Sainsburys fined £6000 for having food chewed by mice on sale- April 28th, 2012

Sainsburys have been fined £6000 for putting food on sale that had been chewed by mice.

The supermarket chain was convicted at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday for breaking food safety laws at their Craigleith store in the capital.

A surprise visit was made by environmental health officers in February last year after an anonymous tip off

Officers found packaging of crisps, rice and nuts had been nibbled by rodents at the store which had reopened in October 2010 after a £9m refurbishment.

Contractors spent only £3000 to pest proof the supermarket which Sainsburys’ defence lawyer described as “grossly inadequate”.

On Friday Sainsburys pleaded guilty to two charges of contravening food safety regulations in February 2011 and two other charges were dropped.

One of these charges was that mice droppings and trails of mice urine had allegedly been discovered on shelves inside the store.

Bruce MacRosson depute procurator fiscal told the court about the visit made by council officials on February 10, 2011. He said: “They found that there were two bags of Sainsburys own brand salted cashew nuts had been gnawed on by mice.

“They also found two packets of rice that had been gnawed on by mice. And they also discovered a multi pack of quavers that been tampered with by the mice.”

The court also heard that Sainsburys staff then destroyed all food stuffs that could have came into contact with the mice. They also shut off the aisles where the poisoned food stuffs had been discovered.

Sheriff Paul Arthurson QC imposed a £6,000 financial penalty on Sainsburys. He said: “In light of what has been said by the prosecution and the mitigation offered on behalf of Sainsburys, I will impose a financial penalty.”

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Health expert warns of dog fouling dangers- April 14th, 2012

As part of our month-long campaign to encourage pet owners to ‘scoop the poop’, the Evening Mail is publishing a series of articles looking at the impacts of dog fouling.
As well as the aesthetic benefits of having clean pavements, Doctor Nigel Calvert, NHS Cumbria’s associate director of public health, says picking up dog dirt can have a positive impact on our health.
Toxocariasis is a rare infection caused by roundworm parasites, which is spread from animals to humans via their infected faeces. Although rare, if the condition is left untreated, it can lead to blindness.
Dr Calvert said picking up after your dog and practicing good hand hygiene is the best form of prevention.
He said: “The toxocara worms live in the dog’s gut and the eggs pass out in the faeces, so it can pose a risk to humans. It is rare, but potentially quite serious.
“Dog mess carries all sorts of bacteria in general, things like Campylobacter which causes upset tummies.
“You generally need to have direct contact with the faeces to contract anything.
“Kids seem to be more prone because they’re less aware of hygiene practices and wash their hands a bit less than adults do.
“But the root cause of it is the dog poo being there in the first place. The way to tackle it is to get people to clear it up.
“We would also encourage good hand hygiene.”
South Lakes youngster Elisabeth Willoughby knows all too well the dangers of toxocariasis. The eight-year-old has a damaged right eye after contracting the infection as a baby.
Mum Becky Willoughby said she first noticed a problem when Elisabeth, a pupil at Staveley Primary School, failed an eye test at school.
After being referred to hospital for further tests, the optometric consultant recognised the signs straight away.
Mrs Willoughby said: “My daughter has got off lightly, only having a damaged eye, but some children have gone blind. The doctors think either I passed it on to her when I was pregnant or she has picked it up when she was a tiny tot and crawling.
“She’s always had damaged eyesight, so she didn’t know there was a problem. She just automatically adjusted to the fact that one of her eyes was damaged.
“If you cover her left eye, to read an eye chart for example, she turns her head sideways because if she looks at it straight on her vision is blurred in her right eye.
“At the minute there is no way of fixing it. The back of her eyeball is scarred by the passage of the worm as it has wiggled across.”
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Selby food firms to be rated on hygiene- April 12th, 2012

A NEW scheme to improve food safety and hygiene in Selby will be launched this month.

The National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (NFHRS), rates food retailers and logs them online. It also issues certificates rated from zero stars (urgent improvement necessary), to five stars (very good), which should be displayed in the restaurant, cafe, shop or pub’s door or window.

The scheme is already used by more than 160 local authorities around the country, and has been put in place by Access Selby, the arm’s-length organisation which works on behalf of Selby District Council. The move has been supported by the Food Standards Agency.
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Olympic EHO squad announced- April 11th, 2012

The Food Standards Agency has set up a voluntary team of EHOs to help co-ordinate an increase in inspections and food sampling during the 2012 Olympic Games.

Ten EHOs from around the UK were chosen to act as ‘ambassadors for food safety’ and represent the work of environmental health staff as part of the FSA’s Play It Safe campaign to raise food safety awareness this summer.

The team will liaise with the media over food safety during the games.

Initiatives carried out under the campaign’s banner include a food safety coaching programme for small businesses in need of improvement, funding and training initiatives for local authorities and providing extra equipment for sampling and checks on cleaning.

Sarah Appleby, head of enforcement and local authority delivery at the FSA, said: ‘It will be an exceptionally busy time for many food businesses, and we’re providing extra support and advice to make sure they’re well prepared to meet the challenge.’

Food Safety Squad member Ben Milligan, an EHO at Tower Hamlets, said: ‘From my regular conversations with food businesses around East London I know the Games are seen as a real opportunity in terms of business and profits.

‘At the same time, having to serve more people than normal can create situations that don’t arise under normal circumstances, such as the need to produce and store lots of food in advance.’

The Food Safety Squad:
Ben Milligan – EHO, Tower Hamlets
Sara Quinn – EHO, Westminster
Andrew Bradley – team manager, Merton
Suzanne Whittaker – senior EHO, Trafford Metropolitan Council
Rhian Carter – senior EHO & port health officer, Cardiff Council
Nicola Wallis – food safety officer, Coventry City Council
Xenia Jacques – EHO, Coventry City Council
Paula Davis – team manager – food safety, Newcastle City Council
Kaye Rowe – EHO, Newcastle City Council
Aimee Cartwright – principal public protection officer/chartered EHO, Portsmouth City Council

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Inspections ‘burden firms’- April 10th, 2012

Small businesses ‘weighed down with inspections’ will be able to register their views in an online consultation, the government has announced.

Vince Cable, business secretary, said ‘inconsistent, inappropriate or overlapping enforcement’ was costing businesses time and money.

‘Focus on Enforcement gives all businesses, but especially smaller and medium sized firms that often feel the disproportionate weight of inspection and compliance, the chance to make a real difference to the way regulators visit, inspect and advise business and enforce the law,’ he said.

Focus on Enforcement follows on from the Red Tape Challenge.

‘The government knows that ill thought-out regulations cost businesses time and money – which is why it devised the Red Tape Challenge. But sometimes the regulations are fine, it is inconsistent, inappropriate or overlapping enforcement that is the problem,’ explained Mr Cable.

However most of the contributions on the food manufacturing section of Focus on Enforcement website appear to favour tougher enforcement.

One contributor, Ian Moore, said the recent BBC Food Inspectors series highlights the disregard many food businesses display ‘for the rules’.

Another referred to as ‘HACCP Checker’ argues for more regular inspections: ‘Businesses expect to get an annual food hygiene inspection, and when this is moved to 18 months or 24 months, standards often fall, especially documentation of HACCP which tends to stop once Safer Food Better Business pages run out or the food business operator goes on holiday.’

Lesley said the government should ask enforcers rather businesses, as they know ‘what is found during inspections and why comprehensive inspections are needed’.
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