Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee December 2016.

Chairman welcomed 17 attendees

Presentations:

SFELC Diet & Nutrition WG
•SFELC Diet & Nutrition Working Group was set up in December 2015. The group first met in January 2016
•Reps from: Glasgow, Inverclyde, South Ayrshire, Stirling, Renfrewshire, Perth & Kinross, East Lothian, Western Isles, Public analyst and FSS.
•The group have identified a number of projects that they wish to undertake.
•Knowledge Hub has been set up, which is currently restricted to group members only.

The group has two objectives
•To support Food standards Scotland (FSS) and the Scottish Government in helping the population meet the Scottish Dietary Goals and achieve Scottish nutrition policies.
•To consider all aspects of Local Authority involvement with food businesses to improve access to healthy food, the nutritional content of foods and the quality of nutritional information provided

Completed Work
•Approached REHIS to ask that the Environmental Health course at the University of the West of Scotland does not include any nutrition based subjects. The group have asked for a review of this matter to allow for this subject to be introduced as part of the undergraduate degree.

•A horizon scan was carried out to gather information on nutrition/diet related work local authorities in Scotland have undertaken. The information gathered will help the team in identifying areas of further work and also to gather other local authorities views on diet and nutrition related work.

59% of local authorities responded to a survey
Of those 59% all agreed that Environmental Health had a role to play in supporting food business to provide healthier food options. Three were unsure as to the extent of their role.
•Of the three LA's who expressed apprehensions, one of them felt that they would have more of an advisory role rather than supporting, whilst the other two mentioned resources and statutory requirements as limiting factors.
•Of those who answered 'yes' a number agreed that Environmental Health departments are in a unique situation and ideally positioned to work with food businesses to encourage and promote healthier eating.

•The majority, 89.5% of LA's who responded said that they would access a knowledge hub on diet and nutrition if it was available to them.
•Seven authorities indicated that they have undertaken nutritional sampling, usually as part of project work. Areas of sampling included catering outlets near schools, calorific values, saturated fat, salt and sugar levels. Specific projects reported were.
•Sugar content in children's breakfast cereals,
•Salt levels in locally baked bread
•Fat in mince

•The results from the horizon scan demonstrate that Environmental Health staff are eager to engage in diet and nutrition based work due to their skills and relationship with food businesses. It is encouraging to note that 53% of those who responded said they would be willing to incorporate a diet and nutrition element into their routine food hygiene inspection.
•It is evident that authorities feel that the FSS would have to provide the scientific expertise to Environmental Health departments to allow incorporation of diet and nutrition work into their routine schedules.
•The SFELC Diet and Nutrition Working Group will use the data obtained from the horizon scan to develop future projects.

MenuCal (MenuCal.fss.scot)
MenuCal has been developed for food businesses that wish to calculate calories for their menus. It has been developed with the input of chefs, caterers and small business owners.

Free secure online tool to support FBOs to maintain up to date allergen information and nutritional info – aimed at caterers.

This tool shows you how to:
* Organise your business so that it's easy to manage allergen and calorie information for your ready meals
* Use MenuCal to manage allergens on a day-to-day basis
* Calculate calories
* Display calorie and allergen information

SFDF have launched a guide on how to read nutritional information on labels. Question debate over whether delivery of nutritional advice can be done by EHOs under existing official controls. The pilot will sample to verify that claims made using MenuCal are accurate.

Shettleston Food Environment Improvement Project
Paul Birkin, Food Safety Team Leader at Glasgow City Council.

Using EHOs the engage with businesses.
Justification For Action
National
•Scottish Obesity Route Map (2010)
•Revised Dietary Goals for Scotland (SG March 2016)
•FSS Board Paper (FSS 16/01/04) Diet and Nutrition: Proposals for setting the direction for the Scottish Diet – references to “Food Environment”
•Beyond The School Gate – SG Toolkit (2014)
•Supporting Healthy Choices – SG Framework (2014)
•McKinsey Report (2014) – suggests interventions at different levels

Local
•Shettleston Area Partnership – Community/Elected Members concern
•North East Glasgow Health Improvement Group – NHS GG&C
•Secondary School Head Teacher

Within five minutes of Eastbank Academy there are 30 takeaways and 13 food retailers.

Stakeholders:-
•Shettleston Area Partnership – Community/Elected Members concern
•North East Glasgow Health Improvement Group – NHS GG&C
•NHS GG&C HIG
•Secondary School Head Teacher/ Education Services
•Scottish Government
•NHS Scotland HLA
•Industry/Business
•GCPH
•Other GCC Services (Planning/Cordia)

FSS update on food sampling
Jacqui McElhiney highlighted trends included reduction of 15% in sampling. Sampling reveals good compliance overall.
Meat and fish substitution increase in pass rate. Now bigger issue in fish.

Smoked fish and cheese and listeria is a concern.
Target cross contamination in butchers premises.

Going forward there will be more interest in Acrylamide is a chemical that can form in some foods during high-temperature cooking processes, such as frying, roasting, and baking. Acrylamide in food forms from sugars and an amino acid that are naturally present in food. it does not come from food packaging or the environment.

Resources Working Group update
Verification of Food Safety Management Systems document was distributed. (I have a copy)

Committee work plan – February meeting will be addressed by Elspeth MacDonald on the implications of Brexit.

Regulatory Strategy for Food Standards Scotland Development
FSS representative said that the Christmas campaign, “Wash your hands, not your poultry” would go live in the next week.

Food Standards Sub Committee
Jane Couper reported that guidance would be addressed with SFMTA at a meeting get immediately following this one.

AOCB
HPS working group to redevelop the “Cairns Smith Guidance on the Investigation and control of outbreak of foodborne disease in Scotland”.

2017 & 2018 meeting dates were agreed.

Date of next meeting: Friday 10th February 2017, Edinburgh