Agenda item

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection (copy attached).

A report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection updated Members on the enforcement activity carried out by the Smithfield Enforcement Team within the Markets & Consumer Protection Department and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) at Smithfield Market during the four month period from 1 February 2013 to 31 May 2013. The report also provided information on the National Local Authority Enforcement Code on Health & Safety, the on-going horsemeat in beef situation and the current FSA initiative.

The Port Health & Public Protection Director highlighted that there had been no major issues and that no issues had been raised in relation to horsemeat DNA but further sampling was continuing to take place.

A discussion took place on the FSA enforcement activity breakdown by company, it was noted that there had been cooling system issues at Smithfield Market and that stall 31 and 32 had now shown signs of improvement. Members requested that clarification be provided on whether the formal notices and written advice were in addition to the verbal advice.

In response to a question by a Member, the Port Health & Public Protection Director explained that the samples taken for investigating the presence of horse DNA in beef products had been in line with the FSA guidelines and looked at a variety of criteria which included undertaking a programme of unannounced visits at the Market to assess documentation, the origin of the meat product and physically examining the product.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

Post meeting note

To clarify whether formal notices and written advice were in addition to the verbal advice as set out in Appendix A2 of the report the written advice in column B related to separate incidents, mainly issues that required attention following an audit. There had not been any formal notices issued over the last year, but they would be for serious non-compliances which warranted more than verbal advice.