by the Food Standards Agency. The scheme is being introduced to 102 authorities across the UK. However looking at the new version of the scheme, I still don’t think it does enough.

The biggest concern for me is that this scheme still won’t assess wholesalers. If you look at the highly publicised food poisoning outbreaks in the last five years, they all originate from this type of source. It’s ridiculous that wholesalers are not being evaluated under the new scheme, particularly those that supply food to the most vulnerable people – children in schools and the elderly in care homes. The Bridgend butcher incident in 2005, which affected over 100 school pupils and resulted in the death of  five year old, Mason Jones, is a prime example of this.

It should also be noted that the new scheme is likely to further increase the burden on Environmental Health Officers (EHOs). They are already overstretched – with limited time, people power and resources – checking the high risk establishments. This new scheme will continue to exacerbate the problem, with EHOs having to review every food outlet within the 102 council regions which have signed-up.

For me, this is nothing more than a rebranding exercise for the FSA. With wholesalers excluded from the scheme and their standards not being visible to the public and the purchasing departments of schools, care homes and hospitals; tragic incidents like Bridgend are sure to happen again.

I am sure you will all remember the tragic E-Coli outbreak in the South Wales Valley, which resulted in the death of a five-year-old boy and 157 others falling ill. After an inquest of into the outbreak, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) pledged to roll out a Scores on the Doors system in Wales, designed to help customers decide where to eat and buy their food by grading restaurants and other food outlets on their hygiene levels following inspections.  The results of these inspections were expected to be available online by autumn this year.

Being a Welsh company and in the business of helping to keep people safe from food hygiene risks, I have been following this story closely and I was really disappointed to read that a full set of the Score on the Doors results would not be available until 2012.

Over 200 local authorities in the UK already have a grading system in place and it’s disappointing to see that Wales is falling behind in providing important information which could affect the wellbeing of the public. The implementation of the grading scheme in Wales has been far too gradual, meaning that the potential for outbreaks of food related illness is still a very real possibility.

Existing information on food outlets should be made available online immediately, rather than waiting for a full set of results to be published. Bacteria such as E-coli will always reside where conditions and food hygiene is poor, so it’s important that the public has access to recent inspection results. The public can use this to make informed and safe decisions about where to eat and which food suppliers to use, without having to wait for the full Scores on the Doors results.

It’s unacceptable for consumers to have to wait until 2012 to see inspection scores for their local food outlets. The FSA needs to work swiftly to ensure that up to date and accurate inspection results are available for the general public, bringing standards in line with the rest of the UK.

A survey of 3,219 adults by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has found that nearly 60 per cent of over 60s are failing to correctly identify the use by date on foods and potentially, as a result, exposing themselves to the deadly Listeria bacteria.

It appears that people have a more frugal attitude during the recession and do not wanting to throw away perfectly good food. Instead of following the use by date, consumers seem to be relying on their sense of smell. But, Andrew Wadge, chief scientist at FSA, makes a really good point within an article in the Daily Telegraph:

“Smelling food isn’t enough; you can’t smell Salmonella, E.Coli and Listeria – all potential killers.”

Listeria is one of the least well-known food poisoning bacteria, and we think that it is great that the FSA is on a drive to make the general public more aware of the threat that it holds. But, this isn’t just limited to the food you buy in supermarkets; the dangers extend to food on holiday and eaten out at restaurants. The best piece of advice, is to use your common sense and to inform someone in authority if you have any concerns.

If you do have any questions, then feel free to comment on this entry and we will come back to you ASAP.

A recent survey into public attitudes towards food by the Food Standards Agency revealed a shocking truth that more than half of people would eat meat that was past its use by date, essentially playing Russian roulette with their health. Meat is a good breeding ground for bacteria, such as Salmonella, and for this reason manufacturers put ‘use by dates’ on the packaging to protect consumers from this risk. It is surprising how many people are ignoring this.

Ironically, the survey also found that health is the top priority when consumers are out shopping for food. So it seems that consumers want healthy food, but will eat meat past its use by date…

With regards to food safety when eating out, less than 20 per cent were aware of the national ‘score on the door’ scheme across England, Wales and Northern Ireland launched by the FSA in December last year. But thankfully, two thirds of the people surveyed said that they would not eat in a restaurant of cafe that had poor general cleanliness.

Here at Check Safety First HQ we are still bemused after the well respected Delia Smith advised consumers that people without enough space in their fridges should keep cooked turkeys in the back of their cars, or in garden sheds, in order to keep them cool.  Unsurprisingly, The Food Standards Agency has hit back, warning festive chefs not to follow Delia’s advice, unless all they plan on dishing up this Christmas is a big dose of food poisoning.

We spend our working days going into hotels and restaurants, advising the owners and staff on how to keep their customers safe and, to be honest, after a decade of doing this job we believed that we were unshockable.  Oh boy, has Delia proved us wrong.

Ten million turkeys are sold during the festive season and 20 per cent of food poisoning outbreaks are poultry-related, with December being the most common month for food poisoning outbreaks.  It is the responsibility of organisations like us, and public figures like Delia Smith, to set an example to consumers, advising them on how to stay safe at Christmas.  While food hygiene might not be the first thing on your Christmas list, vomiting and diarrhoea is not a gift that anyone wants to receive.

Perhaps Delia should stick to her day job – cooking – rather than looking at storage options…