The Charted Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) announced on 22 December 2021 that fake Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) stickers have prompted the FSA to call for any sightings to be reported.

An investigation found that the “high-quality vinyl stickers” being sold on eBay were proving popular, with one seller having sold 58 from one advert alone, potentially making as much as £500. Other adverts offered buyers versions of the official sticker in a range of different sizes at a similar cost.

Catriona Stewart, Head of Regulatory Standards and Compliance at the Food Standards Agency, said: “Food hygiene rating stickers are issued only by the local authority following an inspection. The sale of stickers by anyone else directly to food businesses is not allowed. Fortunately, this has not been a regular occurrence, but we all need to remain vigilant.

“If you do see stickers being offered for sale, please report this to the FHRS team at hygieneratings@food.gov.uk and we, as holders of the trademark for the stickers, will take immediate action to stop it. The recent listings on eBay were removed as soon as we contacted them.”

The FSA also warned that displaying a false hygiene rating may constitute an offence, and businesses have been successfully prosecuted for doing this in the past.

 

The FSA launched on 6 December 2021 a consultation on the provision of precautionary allergen labelling and precautionary allergen information in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

They are seeking feedback and comment on the issues faced by interested parties, which will assist in considering potential approaches for precautionary allergen labelling for prepacked foods and precautionary allergen information for non-prepacked foods, so that the information is:

• communicated more clearly and consistently, in an understandable and meaningful way to consumers, in terms of the form and content of the information
• based on a proportionate and standardised processes for assessing, managing, and communicating the risk of allergen cross-contamination by food businesses

All responses to the consultation must be submitted by 14 March 2021.

Click here to find out more.

In a bid to stop millions of pints of milk being poured down the sink, supermarket Morrisons is going to scrap ‘use by’ dates on 90% of it’s own-brand milk to encourage customers to use a sniff test to check quality.

Morrisons is the first supermarkets to make this move, which starts later this month.

Milk is the third most wasted food and drink product in the UK, after potatoes and bread, with around 490 million pints wasted every year, according to Wrap.

It is estimated that 85 million pints of milk waste could be due to consumers following ‘use by’ labels, even though there is research indicating it can be used days after the date.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it was alright to have ‘use by’ or ‘best before’ on milk depending on the processing and type. But there must be clear labelling, and the dates printed on all food and drink must be based on “robust evidence about the product concerned”.

The FSA also pointed out that when dealing with food generally, sniffing is not an appropriate safety test, especially with products that could cause food poisoning.

 

The UK Health Security Agency has confirmed a case of avian influenza in a person in the South West of England.

 

Bird-to-human transmission of avian flu is very rare and has previously only occurred a small number of times in the UK.

The person acquired the infection from very close, regular contact with a large number of infected birds, which they kept in and around their home over a prolonged period of time.

All contacts of the individual, including those who visited the premises, have been traced and there is no evidence of onward spread of the infection to anyone else. The individual is currently well and self-isolating.

The risk to the wider public from avian flu continues to be very low. However, people should not touch sick or dead birds.

The case was detected after APHA identified an outbreak of outbreak of the H5N1 strain of avian flu in their flock of birds. Their infection was identified through the routine monitoring which is conducted on anyone who has close contact with infected birds. The infected birds have all been culled.

In line with the highly precautionary approach that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) takes to identifying and stopping the transmission of avian flu, UKHSA swabbed this person and detected low levels of flu. Further laboratory analysis revealed that the virus was the ‘H5’ type, found in birds.

The UK’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Christine Middlemiss, said:

“While avian influenza is highly contagious in birds, this is a very rare event and is very specific to the circumstances on this premises.

“We took swift action to limit the spread of the disease at the site in question, all infected birds have been humanely culled, and cleansing and disinfection of the premises is underway. This is a reminder that stringent cleanliness when keeping animals is important.

“We are seeing a growing number of cases in birds on both commercial farms and in backyard flocks across the country. Implementing scrupulous biosecurity measures will help keep your birds safe.”

For more information, click here.