FSA investigation: withdrawal of meat products
In January, the UK Food Standards Agency announced that it had taken action at a major meat business, resulting in a voluntary withdrawal of the manufacturer’s products from the supply chain and a stop on all products leaving the manufacturer’s various sites. The action came after an unannounced inspection of the company’s Birmingham site on the 12th January, where serious non-compliance with food hygiene regulations was apparent. The business supplies a wide range of catering and hospitality outlets, including care homes and schools; the concern resulting from the investigation was of a systemic and widespread problem, which was more serious due to its scale and nature. Professor Chris Elliott tweeted on these reports that ‘this will further undermine trust in the entire UK food industry’. It also coincides with the FSA’s own biannual Public Attitude tracker where respondents rated ‘Food hygiene when eating out’ as the top food safety concern. The withdrawal should serve as a reminder of the importance of the management of suppliers of raw materials and packaging, which was a new fundamental in the 7th issue of BRC’s Global Standard for Food Safety. The monitoring of suppliers helps avoid any potential risks, from raw materials (including packaging) to the safety, authenticity, legality and quality of final products. For example, where raw materials are identified as being at high risk of adulteration, appropriate assurance and/or testing processes should be in place, especially if the available methods of detecting adulteration would be easy to implement. Bio-Check’s Raw Meat FlowThrough™ tests take only a few minutes to perform with minimal skill, can detect adulteration at the 1% Action Limit or surface cross-contamination at low levels. The availability of such simple tests is already mitigating vulnerabilities in the supply chain and improving hygiene. Please contact us to discuss your plans.