Author: Sarah Groom

A case of classical Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) has been confirmed in a cow on a farm in Dumfries and Galloway.

Precautionary movement restrictions have been put in place on the offspring of the animal and its ‘cohort’ at the impacted premises.  Further investigations to identify the origin of the disease are ongoing. This is standard procedure for a confirmed case of classical BSE.

The case was identified as a result of our routine though intensive BSE surveillance and stringent control measures that are in place. The animal did not enter the human food chain and Food Standards Scotland have confirmed there is no risk to human health as a result of this isolated case.

The owners of the affected animals are working with authorities on next steps.

Agriculture Minister Jim Fairlie said:

“Following confirmation of a case of classical BSE in Dumfries and Galloway, the Scottish Government and other agencies acted swiftly and decisively to protect the agriculture sector.

“The fact we identified this isolated case so quickly is clear proof that our surveillance system for detecting this type of disease is working effectively.

“I want to thank the animal’s owner for their diligence. Their swift action allowed us to identify and isolate the case immediately, minimising its impact on the wider industry.”

The Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) is investigating the source of the disease.

All animals over four years of age that die on farm are routinely tested for BSE under Scotland’s comprehensive surveillance system.  While the disease is not directly transmitted from animal to animal, its cohorts including offspring, have been traced and isolated, and will be destroyed in line with legal requirements.

In addition to the measures in place for fallen stock and animal feed, there is a strict control regime to protect consumers. This includes the removal of specified risk material such as the spinal column, brain and skull from carcasses destined for human consumption.

Planning authorities will be required to notify Scottish Ministers of new data centre applications within seven days of validation.

A new direction, issued by Public Finance Minister Hannah Mary Goodlad, applies to data centre developments exceeding 50 Megawatts (MW) power capacity. It will support strategic monitoring of the pipeline of such planning applications and of the implications for wider infrastructure.

Ms Goodlad has also recalled a planning appeal for Ministerial decision relating to a proposed green data centre in Edinburgh, and has issued directions requiring Environmental Impact Assessments at locations in Fife and Edinburgh.

She said:

“Data centres is a rapidly emerging sector, and planning has an important role to play in considering applications, harnessing economic opportunities, and finding solutions which align with our climate goals.

“We must balance the economic and employment interests in developing data centres with national energy, climate and community wealth building ambitions, which are vital to our future prosperity, as well as the potential impact on local communities.

“It is essential to secure public benefits from this type of development, and I am clear that voices of communities that will be affected will be central to any considerations on data centres.”

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has identified an increase in the number of cases of Salmonella Enteritidis.

UKHSA has initiated an outbreak investigation, working with public health and food safety agencies in the UK and Devolved Administrations, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to identify additional cases, and consider potential sources of the outbreak to enable control measures to be implemented. Cases were interviewed with an outbreak questionnaire to gather information on severity of illness and risk factors for infection.

As of 13 August 2026, 207 confirmed cases between 11 August 2025 and 1 August 2026 have been detected within this outbreak, all within the same 5-single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) single linkage cluster based on WGS, indicating a common source of contamination. The majority of cases (206 out of 207) in this cluster were reported in 2026.

Cases were resident in England (n=199), Scotland (n=6), Wales (n=1) and Northern Ireland (n=1). For cases resident in England, the regions with the highest number of cases to date were London (n=47) and Yorkshire and Humber (n=38).

Cases range in age from 0 years to 90 years with a median age of 30. Across all age groups, 51% (n=105) were female.

Evidence gathered to date suggest that this outbreak is not associated with international travel, as only 6 out of 207 cases (3%) reported travel to countries outside of the UK.

Most people affected in this outbreak experienced self-limiting gastrointestinal illness; however, 38% of people with information available were admitted to hospital due to their salmonellosis symptoms and two people had a blood stream infection. There has been one death associated with this outbreak.

The Outbreak Control Team utilised the ECDC EpiPulse platform to notify member countries of the outbreak, and to understand whether other countries had identified genetically related Salmonella Enteritidis cases.

Extensive epidemiological and food chain investigations are ongoing to identify the source and origin of the contamination responsible for illness. To date, 114 cases have been interviewed and have a completed regional questionnaire or an outbreak questionnaire. Of those cases with a completed questionnaire, 95 (83%) report eating food prepared outside of the home in the week prior to symptom onset. Case interviews identified 5 food businesses where two or more independent cases reported attending in the week prior to symptom onset. These food businesses link 24 cases in total. Eleven of these cases report eating dishes made with eggs. The signal for egg consumption remains the strongest in this investigation to date. Food chain investigations to date have identified that these premises are supplied by eggs from multiple sources, including egg importers. Local investigations have also identified possible cross-contamination risk events within two of these settings. At this time there is no identified link to UK-produced eggs or poultry. The Food Standards Agency is liaising with local authority environmental health teams who have provided advice on food safety management to food businesses where issues have been identified.

This outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis is phylogenetically linked to a previous outbreak from 2025 which was also linked to imported eggs. UKHSA, alongside APHA, FSA and Devolved Administrations are working to collate the information gathered in these outbreaks to explore any potential risks posed from imported eggs and implement preventative measures if necessary.

S. Enteritidis is the most common Salmonella serovar in England and the leading cause of salmonellosis in people. Like all non-typhoidal Salmonella, it is spread via consumption of contaminated food (including eggs, poultry, meat, unpasteurised dairy and fresh produce), contact with the environment, or person-to-person transmission. Symptoms of salmonella infection include diarrhoea, stomach cramps and sometimes vomiting and fever. Salmonella generally causes a self-limiting gastroenteritis, although immunocompromised individuals and those in vulnerable groups (young children and older adults) may experience more severe illness such as blood stream infections, infection of metastatic sites, sepsis and multiorgan failure.

Great Britain continues to be one of the safest places in the world to work, according to new analysis published  by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).

The analysis comes alongside the annual release of HSE’s statistics for work-related fatalities for 2025/26, which show that 126 workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain (GB).

HSE has this year developed new analysis comparing the level and trend of fatal injuries to workers in GB with a selection of 35 other countries from around the world, meaning for the first time the results can be compared with countries outside Europe. This analysis provides further supporting evidence that GB is maintaining its position as one of the safest places to work.

Excluding the years affected by the coronavirus pandemic (2019/20-2021/22), the number of worker deaths in 2025/26 is provisionally the lowest number recorded in a single year, comparing to 217 fatalities twenty years ago (2005/06) and 495 in 1981.

The industries with the highest number of deaths continue to be construction (25) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (22). Of all main industry sectors, agriculture, forestry and fishing continues to have the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000  workers (8.09) followed by waste and recycling (5.47). This compares to an average 0.37 fatal injuries per 100,000 workers across all industries combined.

The most common cause of fatal injuries continues to be falls from a height (31), representing around a quarter of worker deaths in 2025/26.

Workers aged 60 and over accounted for around a third of all fatalities during the year (40) despite that age group accounting for just 12 per cent of the workforce.

A further 104 people who were not at work were killed as a result of work-related incidents in 2025/26. This refers to members of the public who were not directly working themselves at the time of the incident.

HSE’s Chief Executive Sarah Albon said:

“Every one of these numbers represents a loved one lost; serving as a powerful reminder of the importance of the work we do.

“We can be proud that Great Britain remains one of the safest places in the world to work, and the new analysis we have developed this year, for the first time, allows us to compare our safety record with a wide range of other advanced economies.”

The figures relate to work-related accidents and do not include deaths arising from occupational diseases or diseases which arise from certain occupational exposures.

The HSE has also published the annual figures for mesothelioma, a cancer caused by past exposure to asbestos. These show that 2,146 people died from the disease in Great Britain in 2024, representing a fall of 109 compared with 2023 and substantially lower than the average of 2,508 deaths per year over the ten-year period 2011-2020.

Many current mesothelioma deaths still reflect exposure to asbestos that often occurred before the 1980s and annual deaths are expected to continue declining during the next decade.

B&M Retail Ltd has been fined £2 million after Birmingham City Council successfully prosecuted the retailer for food hygiene offences identified at three Birmingham stores.

Bang in Some Beans is a nationwide initiative led by The Food Foundation that aims to double bean consumption by 2028. Food Standards Scotland is proud to be a ‘bean promoter’ and supports the mission to get the nation eating more beans.

By joining this bean revolution businesses can play a part in improving population health and nutrition while meeting growing customer demand for healthy, environmentally friendly and affordable choices.

Find out more here – Bang in Some Beans for Industry | Food Standards Scotland

The UK Government have announced that non-statutory inquiry into the death of seven-year-old Zane Gbangbola is to be established, more than 12 years after he died during flooding at his family home in Surrey.

A non-statutory inquiry is an investigation set up by the government without using specific legal powers granted by Parliament. It is generally quicker and more flexible than a statutory inquiry but has fewer powers.

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds announced  that the inquiry will examine the circumstances surrounding Zane’s death in Chertsey in February 2014, as well as how public services worked together during the emergency and the treatment of his family in the years that followed.

The UK Government said the Prime Minister and Defra ministers had met with Zane’s parents, Nicole Lawler and Kye Gbangbola, to hear their concerns and discuss what they hoped the inquiry would achieve.

Dr Sandie Okoro OBE, a lawyer and public leader, has been appointed to chair the inquiry independently and will have access to technical and subject matter experts. Ministers have also pledged to respond publicly to any recommendations it makes.

The announcement follows years of campaigning by Zane’s parents, who have consistently challenged the official conclusion that their son died from carbon monoxide poisoning after floodwater entered the family’s Victorian home.

The couple believe Zane was exposed to hydrogen cyanide released from contaminated land behind the property after floodwater disturbed the site. They have argued that emergency responders detected traces of the toxic gas on the night of the incident and have long called for a full independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.

Kye Gbangbola himself was left seriously ill with an extreme skin reaction following the incident. After about 12 hours he began to loose sensation in his legs. After 24 hours he had lost all feeling in them. However, it wasn’t until months later that one doctor diagnosed rhabdomyolsis, caused by hydrogen cyanide poisoning.

Public health documents later confirmed that firefighters found hydrogen cyanide traces their home.

Alongside their campaign for an inquiry, Zane’s parents have spent the past decade promoting Zane’s Law, a proposed piece of legislation aimed at improving transparency around contaminated land.

The proposals would require councils and the Environment Agency to maintain publicly accessible registers of potentially contaminated sites, carry out regular inspections and make information about risks available to local residents. The campaign also calls for criminal penalties where known risks to public safety are deliberately withheld.

Campaigners say the measures would help protect communities built on or near former landfill sites. According to Kye Gbangbola, around 80% of people in the UK live within two kilometres of a landfill site, many without knowing it.

Several councils have already backed the principles of Zane’s Law, while trade unions including the Fire Brigades Union have also expressed support for an independent inquiry.

On behalf of the Scottish Government, and as part of the Scottish Air Quality Database (SAQD) project, Ricardo provide mapped concentrations of pollutants for Scotland. These have been recently update for the year 2024.

provide representation of the spatial distribution of background and roadside annual mean concentrations for:

• gravimetric equivalent PM₁₀ concentration (PM₁₀)
• gravimetric equivalent PM_2.5 concentration (PM_2.5)
• NO_x and NO₂

Background concentrations are mapped at a spatial resolution of 1 km² (1 km x 1 km grid) and roadside concentrations are mapped for urban major road links throughout Scotland.

You can access this data via the air quality in Scotland website here . You can also use the new interactive map tool to explore the concentration and obtain the relevant data. In addition, the latest technical report associated with this work has also been published on the website and can be found here.

Views are being sought on proposals aimed at restricting the appearance of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products and how they are packaged and displayed in shops in Scotland to make them less enticing to children and young people.

The consultation fulfils a 100-day Scottish Government commitment and builds on government action to reduce preventable deaths from smoking and introduce tougher measures on vaping, including the introduction of a ban on the sale of single-use vapes last year.

Public Health Minister Maree Todd said:

“Scotland has been a world-leader on a range of tobacco control measures, and while there has been a steady reduction in smoking rates, we know it still damages lives and kills more than 7,000 people a year in Scotland.

“The use of vapes has increased in recent years, particularly among children and young people – with almost one in five children saying they have tried vaping.

“We know that colourful packaging and displays are used as an enticement to children and young people, which is why we are taking action and consulting on options to address this issue.

“We urge everyone to have their say on how these products are marketed and sold in the future to help protect children and young people and reduce preventable harm in Scotland.”

Chief Medical Officer Gregor Smith said:

“This is a vital step to protect public health and support Scotland’s aim of a tobacco-free generation by 2034. Scotland’s ‘Tobacco and Vaping Framework and Population Health Framework’ place a strong emphasis on prevention and reducing the use of health-harming products, including tobacco and nicotine.

“Action on how these products are promoted is central to that aim, and the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 provides a strengthened legislative basis for action. This work will help reduce health harms, address health inequalities, and respond proportionately to emerging risks from vaping.”

Public Health Scotland Consultant in Public Health, Dr Garth Reid said:

“Public Health Scotland welcomes the Four Nations consultation on the packaging, appearance and display of tobacco and vaping products.

“We strongly support the ambition to reduce the appeal, accessibility and normalisation of products that cause significant harm to population health. The proposals represent a timely and evidence‑informed extension of existing tobacco control measures, and they align with Scotland’s goal of achieving a tobacco‑free generation.”

View the UK wide consultation: Tobacco and vapes: packaging, appearance and display – GOV.UK  The consultation will run from 10 July 2026 for 12 weeks.

From 1 July 2026, under the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act 2024, it will be a criminal offence to use, supply or possess a glue trap. Offenders face a fine of up to £40,000 or up to 12 months in prison.

Although the ban was passed in 2024, it could not immediately come into force in full. The UK Government’s Internal Market Act 2020 requires that goods lawfully sold in one part of the UK can generally be sold in any other part. To close this gap, Scottish Ministers asked the UK Government to introduce a Statutory Instrument to exempt glue traps from those internal market rules. With that exclusion now in place, the Scottish Government can commence the full ban – covering use, possession and sale.

The ban applies to vertebrate animals. Invertebrates are not covered by the legislation. The offences also apply to anyone who knowingly causes or permits another person to use or supply a glue trap.

Jim Fairlie, Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity, said:

“Glue traps are indiscriminate and cruel. They have no place in a Scotland that takes its responsibilities to wildlife and animal welfare seriously. This ban sends a clear message that we will not tolerate methods that cause unnecessary suffering.

“Now that the legal barriers put in place by the UK Government’s Internal Market Act which delayed this ban have been resolved, we can move forward with confidence, knowing we have the tools to enforce it fully.”

Seafish, the public body that supports the UK’s seafood sectors, offers its help across every area of the supply chain from net to plate, including catching, farming, processing, wholesaling, fishmongering and foodservice.

As part of our Annual Plan for 2026/27, we refocused activities into three strategic outcomes: a safe and skilled workforce, smoother and expanding seafood trade and a resilient supply chain.

At the heart of outcome one, a safe and skilled workforce, will sit Seafish’s onshore training work, which provides the vital training needed by employers, those working in the seafood sector and those looking for a career in it.

Our onshore training work contributes to our safe and skilled workforce outcome. We recognise the success of seafood businesses is dependent upon staff training. It helps employees grow their skills and knowledge whilst contributing to business growth.

Seafish develops and administers compliance training programmes, including food hygiene and skills-based courses such as fish quality assessment, to assist people employed in the onshore sectors.

Much of our training is delivered remotely, either by Microsoft Teams or Zoom, or by self-study eLearning programmes. This helps learners and their employers as it reduces both travel time and travel costs. However, some of our programmes are delivered in-person, too.

Most of the Seafish compliance courses contain seafood specific content and lead to a nationally recognised qualification jointly awarded with the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS).

For the first time, we have secured funding from Marine Fund Scotland to support the remote delivery of many of our onshore training courses along with a few face-to-face programmes for people working directly in the seafood industry in Scotland.This 100% funding is for training delivered by 31st March 2027.

We have also submitted a funding application to the Fisheries and Seafood Scheme to fund many of our onshore training programmes until 31st March 2028 for employees in the English seafood industry. A funding application will be submitted to Northern Ireland in due course, and we can fund learners working in a Welsh seafood business.

Training programmes for the processing sector include:

• Food Hygiene at multiple levels with our Introductory and Elementary training packages available in multiple languages
• HACCP at Introductory and Elementary levels
• Elementary Health and Safety
• Food Authenticity and Integrity Verification for managers
• Food Allergens Management and Awareness for managers and supervisors
• Fish Quality Assessment
• Fish Smoking

The Seafish Fish Quality Assessment training programme has been completed by Port Health Officers and Environmental Health Officers.

Seafish has also piloted the delivery of a Food Fraud Prevention exercise in collaboration with the Food Standards Agency National Food Crime Unit. This was for people working in processing businesses and we’re delivering another exercise in the autumn of 2026.

Daniel Wales, technical manager, Hilton Foods Seachill, Grimsby, commented on the course: “Two of my colleagues attended the Food Fraud Prevention exercise. They both said it was really good and interactive, with the attendance of other seafood businesses. It was good to understand how they would deal with food fraud. They believe that staff employed outside technical and quality teams would also benefit from attending.”

Seafish also offers three training programmes for the bivalve shellfish sector:

• Bivalve Purification Operations
• Bivalve Purification Management
• Official Control Sampling

Our Official Control Sampling training course can also be completed by Local Authorities, while the two-day Bivalve Shellfish Hygiene Verification training course is aimed at environmental health officers who inspect bivalve purification centres.

For staff working in fish and chip shops, they can undertake our online Elementary Food Hygiene and online Elementary Health and Safey self-study programmes. The Food Hygiene programme includes a segment on essential food hygiene for fish friers.

The Seafish Principles of Fish Quality Assessment (cooked) training programme is applicable to people who handle fish fillets including fish friers.

We also collaborate with the KFE School of Frying Excellence, which delivers practical fish frying training in Market Deeping, and we’re looking to explore training opportunities with the National Federation of Fish Friers (NFFF) who have a training school in Leeds.

Our online Elementary Food Hygiene and online Elementary Health and Safey self-study programmes are also utilised by fishmongers, and our Principles of Fish Quality Assessment (raw) training course is suitable for fishmongers as they buy and sell whole fish.

Danna McGregor came to the seafood industry with more than 30 years of experience in business support administration. Securing a role at G Armstrong Fishmongers in Edinburgh, she reached out to our onshore training team to undertake some professional training to support her career development.

McGregor commented: “I started working at G Armstrong Fishmongers in October 2024 and approached Seafish for some training advice. It was able to offer me an online Elementary Food Hygiene training programme, an Introduction to HACCP training course and an online Elementary Health and Safety training programme. Completing the training and passing the online invigilated exams helped me acquire new knowledge, which I’m able to use on a daily basis at work. It helps me feel more confident in my teamwork and customer service. Should any future training requirements arise, Seafish will be my first point of contact for support.”

Seafish engages with training providers and assessment organisations that offer apprenticeships. Apprenticeships combine practical, on-the-job training with additional study. They can support staff development, help boost productivity and the quality of product, and be completed by existing staff as well as new recruits.  The revised version of the Level 2 Fishmonger Apprenticeship in England was approved in January 2025, and the new occupational standard was made available to apprentices from 19th March 2025. As well as a pathway for in-store retail fishmongers, there is also a pathway for fishmongers working in processors or wholesalers. You can listen to Matthew Bell of assessment organisation FDQ talking about how an apprenticeship can work for your business here.

If you or your colleagues would like to find out more about our onshore training courses or apprenticeships, email the Seafish Onshore Training team at onshore@seafish.co.uk.

Seafish is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) set up by the Fisheries Act 1981 and sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolved administrations.

It is focused on supporting three outcomes for the UK seafood sectors: a safe and skilled workforce; smoother and expanding seafood trade; a resilient supply chain.

Richard Wardell is an onshore training advisor at Seafish, overseeing the development and delivery of training for people working in the onshore sectors of the seafood industry.

REHIS Annual Forum

We’re delighted to unveil some of our exciting lineup of speakers for this year’s Annual Forum which takes place on 21 August at the Glasgow City Chambers. Don’t miss out—secure your place today via link REHIS Forum 2026 – REHIS

We hope you can join us for a day of insight, discussion, and networking!

REHIS Summer Journal

The Institute’s Summer Journal is now available to read in the Members’ Area of the website.

A sincere thank you to all our contributors for their valuable insights, expertise, and support in making this edition possible.

REHIS Career Spotlights and Podcasts

We’re delighted to introduce two exciting new features on our website.

The first is our podcast series, where members share their personal journeys into the profession, their career experiences, and what they enjoy most about their roles. We’ve also launched a collection of real-life career spotlights, showcasing the diverse opportunities within the profession and highlighting the rewarding work our members do.

These resources are designed to inspire and inform current and future professionals. If you would like to contribute your own story or experience, we would love to hear from you. Please contact the Institute to get involved.

REHIS Spotlight Sessions 🎙️ – REHIS

Career Spotlights – REHIS