THE LAW

The Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order and Regulations made there under, aim to ensure that all food offered for sale to the public is safe to eat and is properly described.  It is the responsibility of the Environmental Health Service to enforce this and other related food legislation.

INSPECTION OF FOOD PREMISES

Environmental Health Officers have the power to enter and inspect food premises at all reasonable hours and they will usually come without advance notice.  They carry out routine inspections and may also visit as the result of a complaint.  How often routine inspections happen depends on the potential risk posed by the type of business and its previous record.

Officers will look at the way the business is operated, identify potential hazards and make sure it complies with food safety legislation.  They will discuss any problems with the proprietor and advise on possible solutions.

In carrying out inspections officers may take samples of food, inspect records including secret manufacturing processes, take photographs and bring with them any other person they consider necessary.  They can also detain or seize suspect food.  They may write to the proprietor informally pointing out any problems which they have found and advise that they should be remedied.  In some circumstances however they may serve an improvement notice stating the time period by which particular problems must be remedied.  In more serious cases of poor hygiene standards they may decide to recommend a prosecution.  If the prosecution is successful the Court may impose fines, prohibition on persons, premises or equipment and possibly imprisonment.

If there is an imminent risk to consumers, officers can serve an emergency prohibition notice which forbids the use of the premises or equipment.  Such a notice must be confirmed by the Court.

Most food businesses must complete a registration form and return it to their local authority.  New businesses should do so at least 28 days before they open to give compliance before trading commences.

Food Standards

In conjunction with inspecting premises for food safety, Environmental Health Officers carry out food standards inspections of premises where food is manufactured.  Food standards includes the quality, composition, labelling, presentation and advertising of food and also the materials or articles in contact with food.

Environmental Health Officers, through inspection, establish whether food standards are being met and that all necessary steps are taken to prevent contraventions of the legislation.  It is important to ensure that food standards are being met at the place of manufacture.

Quality is associated with that which might be generally expected by the purchaser of a food product.  It is advisable that manufacturers develop a quality assurance system to allow consistency in the quality of their product.

Composition looks at the ingredients of any food product and recipes should be devised to ensure that the subsequent product fulfils all statutory requirements regarding composition, for example

1)           The maximum amounts of permissible preservatives in sausage meat or jam;

2)           The minimum fat content in milk;

3)           Minimum meat content of meat products.

Labelling

Under the Food Labelling Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1984 it is an offence to sell goods which are not properly labelled.

Generally, pre-packed products whether sold to retailers or caterers, must be labelled with the following information:-

(a)         The name of the food;

(b)         A list of ingredients in descending weight order;

(c)         An indication of minimum durability;

(d)         Special storage conditions, for example store under refrigeration;

(e)         The name and address of the manufacturer;

(f)           Origin of the food;

(g)         Instructions for use e.g. cooking instructions.

When the product is advertised the information conveyed to the purchaser must not be misleading.

Environmental Health Officers carry out routine sampling of food products supplied for retail sale as a checking system to ensure that good standards are being maintained.

FOOD POISONING

Increases in food borne illnesses in recent years may be due in part to the growing dependence upon so called convenience foods.  Yet without doubt one of the most important contributory factors is the mishandling of food.  It should be remembered that good food hygiene practices are essential for the prevention of food poisoning.

For optimum growth bacteria require food, moisture, temperature and time.  Given these conditions and the absence of preservatives, bacteria are capable of doubling their numbers every twenty minutes, so that within eight hours two bacteria can multiply to 33.5 million individual organisms.

INVESTIGATING FOOD POISONING

When an Environmental Health Department is notified of a case of food poisoning, an officer will carry out an investigation by interviewing the patient to find out the history of events and the foods eaten prior to their first symptoms.  It is also necessary to find out if anyone else has been affected, or if there is anyone in the household or in contact with the patient who may work in a food related industry.  This is to ensure that the food poisoning organism is not inadvertently passed on to other people through food.  

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Environmental Health Officers in conjunction with the Health and Social Services Boards are involved in the surveillance, investigation and control of food poisoning and other communicable diseases.  These diseases are investigated for a number of reasons:

1.            To trace the source of the infection.

2.            To take any necessary action to prevent further spread of any infectious disease.

3.            To trace any other persons who may have been infected or who may be at risk, family members, etc.

4.            To offer advice to affected people and those who may be at risk, e.g. on personal and food hygiene.

To investigate such incidents Environmental Health Officers must interview the affected person and all those people at risk including those who are known to be well, e.g. in a food poisoning case all those who ate the suspect meal.  The Environmental Health Service will also inspect premises where appropriate and arrange for the collection of human and environmental samples.