Agenda item

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report introducing the draft Food Service Plan 2018/19 and providing information including the food sector from a food law regulatory perspective, proposed food law regulatory interventions for 2018/19 and key issues in the development of the national framework in response to the growth and diversity of the food industry and reduced local authority budgets. 

The Commission is recommended to note the work undertaken by Leicester City Council’s Food Safety Team and comment on issues raised and the proposed work programme.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a report introducing the draft Food Service Plan 2018/19 and providing information including the food sector from a food law regulatory perspective, proposed food law regulatory interventions for 2018/19 and key issues in the development of the national framework in response to the growth and diversity of the food industry and reduced local authority budgets.

The Deputy City Mayor with responsibility for Culture, Leisure, Sport and Regulatory Services reminded the Commission that the food sector in the city had changed over recent years, reflecting the changes in the city’s population.  The challenges this raised for the Council included how these businesses would be monitored, due to the variety of businesses that ranged from international brands to very small businesses, and the number of businesses opening, closing and changing ownership each year.  As there were approximately 3,000 food businesses requiring inspection and monitoring, this created a heavy workload for the officers involved.

The Team Manager – Regulatory Services Management gave a presentation on present and future challenges in the regulation of Leicester’s food business sector, a copy of which is attached at the end of these minutes for information.  During this, Members noted the following points:

·           Although the number of registered food businesses remained fairly constant at approximately 3,000, each year approximately 1 in every 6 were new establishments.  These were balanced by an equivalent number ceasing to operate;

·           There had been a 14% increase in broadly compliant food businesses since 2013.  84% now were broadly compliant with food law requirements;

·           There were 18 “Approved Establishments” handling, preparing or producing food products of animal origin.  These required formal approval from the Council before they could start trading.  This was a European Union (EU) requirement;

·           Imports of food products of animal origin from outside the EU also had to be from an equivalent “Approved Establishment” and enhanced checks also were carried out at the port of entry in to this country;

·           Testing of sweet mart products was undertaken in 2017/18.  Good results had been obtained.  Visits to establishments had been undertaken and advice issued where appropriate;

·           96 business inspections had been carried over in to 2017/18.  This was not unusual.  There were a number of reasons, such as the registered business not yet operating (43 out of the 96), or being closed for refurbishment when scheduled for inspection, or operating on a seasonal basis;

·           It was anticipated that the proposed compliance project for 2018/19 on allergens would be done in conjunction with the testing of the nutritional content of food; and

·           An intervention was planned to minimise acrylamide when starchy food was fried or cooked at high temperatures.  New regulations were in place to control this geno-toxic (cancer-causing) compound.  It was accepted that there would always be some in food.  The intention was to encourage food producers to minimise its production by using safer cooking methods, (such as cooking at lower temperatures where possible).

The Commission congratulated the team on its work and noted the following points:

o    Making food at home for sale meant that the home was a food establishment.  Those registered with the Council were visited and given food hygiene ratings.  However, many people were not aware of the law relating to this;

o    Venues where catering was provided in-house were food establishments.  When food was supplied by external caterers to a venue, the caterers were the food establishment.  However, the venue also had an important role in storing the food, (for example, ensuring that it was kept at the right temperature and was clean);

o    The Food Safety Team was aware that some shops allowed sellers of food such as fresh fruit to use parts of their premises, (for example, using the pavement area outside a shop).  Food sold on the street, including for immediate consumption, was a licensable activity and also subject to inspection by the Food Safety Team.  Discussions were being undertaken with the Licensing Team and City Warden service to establish a co-ordinated approach to this;

o    The Team’s close working relationship with the Festivals and Events team facilitated good food safety at these events.  Organisers of events at which food for immediate consumption was to be available were advised to ensure that the providers of such food had a food hygiene rating of 3 or above;

o    Food hygiene ratings were published on the Council’s website and businesses were encouraged to display their ratings.  However, no progress had been made in England with making the display of food hygiene rating compulsory.  The Council had lobbied the Food Standards Agency (FSA) about this;

o    The FSA was responsible for ensuring that the national regulatory framework was “fit for purpose”.  It wanted this framework to be fir for a changing food industry and for when the UK left the EU.  The level of intervention effort by local authorities should be proportionate to the risk of the establishment and they should have more flexibility to respond to food incidents and otherwise promote food safety;

o    It was noted that the FSA intended to introduce central registration of food businesses and national inspection programmes for multi-site businesses.  The team was closely monitoring regulatory developments associated with the Single Market and Customs Union;

o    A recent product recall on an imported mouth freshener had been due to a colouring being used that was a prohibited product in the EU.  In such cases, a check would be made on how much of the recalled item a business had and where it had been distributed to.  Their retrieval and disposal were monitored.  When recalled items had been bought by customers, point of sale recall notices had to be relied on to let purchasers know of the recall; and

o    The Food Safety Team was confident it would be able to implement the Service Plan submitted with the report.  Investment had been made in the Team, leading to an increase in the number of staff, and it was assisted in its regulation of the food sector by the work of bodies such as the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, which was able to provide advice to new businesses.

AGREED:

1)    That the work undertaken by Leicester City Council’s Food Safety Team be noted and the Team congratulated on its work; and

2)    That the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services be asked to present a report to this Commission at an appropriate time on how consistently well performing food businesses scoring highly on hygiene ratings scores could be supported to better promote this achievement and the quality of their service.