RSA Environmental Health

I don’t know about you, but for me, I have just about seen enough rain for this summer. However, I have been lucky, my paddock, chicken run and vegetable garden are all sited on higher ground with excellent run off. Others have not been so lucky, with in the most extreme circumstances, 115mm of rain in 24 hours; more than twice the average for an entire month causing serious flooding...

How could this happen?

Staff are unable to show food inspector their Food Safety Management System (FSMS) because 'the manager/owner who deals with it is out.

So what?

The inspector will award 1 Star (subject to everything else being OK) because there is no food safety management system in place.

Could I show them my FSMS at a later date?

Even if a written food...

The principle aim of the UK Food Standard Agencies is to be trusted as their Nations most reliable source of advice and information about food. One of the key areas of these Agencies work is ensuring food safety - for example, by contributing to UK action to ensure that chemicals to do not compromise food safety.

How disappointing therefore to read in the Independent this week that the UK...

The HSE Fees for Intervention is soon to be introduced in England. These fees are being introduced so that the HSE can recoup ALL its cost if a “CONTRAVENTION” leads to an enforcement letter/email or instant visit report or a notice. Verbal advice will be free, but it should be noted that it is considered poor practice by enforcement officers not to record in writing any...

Attempting CIEH Level 3 HACCP and Risk Assessment Assignments can be daunting for many candidates.

At RSA Environmental Health our trainers are encouraged to mentor and support candidates appropriately in the development of coursework, and, where necessary, coach them in the required skills of research, analysis and evaluation, as well as the necessary depth of knowledge in answering the...

If you ask most food handlers about high risk foods they will probably list the following examples:

• cooked meats and poultry

• cooked meat products including gravy, meat pies, pate, cook-chill meals and stock

• milk, cream, artificial cream and unpasteurised dairy products

• cooked eggs and egg products

• shells fish, raw oysters, mussels and...

There has for many years been a gap in the enforcement powers available to a food inspector.

Under the current hygiene rules, the food inspector’s enforcement tools include:

• hygiene improvement notices

• hygiene emergency prohibition notices

However, hygiene improvements notices must allow a minimum period of 14 days for the business to take corrective...

Working with food inspectors this week I asked why all their food safety award fridge magnets were being boxed up. The answer was simple, the local authority had introduced a food hygiene rating system, but this was now being replaced by a nationally recognised system, supported by the Food Standard Agency. As a result the scoring system had changed and their system no longer satisfied the new...