Form food safety enforcement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Form food safety enforcement - Essay Example However, the basic purpose of this paper is to evaluate the successful outcome or otherwise in the cessation of the outbreak, identification of what went wrong and the measures needed to prevent a recurrence. Food poisoning is defined under the Food Safety Act as 'any disease of an infectious or toxic nature caused by or thought to be caused by the consumption of food or water' (HPA) 2004 (Management of outbreak of foodborne illness in England and Wales). Food safety laws in the United Kingdom center on protecting the consumer by ensuring that food is safe for consumption. Many provisions of the law focus on prevention rather than cure. Food business operators (FBOs) must show that they have adopted hygienic practices at their premises. The risks associated with food processing and preparation must be assessed by the FBOs, the food industry and the food laws enforcers. The degrees of protection are achieved through enforcement of specific provisions and through a framework that seeks to minimize the risk of unsafe food being present in the market. Any breach in the provisions of law results in criminal action. The law and its enforcement are governed by European and domestic laws. Actually, the provisions of law comprise broad principles and they are carried forward in more detailed forms by secondary legislation in domestic law. This process may change the fundamental principles upon which national legislation is based (Professor Bridget M. Hutter and Tola Amodu). There are many organizations in the United Kingdom involved in food regulations such as National Health Service, Local Health Boards, Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, and so on based locally, and at the national level. The ministers and central government officials formulate policy and tend not to be specialists in food safety protection. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is an independent Government department with special knowledge in the domain. The FSA formulates policy whilst overseeing and directing the enforcement activity of local players. The Meat Hygiene Service is an executive agency of the FSA and responsible for statutory inspections of licensed premises including slaughterhouses, cutting plants and cold storages in the United Kingdom producing meat for human consumption (Background to the 2006 food hygiene legislation). Self regulation