BRCGS ‘ASK THE EXPERTS’ WEBINARS OFFER SUPPORT ON FOOD SAFETY STANDARD

In January, BRCGS launched a new ‘Ask the Experts’ webinar series to support sites transitioning to Food Safety Issue 9.

They have now hosted nine episodes in the webinar series, all of which are available for download: 

• Food Safety Culture
• Production risk zoning – high risk, high care and high ambient high care
• Allergen management
• Internal audits
• ‘Free-From Special’ – Gluten-Free
• Labelling (on-pack)
• Food fraud
• Listeria management
• Managing food borne pathogens

The next episode is scheduled to take place on 12th October and will focus on the topic of Product Testing, including uncertainty of measurement. You can register here.

 

If you have not yet attended a webinar, the format is slightly different to what you would normally expect. There is no pre-planned content and no slides providing an open forum for certificated sites to pose questions to an expert panel on a range of topics. Attendees can ask questions (in advance or live) and hear discussion and practical guidance to overcome the challenges of today’s industry.

FSA ANNUAL ANIMAL WELFARE REPORT 2022/23

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have published a board paper to provide an update on their activities delivered through the ‘Deter, Prevent, Detect, Enforce’ Animal Welfare Action Plan and its objective of making ongoing improvements to animal welfare in slaughterhouses in England and Wales.  The paper also highlights additional work completed in the period and summarises:

• the progress made in delivering against the Animal Welfare Action Plan and positive reactive work that impact the delivery of animal welfare policy within slaughterhouses resulting in a 5% reduction in non-compliances.
• the progress made relating to farm and transport activity resulting in a 2% reduction in non-compliances.  Noting that the FSA works in partnership with APHA and LAs who are responsible for regulation and enforcement of non-compliant producers and transporters.
• the ongoing activities to improve animal welfare implementation and assurance in slaughterhouses in England and Wales on behalf of policy owning departments, particularly in the areas of farm and transport referrals to APHA and LAs, and religious slaughter.
• the FSA position of zero tolerance towards any breaches of animal welfare with proportionate enforcement and collaborative working with other regulators.

You can read the paper in full here

Defra’s latest update on the Avian Influenza situation in the UK has revealed that there have been 206 confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 since 1st October 2022:

• 160 cases in England
• 37 cases in Scotland
• 8 cases in Wales
• 1 case in Northern Ireland

There have been 294 cases of (HPAI) H5N1 in England since the H5N1 outbreak started in October 2021.

In the United Kingdom, there has been 1 confirmed case of low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) H7N3 since 1st October 2022. This case was confirmed in Scotland on 20th March 2023.

This means that the risk of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5 in wild birds in Great Britain is assessed as high (the event occurs very often).

However, the risk of poultry exposure to HPAI H5 in Great Britain is assessed as:

• low (event is rare but does occur) (with high uncertainty) where there are substantial biosecurity breaches and poor biosecurity.
• low (event is rare but does occur) (with low uncertainty) where good biosecurity is applied.

You can access the update in full here.

 

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have published a report reviewing the current state-of-the-art of allergen testing methodologies and the remaining challenges.

The work combined a critical literature review of testing methods with assessments of allergen proficiency testing data and included consultations with stakeholders from the food industry, and industry experts.

The aim is to find a suitable harmonised testing protocol that facilitates allergen risk management. Suitable workflows outlining recommended testing protocols are presented for priority allergens to provide a resource for compliant testing and incident management.

Estimates of the cost of setting up new testing laboratories to support allergen workflows are also included, as well as the cost of testing by established laboratories.

You can read more here

Food Standards Scotland (FSS) have recently published the findings of consumer research carried out on pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS).

FSS commissioned JRS – the Research Consortium, to carry out qualitative research with consumers with food allergies and intolerances and parents of children with food allergies and intolerances.

Eight online focus groups and eight online depth interviews were conducted with a total of 44 consumers living in different parts of Scotland. The fieldwork was carried out between 6th and 9th March 2023 and explored:

• Consumers’ food issues and the impact on their lives.
• Consumer understanding and behaviour around PPDS foods.
• Awareness and understanding of the new legislation.
• Food information and labelling.
• Impact of PPDS labelling requirements.

 

The main conclusions were:

• Many participants had an imperfect understanding of what constitutes PPDS food, and the great majority had no awareness of the new requirements.
• Despite lack of awareness, there was a broad and positive awareness that food labelling generally, and food allergen labelling specifically, had improved over the last few years.
• However, participants did not link the big improvements they have seen in food labelling to the new requirements.
• While the improvements that consumers are aware of in food allergen labelling are hugely welcome, they have not impacted behaviour to any great extent to date.
• The limited impact on behaviour is partly due to a strong tendency among people who are living with food allergies and intolerances to stick with what they know and trust.

 

The research can be downloaded in full here.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have recently published updated guidance on food allergen labelling and information requirements. The guidance is a result of the consultation which ran between March and May this year and aims to help food businesses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland to follow the requirements.

Several recommendations are made including:

• Only apply a PAL if there is an unavoidable risk of allergen cross-contamination which cannot be sufficiently controlled by segregation and cleaning.
• Specify which of the 14 major allergens the PAL refers to for example, using “may contain peanuts” rather than a generic “may contain nuts” statement.
• Use PAL statements in combination with a ‘vegan’ label, where a risk of cross-contamination with an allergen has been identified. A ‘vegan’ label communicates different information to a ‘free-from’ claim, which is food safety information aimed at different consumer groups.
• Do not use a PAL statement alongside a “free from” statement. This is because a ‘free-from’ claim is a guarantee that the food is suitable for all with a food hypersensitivity to that allergen.

The guidance also covers the use of No Gluten Containing Ingredient (NGCI) statements for food businesses in the non-prepacked food sector.

You can access the guidance here