Retail: New Food Safety Guidance

This text has been developed by the FSA’s Food Incidents Task Force, which was set up in the wake of the Sudan I scare, in 2005. It brought together experts from the food industry, consumer groups and enforcement authorities to identify good practice from previous food incidents and develop guidance for other organisations.

The guidance is a step-by-step advice about preventing food incidents, including how to identify potential hazards. It also provide information on how to react effectively to an incident – from notification to post incident actions.

“The food chain is complex and food incidents are difficult to eliminate altogether, but we hope that providing clear, easy-to-follow information will help food businesses to reduce the likelihood of them happening. The guidance also aims to improve the handling of incidents by providing advice on the steps to follow if an incident does occur,” says Nick Tomlinson, head of the FSA’s Chemical Safety Division.

Kevin Hawkins, director of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which was associated to the project, adds, “This guidance gives small retailers practical and simple advice on how to avoid food scares. The big players in the grocery sector all have robust traceability systems in place and have dedicated resources to ensure they know where the food they are selling is coming from. This allows them to avoid food scares and respond effectively if any safety questions do arise. However, it can be difficult for small retailers, who can’t dedicate the same resources to the issue. This guidance will help them.”

The task force also drew members from the Association of British Insurers, the British Hospitality Association, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Trading Standards Institute, the Food and Drink Federation and the Small Business Council.