ANNEX II
(Para 1.5 refers) |
| |
| THE
PENNINGTON GROUP |
| |
| INTERIM
REPORT AND PRIORITY RECOMMENDATIONS: SUMMARY OF
RECOMMENDATIONS |
| |
| 1.
Research |
| |
| Early
research should be funded a) into the
prevalence/incidence of E.coli O157 in Scottish
cattle and other animals and the biology of its carriage;
b) to help forecast its likely future
incidence/prevalence; and c) to improve the current
DNA-based methods for its identification. |
| |
| 2.
Surveillance |
| |
| The
Management Executive of SODoH and SCIEH should consider
urgently the practicalities, costs and benefits of
improvements to the arrangements for surveillance and
data collection/analysis for pathogenic organisms and
foodborne disease. |
| |
| 3.
Enforcement and Measures to Recognise and Minimise Public
Health Risk |
| |
A range of
measures should be taken to enforce food safety measures
and ensure the recognition and minimisation of the risks
to public health from foodborne disease. These should
include:-
- changes to food
safety legislation to reflect the importance of
public health considerations and, in particular,
to permit the introduction of selective licensing
for food premises;
- the physical
separation, within premises, of raw and cooked
meat products using separate counters, equipment
and staff;
- reviewing guidelines
and Codes of Practice to help improve
communications and to promote the recognition and
assessment of risk and, again, public health
considerations; and
- accelerating the
implementation of HACCP for high risk premises.
|
| |
| 4. The
Handling and Control of Outbreaks of Foodborne Disease |
| |
| Local
authorities and health boards should ensure that there
are in place joint local outbreak management plans
setting out mechanisms and procedures for dealing with
food poisoning outbreaks; and that they are backed up by
training and exercises as appropriate. |
| |
| Local
outbreak control teams should be free to take decisions
and act as necessary to investigate and control
outbreaks. |
| |
| The Scottish
Office should review the guidelines relating to the
investigation and control of food poisoning outbreaks and
its internal arrangements for dealing with outbreaks when
they occur. |
