Agenda item

The Director, Local Services and Enforcement submits a report that provides information on the food sector from a food law regulatory perspective, proposed food law regulatory interventions for 2017/18, case studies and key issues in the development of the national framework.  The Commission is asked to note the work undertaken by Leicester City Council’s Food Safety Team and comment on issues raised.

The Director of Local Services and Enforcement submitted a report that provided information on the food sector from a food regulatory perspective, proposed food law regulatory interventions for 2017/18, case studies and key issues in the development of the national framework. Members also received a power-point presentation a copy of which is attached to the back of these minutes.

During the ensuing discussion, officers responded to comments and queries raised by Members. Issues raised included the following: 

·      A Member said that she was pleased that the council were having conversations about obesity issues with Public Health. People were increasingly eating out or having take-away meals which were often highly calorific. 

·      It was noted that there had been a backlog of inspections and additional staff had been recruited and a Member questioned whether those staffing levels had been maintained. Officers acknowledged that there had been a significant backlog but permission to recruit had been given and the service was now well resourced.

·      A comment was made that it would be useful for statistics in future reports to be shown as percentages as well as numbers.

·      A member questioned whether tests were carried out on ice buckets and their contents and heard that while these had not specifically been tested, sampling was carried out on ice making machines. A recent case publicised in the media involving bacteria found in iced drinks, involved unclean hands going into the ice bucket. 

·      A suggestion was made for the council to charge for the advice given to the food sector. Members heard that the council were considering this, but there was a concern that if they ceased to offered free advice, people would be reluctant to pay which could lead to more problems in the future. Consideration was being given however to the recovery of costs incurred in re-inspections.

·      In respect of allergens, officers explained that there were 14 main allergens, including gluten. Peanuts were the highest rated allergen and checks were currently being concentrated on that particular food.

·      In response to a question, officers said that both inspections and re-inspections were unannounced.

·      Officers explained that they did not test food to verify whether it was vegetarian; there was no legal definition of vegetarian food.

·      A Member expressed concerns relating to food businesses that had failed to register with the council. Officers responded that the Food Safety Officers knew their own area well and tended to notice if a new food outlet appeared. They were also becoming increasingly aware of food outlets that did not have a street presence; they might operate from a home address and therefore harder to identify.

·      The Chair commented that he was very pleased to see an increase in the number of food outlets that had been awarded a four or five star food hygiene rating. An officer explained that in addition to providing advice and support, there was a greater emphasis on compliance visits. If an establishment was non-compliant they would be given a report and an improvement would usually be evident when the food safety officers returned.

·      It was noted that 1707 written warnings had been issued during 2016/17 and officers explained that these related to the number of written reports issued following compliance visits.

·      In relation to a query regarding the channel shift programme, officers explained that many companies were happy with digitalisation and registered on-line. Many of the complaints relating to food hygiene issues were submitted on-line by the public. The service was also working to identify any vulnerable people for whom this might be problematic. 

·      In response to a query regarding food fraud and Halal food, the Commission heard that officers carried out desk top reviews into Halal food. Some businesses relied on their Halal certificate or accreditation and it was hoped to carry out some investigations into those accreditations. Any meat or poultry that had been Halal slaughtered should be traceable back to the Halal slaughter house.   The Chair requested that a Halal desk top study be brought to a future meeting of the Commission.

The Chair drew the discussion to a close and asked the Commission to agree to congratulate and thank the department on their work in improving the food hygiene ratings.  A further report was requested in 12 months-time and Members heard that there was a legal requirement to provide this report on an annual basis.

AGREED:

1)    that the report be noted;

2)    that the Commission congratulate and thank the department for their work in improving the food hygiene ratings; and

3)    that a halal desk top study be brought to a future meeting of the Commission.