On 17 March 2016, the Council’s Environmental Health team ran a session in the Wesleyan Chapel for food businesses who have yet to receive an official control inspection.
Each local authority in England is required to develop a food service delivery plan which covers all areas of food law that the local authority has a duty to enforce. Enforcement includes interventions of various types such as official control inspections. Interventions are key to improving compliance with food law by food business operators.
The aim of the workshop was to advise food businesses on important areas of food hygiene with particular emphasis on how to satisfy the requirements of food enforcement law.
Areas such as documented food safety management systems and the steps in determining a food hygiene rating score were explained. Attendees were also given practical advice on how to achieve a good food hygiene rating score.
There was an excellent turnout for the workshop with a total of 35 participants from 22 food businesses.
David Currie, Environmental Health Officer for the Council, said: ‘I was very encouraged by the level of attendance and group participation. I think it was a useful event for the businesses and an excellent opportunity for me to meet business owners and operators face to face. Developing a good working relationship with local businesses is an important component of delivering an effective Environmental Health service.’
Jason Poat, Food Business Owner of Polreath Tea Room and Guesthouse on St Martin’s, commented: ‘the workshop shows that the Council’s Environmental Health Service is trying to present a ‘team approach’ to addressing food hygiene standards on the Isles of Scilly.’
The Environmental Health team intend to organise another workshop in the near future for the food business operators who were unable to attend on this occasion.