Author: Peacock Carter

Lorrainne MacGillivray has been installed as the REHIS President for the coming year. Drew Hall, who stood down as President, handed over the Chain of Office at the Institute’s Annual General Meeting on 17 November in Edinburgh.
Congratulations to Lorrainne and we wish her all the best in her new role.

Scotland leads the way for public health with the UK Supreme Court backing the Scottish Government imitative of minimum unit pricing for alcohol.

The Supreme Court justices unanimously dismissed the appeal brought by the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) and other drinks manufacturers, who argued that the policy was “disproportionate” and illegal under European law. The Supreme Court ruled that the proposed minimum unit pricing policy is appropriately targeted, lawful and proportionate.

This ends five years of legal challenges and delay since the Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 was first passed by Scottish Government to address a health crisis responsible for 1,265 deaths in 2016, an increase of 10 per cent on the year before.

The Scottish Government says this is linked to alcohol being 60 per cent more affordable than in the 1980s, with wide ranging costs to public health.

Its current MUP proposal of a 50p per unit charge means four 440ml cans of five per cent strength lager would cost at least £4.40, a 12 per cent bottle of wine would be at least £4.50 and a 70cl bottle of whisky must cost at least £14.

The Scottish Government hailed Wednesday’s unanimous ruling, which it said had “global significance”. 

Modelling from Sheffield University shows a minimum unit price of 50 pence is estimated to result in, 121 fewer deaths per annum by year 20 of the policy and a fall in hospital admissions of just over 2,000 per annum by year 20 of the policy.

Scottish Health Secretary Shona Robison will set out the timetable for implementation to MSPs “shortly”, but said of the judgment: “This is a historic and far-reaching judgment and a landmark moment in our ambition to turn around Scotland’s troubled relationship with alcohol.

Prior to implementing the policy, Ministers will now conduct a consultation on the proposed 50 pence per unit price and refresh the Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) that is required by Parliament.  The Scottish Government anticipates setting the minimum unit price at 50 pence per unit, subject to the outcome of the consultation and the refreshed BRIA.

Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Scotland reduced from 17,370 megatonnes (Mt) in 2015 to 12,372 Mt in 2016, continuing the overall reduction trend that has been seen in Scotland since 2007.

The figures are contained in the annual Scottish Pollutant Release Inventory (SPRI), published online by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). SPRI is an electronic database containing details of all pollutants over the reporting threshold emitted to the environment from sites regulated by SEPA. The tool can be accessed here.

The two largest contributing pollutants in terms of number of sites reporting and emissions are carbon dioxide and methane, the largest one being carbon dioxide, and these drive the overall Greenhouse Gases (GHG) trend. The largest contributor to a 29% decrease in Carbon dioxide emissions from Scottish industrial sites in 2016 was the closure of Longannet Power Station.

The other four GHG pollutants Nitrous Oxide, sulphur hexafluoride, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons have far fewer reporting sites, so the annual emissions and overall trend are much more sensitive to changes at individual sites. These can include sites closing or starting, an increase or decrease in production capacity and volumes, operational or monitoring changes, accidental releases, economic factors etc.

The primary objective of SPRI is to make emissions releases and waste transfer information available to the public, while fulfilling European reporting requirements of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register Regulation. The information is provided by individual operators and SEPA publishes it online to provide policy makers, academics and the public with information on the type and quantity of pollutants released by operators.

SPRI provides a valuable picture of the amount of pollutants released in Scotland, but it is not a league table and does not display the "best" and "worst" performers across the country. Figures relate to mass emissions and not concentrations, so they cannot be directly linked to health, air or water quality standards. SEPA regulates these releases ensuring they are within health and environmental standards.

The UK’s largest salmon processing company has recently become approved by the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) to deliver top quality Food Safety and Hygiene training with a commitment to rolling it out to each and every member of its workforce.

The 200,000 square foot site, with a workforce of almost 600, situated in Rosyth, Fife, is now registered as a REHIS Approved Training Centre for REHIS training courses in Food Hygiene.

The company prides itself on having food safety at its very core and believes that investing in the workforce education will bring continued success to the business. 

The management team at Marine Harvest recognise that cutting edge machinery may be purchased by anyone, but individual skills, talent and experience cannot be bought.  Individual skill sets are being nurtured and developed to create a formidable and high performance work force, which is key in keeping Marine Harvest as the market leader in the salmon processing industry.

The six hour elementary syllabus that covers a full range of food safety fundamentals has been further enhanced to meet Marine Harvest specific needs yet comply with REHIS regulations.

David Bett – Quality Manager, and Course Presenter at Marine Harvest, worked closely with Harry Degnan (Degnan Quality & Food Safety LTD) in developing the course content.  Harry brought a wealth of knowledge from his lengthy food industry experience. Whilst David was keen to make the course as relevant and effective as possible for employees by incorporating examples of Marine Harvest controls, policies and procedures which promote food safety and good manufacturing practices.

Video clips demonstrating real life examples of poor standards are shown which highlight key issues and emphasise the importance of fundamental issues such as, barrier control, traceability, and good standards of hygiene.

The course itself was presented to Jackie McCabe (Director of Training at REHIS) prior to the course going live.  It was then subsequently quality assessed by Raymond Hubbocks (Training Advisor for REHIS).  The feedback from Raymond was very complimentary with comments such as "first class", "good group interaction" and "good use of media resources" all mentioned in the report.

It is not only the Marine Harvest’s workforce who benefit from this training as they aim to make a positive contribution in the community, and recently welcomed staff from local business “Marini’s” in Rosyth to join one of the training sessions.  They also found it relevant and valuable which demonstrates the diversity the course content delivers. 

The photo shows David Bett and Jackie McCabe with some of the Marine Harvest workforce receiving their REHIS Elementary Food Hygiene Certificate.

The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) have submitted a comment to the Scottish Parliament on the petition lodged to urge the Scottish Government to ban the sale and use of glue traps and boards in Scotland, for consideration by the Committee. 

Glue traps are indiscriminate and can cause prolonged suffering to any animal caught in them. The indiscriminate nature of these traps was illustrated by the recent case of a female blackbird discovered by a customer at a pet shop in Inverness. The bird while trying to escape pulled off one leg and most of her feathers on her tail and underside.

Guidelines state that these traps should be checked frequently and any caught animal should be killed by a swift blow to the head. At present there is no regulation over these devices and are for sale to the public and their use is not monitored to check compliance with guidelines. 

Glue traps and boards are currently banned in Ireland, New Zealand and the Australian state of Victoria. UK wide petitions for the banning of glue traps and boards have been launched, which indicates the public’s desire for control of use and sale of glue boards. Therefore, it is thought, if the Scottish Government agrees to ban these products this will set an important precedent for the rest of the UK to follow suit.

REHIS submitted the following response:

“REHIS recognises the need for control of use of glue boards in pest control. We consider that they are open to misuse, can entrap non-target species if used incorrectly and cause unnecessary suffering to target species. There are, however, cases of last resort, where other control measures have failed and there is no alternative to the use of glue boards. We would support the removal of glue boards for sale to the amateur sector and their restriction for use to the professional pest control sector. In addition, their use within the professional sector needs to be controlled so that only trained and competent personnel can use these products in accordance with a strict set of guidelines.

The Pest Management Alliance has recently updated a Code of Practice for the Humane Use of Glue Boards in consultation with DEFRA which could provide the basis of either a Statutory Code of Practice or a licensing scheme similar to the bird control licensing scheme operated by Scottish National Heritage to preserve public health, public safety and prevent the spread of disease.”

A food business operator who was jailed after a customer died from an allergic reaction to a curry has failed in a bid to have his conviction overturned.

Paul Wilson, 38, from Sheffield suffered a severe anaphylactic shock in 2014 after eating a takeaway containing peanuts from the Indian Garden in North Yorkshire.

Mohammed Zaman, 53, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences, but was cleared of a charge perverting the court of justice. He was sentenced to six years in jail.

In Zaman’s appeal, lawyers argued he did not have a fair trial and the jury was “misdirected” during the judge’s summing up of the case.  However, the Court of appeal in London ruled his conviction was safe and rejected the appeal bid by Zaman to have his sentence cut.

Lord Justice Hickinbottom who sat with Mr Justice Openshaw and Judge Michael Topolski on 8^th November dismissed the appeal saying:

“We are in no doubt that the conviction was and is safe.” He also said that Zaman was responsible for negligent behavior that “persisted over months”. He continued to say: “In our view, his negligence in this case was not just gross, his behavior, driven by money, was appalling.”

Since December 2014, takeaways and restaurants have been required by law to make customer aware if any of the 14 allergens are ingredients in their food. Mr Wilson had died before that change in the law, but the trial heard he had specified “not nuts” when he ordered and his meal had been labelled as “nut free”. The court heard that his allergy was so severe it could be triggered by him being close proximity to a peanut.

Zaman had cut corners by swapping the thickening agent almond powder for the cheaper groundnut powder which contained peanuts trying to save money because his business has debts of £300,000.

Zaman was also found to still be selling “nut-free” curries containing peanuts on the day after tragedy. As the next day following the death, a trading standards investigator went to the premises and asked for a nut free meal. Tests revealed that the meal contained a “sizeable amount” of ground peanuts comparable to the levels found in Mr Wilson’s curry. This shows his blatant disregard for public safety.

An investigation was also started by trading standards a week before Mr Wilson’s death and had warned staff at the takeaway that they had to tell customers their meals contained peanuts after a different customer suffered an allergic reaction at another of Zaman’s restaurants.

A review, published by NHS Health Scotland, studies the impact of promotions on high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) food and drink on consumer purchasing and consumption behaviour, and the impact of retail based interventions on promotions.

The review found that the uptake of promotions on HFSS foods is much higher than for promotions on foods that support a healthy diet and spending on price promotions in the UK is the highest in Europe.

Temporary price reductions are the most prevalent form of promotion in Scotland, multi-buy type price promotions tend to be more common for HFSS compared to healthier food and drink. Price promotions also increase the volume of food and drink purchased in Scotland with multi-buy type promotions driving the biggest increases in volume purchased.

Changes to the environments which determine what people buy and what people eat are needed to help prevent excess weight gain, and to support individuals to maintain a healthy weight.

With uptake of price promotion at around 40% of energy intakes for all Scottish population groups; restrictions on promotions of HFSS foods and drinks are likely to affect purchasing behaviour regardless of level of deprivation or income.

Obesity in Scotland is one of the main contributors to physical and mental illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, depression and thirteen cancers.  Overweight and obesity now affect the majority of adults and a significant proportion of children.  In 2016, two thirds (65%) of adults were overweight including 29% who are obese and just over one in four (29%) children were at risk of being overweight, including 14% at risk of obesity.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) have published the last set of results from its third survey of campylobacter contamination in fresh shop bought UK-produced chickens.

The full year’s result show that on average, across the entire market, 6.5% of chickens tested positive for the highest level of contamination which is down from 19.7% in 2014/15 when the survey began.

The full year’s results – from August 2016 to July 2017 – based on a total of 3,980 whole fresh chickens sampled at retail, show:

• The figure for high-level campylobacter prevalence (more than 1,000 colony forming units (cfu) per gram) among the top nine retailers (based on market share) was 5.6%.

• The ‘Others’ group, consisting of smaller retailers and butchers, had a significantly higher prevalence at 17.1% compared to the top nine retailers.

• The retailers with significantly lower prevalence than the average among all retailers were Morrisons (2.9%), Tesco (4.2%) and Waitrose (2.7%).

• There was a significant fall in the percentage of chickens positive for campylobacter at any level down from 73.2% in 2014/15 to 54% in 2016/17.

• In the last period of the third annual survey, April – July 2017, based on a total of 1,437 chicken samples 5.9% of chickens had high levels of campylobacter (over 1,000 cfu per gram) down from 20.1% for the same period in 2014.

In September, the FSA announced that the top nine retailers will now publish their own campylobacter results on their consumer websites and no longer be included in the FSA’s annual survey. The sampling and analyses they carry out will be in accordance with robust protocols laid down by the FSA, so all results will still be comparable. This will allow FSA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) to continue to monitor their progress and focus future surveys on smaller retailers, independent traders and market stalls, as these are more likely to be supplied by the smaller processors which are continuing to show higher levels of contamination.

Foodborne campylobacter is the biggest cause of food poisoning in the UK and FSS research show the majority of campylobacter infections are associated with chicken. The FSA has been testing chickens for campylobacter and publishing the results since February 2014 as part of its campaign to bring together the whole food chain to tackle the problem.

Read the report here.

Keep Scotland Beautiful have published a report revealing the impact of declining local environmental quality on Scotland’s communities.

The report, Local Environmental quality in decline – further analysis, is based on data from over 14,000 surveys across Scotland. It confirms that there has been a marked increase in the presence of litter, flytipping and graffiti in communities across the country, and an overall decline in local environmental quality.

The report also notes with concern, that the country’s most deprived communities are blighted by the highest levels of litter, graffiti, flytipping, detritus and weed growth, and it is in these communities that the decline is greatest, and accelerating.

This report follows one published in March 2016, which identified that standards were falling across Scotland, after years of improvements. Since then standards have slipped further in most indicators, despite some very positive initiatives from across sectors, and a very welcome decrease in dog fouling levels.

Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said:

“Overall local environmental quality standards across Scotland have reached their lowest point in over a decade. We are failing deprived communities the most, with 1 million people across the country living in dirty communities blighted by an increase in litter, graffiti and flytipping.

“The national picture is one of declining standards and neglect and has been caused by the perfect storm of austerity, unsustainable consumption, lack of civic pride and concern, and perhaps an increase in irresponsible behaviour. We have always had a problem, but until now we’ve been able to cope and clean up.

“Improving local environmental quality is not just about reducing litter levels and removing graffiti. There are wider consequences of living in a poor local environment. It impacts on health and wellbeing outcomes, contributes towards people’s fear of crime and negatively impacts economic development.

He continues to say: “We recognise that responding to declining local environmental quality is a challenge, and we are particularly sympathetic for hard pressed local authorities which are having to make increasingly difficult decisions on how budgets are prioritised. This is why we are calling for environmental quality to be given priority attention by all of those with a part to play in the solution. From changing the behaviour of those in our society who act irresponsibly and create the problem, to taking political leadership and shared strategic action to formulate a new national plan that will reverse Scotland’s environmental decline.”

It is well established that that local environmental quality is linked to poorer health and wellbeing outcomes, as well as impacting on community safety and economic development in local communities. Keep Scotland Beatiful are calling for political leadership to improve the outcomes and determined national action to reverse the decline in standards.

The Crown Office has announced that no criminal proceedings are to be brought against a cheese manufacturer over an E.coli outbreak in which a three-year-old girl died.

The Crown Office said Errington Cheese Ltd or its owners would not face prosecution over the child's death in September 2016. A criminal prosecution is still possible if new evidence becomes available and a decision to conduct a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) is being carefully considered by the Crown.

The death came during an outbreak of E. coli O157 in 2016 between July and September. A total of 26 cases of the same strain of E. coli O157 were identified as a result of the outbreak, which left 17 people requiring hospital treatment.

The Incident Management Team report on the outbreak published in March this year concluded that the source of the infection was consumption of an unpasteurised cows' milk cheese.

The Incident Management Team found that potentially pathogenic E. coli were able to enter and survive the cheese production process at the food business.

The family-owned Errington, based in Lanarkshire, has never accepted that its unpasteurized Dunsyre Blue caused the outbreak or the death.

A spokeswoman for the Crown Office said: "On 2 September 2016 a three year-old Dunbartonshire girl died as a complication of an E. Coli infection. After giving the case careful consideration, Crown Counsel have concluded, based on the available evidence, that there will be no criminal proceedings brought as a result of the death. Should additional evidence come to light that decision may be reconsidered. The family have been informed of this decision. A decision on whether or not to hold a Fatal Accident Inquiry is currently under careful consideration."

Nicola Sturgeon has announced that work is already underway to implement the country’s first low emission zone (LEZ).

Glasgow City Council is partnering with the Scottish Government to prepare the LEZ design and proposals that will improve air quality in Glasgow.

The final design of the Glasgow LEZ will be informed by the guiding principles that are currently being developed through the Transport Scotland “Building Scotland’s Low Emission Zones” consultation. Preparation for the Glasgow LEZ is underway with a LEZ Leadership Group and associated LEZ Delivery Group already set up.

Commenting on the announcement, Transport Minister, Humza Yousaf said: “We can be proud of the progress we’ve made in tackling air pollution, but our biggest cities, like Glasgow, are determined to create the best possible environment for communities to flourish by improving air quality. I’m delighted that Glasgow is working to have their LEZ in place by the end of 2018.

“We have pledged to work with local authorities to introduce low emission zones in Scotland’s four biggest cities by 2020 and this is a positive step towards that vision. This is a decision based on the scientific evidence which demonstrates the link between air pollution and ill health.”

“Our position is that local authorities should be ambitious, and that all vehicles including private cars should be included in a LEZ in a phased manner. Equally, low emission buses are at the heart of improving air quality and the bus sector has a key role to play. I’m proud that the Scottish Green Bus fund has already provided more than £16 million to support the introduction of hundreds of low emission buses. Today, we have again demonstrated our commitment to the bus industry through the announcement that we are providing a further £1.6 million immediately to a Bus Retrofit Programme for Scotland.

“These steps are further supported with record investment in walking and cycling to support our vision of an Active Nation. With the doubling of the active travel budget through the recent Programme for Government, we are well positioned to deliver our green ambitions for this generation and beyond.”

The Scottish Government continues to seek views on ‘Building Scotland’s Low Emission Zones.’ The consultation will be available until 28 November 2017. Views can also be shared on Twitter using the hashtag #lezconsultation.