Guidance issued on preventing and responding to food incidents

UK, Wednesday 18 April 2007

The Food Standards Agency has published guidance to help businesses and enforcement authorities to prevent and better respond to food incidents.

The guidance has been developed by the Food Incidents Task Force, a body set up by the FSA in the wake of the Sudan I incident, to help strengthen controls in the food chain and prevent major food incidents.

The taskforce 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 gives step-by-step advice about preventing food incidents, including how to identify potential hazards. It also gives practical advice about effective incident response from notification through to post-incident actions.

The guidance is designed to help anyone who is responsible for handling incidents in the food industry as well as those in local authorities. A summary version has been developed particularly for small businesses.

Nick Tomlinson, Head of the FSA’s Chemical Safety Division said: 'The incidents task force provided a unique opportunity for a range of experts to come together and share their expertise about preventing and handling food incidents.

'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 easy-to-follow advice on the steps to follow if an incident does occur.'

The principles for preventing and responding to food incidents guidance notes are available here.

The Food Taskforce was chaired by the Food Standards Agency with members drawn from:

Association of British Insurers (ABI)
British Hospitality Association (BHA)
British Retail Consortium (BRC)
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH)
Trading Standards Institute (TSI)
Food and Drink Federation (FDF)
Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS)
Small Business Council (SBC)
National Consumer Council (NCC)
National Farmers' Union (NFU)
Which?

Plus two independent members:
Richard Ayre
Professor Frank Woods