Tag Archives: food premises

UK Research- Norovirus in Food Outlets to be Mapped

Posted on April 24, 2014 by | 1 comment

Medical Press norovirus-2(1)

The University of Liverpool is leading a £2 million Food Standards Agency (FSA) project to map the occurrence of norovirus in food premises and industry workers.

Norovirus outbreaks can rapidly affect of people. In 2012 a batch of frozen strawberries infected 11,000 people in Germany, but there are significant gaps in the authorities’ understanding of which strains cause and which foods are the most likely to harbour the bacteria.

Researchers will produce data that will help the FSA to develop plans to reduce the infection by collecting swabs from work surfaces at more than 200 pubs, restaurants and hotels in the North West and South East of England.

 

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Posted in Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Micro Blog, Food Microbiology, Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Food Technology, Food Testing, Food Virus

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FSA Scotland Food Survey Report

Posted on September 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment

FSAS

The results from the analysis of food samples collected from Scottish businesses in 2011 have shown a slight increase in the levels of satisfactory samples in comparison with the previous year.

The report has shown that 80% of samples collected in 2011 by local authorities in Scotland and submitted to the UK Food Surveillance System (UKFSS) were satisfactory, a rise of 3% on 2010. Areas where improvements could be made in relation to food handling practices in retail and catering businesses were also identified in the report (see attached).

During 2011, almost 9,200 food samples were collected from Scottish businesses and analysed by the Public Analyst Laboratories in Scotland. More than 5,000 samples were examined microbiologically and a further 4,188 underwent chemical analysis, including tests for contaminants, additives and labelling inaccuracies.

As in previous years, the results of sampling in 2011 show that there were very few issues relating to foodborne pathogens (illness causing organisms). The majority of failures in microbiological testing (83%) were due to the elevated levels of hygiene indicators (bacteria that can be used as indicators of general hygiene practices in food premises) and total bacterial counts (total number of bacteria on a food sample). These are not inherently a hazard but can indicate poor hygiene practices during food preparation and handling.

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Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Hygiene, Food Illness, Food Inspections, Food Safety, Food Safety Alert, Food Spoilage, Food Standards Agency, Food Testing, Foodborne Illness, Hygiene, Illness, Microbiology, Research

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