Tighter control needed to combat food poisoning

Concerns about the growing incidence of food poisoning in the UK have led to calls for much tighter controls of firms which handle food, according to a report from the BBC.

The UK's Consumers' Association has joined forces with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health to lobby the Food Standards Agency to introduce much tighter licensing and verification procedures.

At present, only butchers are licensed and checked on a regular basis, but the Consumers' Association wants this system to be extended to all businesses handling food, including manufacturers and caterers as well as outlets selling food to the public.

It cited research by Birmingham University which suggests that the licensing programme - and the associated food hygiene training scheme - have significantly improved standards among butchers.

Sheila McKechnie, director of the Consumers' Association, said: "There is quite simply an unacceptable level of food-related illness in the UK. It is very nasty and sometimes life-threatening for consumers but it also adds significant loss to business through absence and avoidable costs to the health service."​ She claimed that the Food Standards Agency's target of cutting food poisoning cases by a fifth would not be met unless licensing was brought in quickly.

In 2000 there were more than 96,000 reported cases of food poisoning in the UK - although the vast majority of cases are thought to go unreported.

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency said that it was already taking action to combat the increasing number of food poisoning cases - including a major food hygiene campaign targeting the 370,000 catering industry outlets - but that it would also be prepared to look again at the issue of licensing. "The key issue, however, of any extension of licensing is whether it is the best way of protecting the public," he told the BBC. "It is not necessarily the best solution - it is costly in terms of both finance and inspection time."​