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9 Enforcement orders were served on food businesses in September 2018 by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (see www.fsai.ie)
The reasons for the enforcement orders related to poor levels of hygiene and cleanliness and poor pest control resulting in the EHO seeing a live rat come out of a drain in one premises and black mould growing on chopping boards in another. other reasons for the enforcement orders were lack of allergen information for the customer particularly for unpackaged foods such as that sold through deli counters, bakery counters and buffets as examples.
Under Regulation 1169/2011 the 14 Allergens as set out in the law must be clearly stated on the label or in the case of unpackaged food in a folder near to where the food is sold in say a supermarket or market stall as examples or on a menu card or board in the case of a restaurant.
The FSAI are running an advertising campaign through print and broadcast media to get this message across to the Food business operators and consumers. Information must be accurate and up to date as the consequences of inaccurate allergen information can have devastating consequences such as Anaphylaxis and death as seen in recent events in Pret-a-Manger in the UK.
For more information contact Edel to book a place on our training courses.
Dr Pamela Byrne the chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland expressed disappointment that there is still a lack of compliance amongst many food business operators to the food safety laws.
She said it is essential that food businesses have a strong food safety and hygiene culture which can be achieved through management commitment to ongoing training.
We all know that many businesses will only train when they are forced to do so by their EHO and whilst any training is beneficial it would be a lot better for consumer safety and profit margins if there was a training plan in place for all food workers where training is provided in a structured organised way by reputable training providers.