The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has released an updated version of the Food Law Code of Practice, a move that has been welcomed by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH). However, the CIEH suggests that further changes are critical for the implementation of a more risk-based and intelligence-led approach.
The updated Code of Practice came about as a result of a 12-week consultation period, during which the FSA sought views from different stakeholders regarding the required changes to enable local authorities to adopt the new food standards delivery model. The changes in the Code of Practice have been introduced to encourage local authorities to execute a risk-based approach to official controls, thereby allowing them to allocate resources towards food businesses that pose the highest risk.
In a joint response with the Food Advisory Panel to the proposed changes in both England and Northern Ireland, the CIEH expressed concerns over the level of support offered to local authorities, the frequency of controls, and updates to management information systems. While the CIEH acknowledges the potential risks associated with food safety, it believes that embracing a risk-based and intelligence-led approach will further free up local authority resources. This approach would enable greater levels of intelligence sharing and collaboration among the different areas of environmental health.
However, despite the changes in the Code of Practice enabling local authorities to direct resources towards high-risk food businesses, the CIEH believes that under-resourced local authority environmental health teams remain a persistent problem. Dr Phil James, the CEO of CIEH, welcomed the publication of the updated Food Law Code of Practice but expressed reservations regarding its ability to enable a full risk-based intelligence-led approach.
According to James, utilizing the potential of the wider environmental health membership community would help local authorities address the current strain on their resources. Several CIEH members working outside local government are doing a commendable job of protecting the public by engaging in consulting with businesses, providing quality assurance and audits, conducting food safety training, or working in-house as food safety specialists. With the implementation of greater information exchange and intelligence sharing, members could provide invaluable help to local authorities in assessing risk accurately, thereby allowing them to focus more on the businesses posing the highest risk to public health.
