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Cleaning Hygiene Today September 2016

FEATURE HEALTH & SAFETY According to walesonline.co.uk the local council passed the issue onto Merthyr Magistrates Court for consideration, and on August 3rd, he was ordered to pay the full fine within 14 days. Susan Gow, the council’s environmental health manager, commented: “The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is mandatory and the majority of food business operators in Merthyr Tydfil proudly display their score for customers to see the good work that goes on in the kitchen to produce safe food. “Even those businesses still working on raising their score have to comply with the requirements of the scheme and display their rating and again, almost all comply. “I know that members of the public in Merthyr are behind the scheme as it enables them to make an educated choice about the food they eat and the food hygiene rating scheme is an excellent aid in doing so. “Please rest assured that where food hygiene standards are found to be less than adequate, our inspectors will take measures to achieve improvements. “Alongside this, food businesses are monitored to ensure that current food hygiene ratings are displayed, not only as an incentive to improve, but so that residents, particularly the vulnerable in society, can make an informed choice on where they eat.” SCOTLAND As with education, healthcare and law Scotland ploughs its own furrow when it comes to hygiene inspections, but the country still has plenty of causes for concern. At the time of writing the Scottish Food Safety Agency was insisting that it has “strong scientific evidence,” that a cheesemaker could be linked to an e-coli outbreak which had made over a score of people ill and even caused the death of a three year old girl. According to the Guardian’s website Food Standards Scotland (FSS) “denied charges from one of the UK’s leading bacteriologists, Professor Sir Hugh Pennington, that its decision on Wednesday to ban the sale of all six brands from Errington Cheese had been heavy handed." In a detailed defence of its conduct, the agency said "it had established that 15 of those who fell ill in July and since had eaten the Dunsyre Blue cheese that first sparked the food scare, while four others had eaten an unspecified type of blue cheese.” However Errington Cheese Ltd has publically commented that: “E coli O157 has not been found in its cheese,” it said. “This is inaccurate. Some samples have tested positive for E coli O157 and for another non-O157 strain of E coli. These organisms are considered a serious risk to public health.” However the FSS added that it “was not satisfied that the controls and production methods used by the business are producing safe food.” OTHERS Of course it isn’t just the food industry that runs afoul of moden hygiene and health and safety regulations. This month refinery29.uk reported that an Austrain woman has been banned from wearing a burkini whilst swimming because the outfit “breached health and safety rules.” The incident reportedly took place in Stadthallenbad indoor pool in Vienna. The woman claimed to have phoned the pool prior to visiting to check they were happy with burkinis but upon arrival was told that because it was made of cotton she couldn’t wear it. The woman denies that the burkini was made of cotton at all. 18 SEPTEMBER 2016 CLEANING HYGIENE TODAY As with education, healthcare and law Scotland ploughs its own furrow when it comes to hygiene inspections”


Cleaning Hygiene Today September 2016
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