16.12.2014

Authority Publishes National Compliance Report For 2013

The Food Standards Agency has published its annual report on progress towards implementation of the UK Multi-Annual National Control Plan (UK MANCP), which details the roles and responsibilities of the organisations who ensure compliance with the appropriate food standards. 

The FSA rated the overall level of compliance with the implementation of UK MANCP in all sectors of the UK as “satisfactory” in 2013/14.

The main types of non-compliance identified within the report for the food sector include food hygiene and safety breaches, food labelling infringements and imported food.

The FSA suggested that criminal negligence, ignorance of the law, human error and less stringent standards in countries of origin, in the case of imported foods, were the main causes behind many of these breaches.

In 2013/2014, fines totalling a value of £19,285 were imposed for food hygiene and safety breaches, and there were a total of 343 food hygiene convictions and 72 food standards convictions.

Expert Opinion

It is positive that overall food standards compliance is satisfactory across the UK. <br/> <br/>“However, there is still a lot of work to do as we are regularly instructed by those who have fallen ill as a result of poor hygiene and food standards in restaurants across the UK. It is vital that action is taken to ensure members of the public are protected from the illnesses which failure to comply with the relevant standards can cause.” Amandeep Dhillon - Partner