Past President Emeritus Professor Kofi Aidoo has been appointed to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants (JECFA).
Kofi was the Institute’s President from 2015-2016 and is also a Fellow of the Institute. Kofi is also the Professor of Food Safety and Microbiology at the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Life Sciences (SHLS) at Glasgow Caledonian University.
The Committee evaluates food additives, contaminants and naturally occurring toxins in food, and residues of veterinary drugs. The Committee is made up of international experts from 29 countries, all members of the UN. Kofi Aidoo will remain on the expert committee of the United Nations in Rome until 2027.
The Institute congratulates Kofi on his appointment and wish him all the best in this role.
The Food Standards Agency is seeking views on new advice for how and when to apply precautionary allergen labelling (PAL), commonly seen as “may contain” warnings on food packaging.
Under the new advice, and to ensure compliance with food law, food businesses should specify which of the 14 major allergens their PAL refers to – for example, using “may contain peanuts” or “may contain tree nuts” rather than the generic “may contain nuts”.
The FSA is recommending that PAL only be applied following a risk assessment, to ensure consumer safety and choice are not unnecessarily affected.
Views are also being sought on new guidance that PAL should not be applied for the same allergen that products are also claiming to be “free-from”. This would mean that a product labelled “dairy free”, for instance, should not be labelled with a “may contain milk” statement.
The proposed changes were supported by over 90% of respondents to the “May Contain Consultation”, which was launched in December 2021.
The updated guidance also advises businesses not to use No Gluten Containing Ingredients Statements (NGCIs), such as “this menu has been designed for a non-gluten diet”. The FSA recommends that only the phrases “gluten free” or “low gluten” be used, because NGCIs have been found to mislead consumers.
Anyone wishing to respond to the consultation can do so by visiting the consultation page.
Scotland’s First Minister has announced that the Deposit Return Scheme will be delayed by 10 months and will now go live on 1 March 2024.
The First Minister confirmed his plans for the scheme during his address to the Scottish Parliament on 18 April.
The DRS was set to be introduced on 16 August and was to require all drinks producers and retailers that sell single-use containers in Scotland to sign up for the scheme. A refundable £0.20 deposit was to apply to PET plastic, steel, aluminium or glass containers from 50ml to three litres in size.
Under the plans, consumers were able to return drinks containers to a number of shops and hospitality sites across Scotland. Circularity Scotland, claimed the DRS should stop 90% of recyclable products going to waste.
The scheme had proved controversial, with fears among small businesses that they lacked the resources to comply with the scheme. Before today’s announcement, drinks industry bodies had called on the Scottish government to enact a “grace period” of 18 months following the planned implementation date in August.
Speaking at Holyrood, Humza Yousaf said: “I remain committed to this Scheme as a way to increase recycling, to reduce litter on our streets and on our beaches and help achieve our net zero ambitions.
“But we recognise the uncertainty that continues to be created as a result of the UK Government delaying the decision to exclude the scheme from the Internal Market Act. We had hoped for a decision on that this week – but it has not come.
“At the same time, I – and the Circular Economy Minister – have heard the concerns of business, particularly about the scheme’s readiness for launch this August.
“As a result, we will now delay the launch of the scheme to the 1st of March 2024. This provides 10 months for businesses to get ready.
“We will use that additional time to work with businesses, and Circularity Scotland, to address concerns with the scheme and ensure a successful launch next year.
“We have also developed a package of measures to simplify and de-risk the scheme, and to support small businesses and hospitality in particular.
“The Circular Economy Minister will provide further details to Parliament this week on this package, of the new timetable, and our engagement with the UK Government over the critical decisions now that we need them to make to allow the scheme to proceed in terms of that exemption of the Internal Market Act.”
A doctor from Fort William has called for the mapping of tick-borne diseases in Scotland after encephalitis carried by the parasitic creature was confirmed in the UK.
The spider-like creature can spread both viral and bacterial infections to humans through their bite.
Dr James Douglas who also works in Lyme disease research issued the call to the BBC. He believes ticks in particular areas to be regularly sampled to create a resource similar to how hazards are tracked by the Scottish Avalanche Information Service.
The call comes after tick-borne encephalitis was confirmed in the UK with another probable case in Scotland.
Sampling of ticks has been carried out before, but the GP said the testing was sporadic.
He said: “Longer term we need systematic analysis a bit like the avalanche service in winter time,” he said.
“We need a similar sort of service that’s sampling the ticks all the time in particular areas so we know what germs are in the ticks and how we deal with them.”
Ticks are usually active from early spring to late autumn, but there have been warnings they have become a year-round risk.
Dr Douglas said people should familiarise themselves with how to safely remove ticks. Public Health Scotland is among organisations offering information on dealing with tick removal and health concerns.
The GP said gardeners, dog walkers and forestry workers were among those most likely to encounter ticks, and urged them to regularly check themselves for ticks.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has launched a criminal investigation into potential food fraud following recent reporting in the media.
The FSA was alerted about food fraud allegations linked to cooked beef products from a single supplier in August 2021 and began seizing evidence shortly afterwards. Products from the affected retailer were removed from shelves immediately. We gave advice to industry in December 2021 and May 2022 to do extra due diligence on cooked meat supply chains.
In March this year, the FSA received additional intelligence about suspected wider fraud, and possible hygiene issues relating to the same supplier. This led FSA to execute a warrant at a premises, with the assistance of police and local trading standards and environmental health officers. More evidence was seized and three people arrested.
The additional allegations in March were made about the safety of meat as well as fraud. The respective local authority has since withdrawn approval for the business. Those businesses referred to in the new allegations have been advised of these concerns. They have begun specific sampling relating to these allegations and ended their relationship with the suspect supplier. Food production using meat from this supplier has been stopped in order to ensure that their food is safe.
Based on the investigation to date, the FSA and the relevant local authority for the implicated business have no indication that there is unsafe food on the market, or that there is a current increased risk to consumers.
Emily Miles, Chief Executive of the Food Standards Agency said:
“We are continuing our criminal investigation into how a meat supplier allegedly provided products labelled as British when they were in fact sourced from other countries.
This is a live investigation which means we are looking into all new lines of inquiry with the relevant local authorities, including investigating potential food hygiene breaches. This is alongside the work we are doing to investigate food fraud.
Based on the investigation to date, there is no indication that food is unsafe or there is an increased risk to consumers.
Criminal investigations take time and need to be done with due process and fairness. The FSA will work tirelessly on behalf of consumers to ensure that this criminal investigation is done to the highest possible standards.
I do want to emphasise at a time when cost pressures and other challenges mean the risks of food fraud might be increasing, it is vital everyone involved in the food chain works to ensure that food is safe and what it says it is.”
MySelf-Management and Covid Aid are combining their expertise around Self-Management and Long Covid to provide a high-quality self management programme and an annual package of online community support for those with Long Covid – providing a comprehensive and tailored solution for those in Scotland experiencing long-term symptoms as a result of Covid-19.
The free self management eLearning is open to people who have had Covid and are still experiencing long covid symptoms until the end of April.
Revised local air quality management policy guidance has been published.
The guidance has been updated for local authorities to take account of Environmental Standards Scotland’s (ESS) recommendations to strengthen the local air quality management regime.
The policy guidance, the accompanying technical guidance and Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 – Towards a Better Place for Everyone’ (CAFS2) are the primary guidance documents to which local authorities should have regard when carrying out their air quality review and assessment work.
CAFS2 was published in July 2021, setting out the air quality policy framework to 2026. Amongst the wide range of actions included in the strategy is a commitment to review the LAQM policy guidance to take account of developments since the last update in 2016.
In November 2021 ESS announced its first investigation would consider air quality, specifically focusing on compliance with the nitrogen dioxide limit value set in Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, which forms part of retained law following the UK’s exit from the European Union.
Three of the six recommendations made by ESS following their investigation are to strengthen the effectiveness of the LAQM regime in place to improve air quality in Scotland. The revisions made to this LAQMpolicy guidance incorporate the ESS recommendations to strengthen the LAQM regime.
A short life working group with members including local authorities and SEPA was established to support Scottish Government in reviewing the LAQM policy guidance.
The Institute is delighted to announce that we have a great line up of speakers at our Annual Environmental Health Forum which is taking place as a Hybrid event from Kilmardinny House, Bearsden, Glasgow on Tuesday 25 April 2023. The programme has now been added to the website and speakers include Professor George Morris and Professor Phil Mackie, plus many more!
The full programme and booking form can be found here.
Members may have noticed a new ‘box’ in the members only section of the website, called ‘Learning Resources’. There are some links to places where additional learning/development can be achieved and additions will be made in due course.
CPD
Thank you to all submitting CPD. Submissions for 2022 have been received with some subject to final administration. The list of EHOs holding Chartered EHO status will appear in a Journal later in the year. We would encourage use of the online system for the recording of CPD, within the members only section of the website, and remind you that entries can be made ‘as you go’ throughout the year, so would take minimal time to ‘submit’ at the end of the calendar year. We would also remind Chartered EHOs that you can request to be placed on a list maintained by the Institute of professionals offering private work, which would be provided, should anyone approach the Institute for such names.
Professional Examinations
Preparations are underway for the professional examination diets on May 10 2023, which is for SFSORB candidates only, and 26 – 28 September for those sitting the REHIS Diploma in Environmental Health and SFSORB qualifications. Should candidates, training organisations or professional practice advisors have any queries please email contact@
Community Training
Following a very successful Food and Health Presenters update on Wednesday 22 March, information on the new REHIS Elementary Nutrition course and REHIS Food and Health by elearning is available from the Director of Training. Please email contact@
The Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act covers precision-bred plants and animals developed through techniques such as gene editing. This is different to genetic modification (GM), which produces crops containing genetic changes that could not have occurred through traditional breeding or occur naturally.
The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments have not permitted the commercial use of gene editing.
Gene editing in England had been covered under the same regulation that has restricted the commercial development of GM crops under EU law. Brexit has enabled the Westminster government to relax the rules for the newer technology.
The chief scientific advisor for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Prof Gideon Henderson, says that the new rules will lead to better food production and bring jobs and investment to England.
The Precision Breeding Act allows genetic changes that could also have been produced naturally or through traditional crossbreeding programmes. GM will not be permitted which involves the introduction of genes from other species.
Gene editing enables researchers to make precise genetic changes to a plant’s DNA, for example adding a gene to boost its growth or reduce dependence on fertiliser. The same change could be produced by crossbreeding different varieties, but it would take much longer.
The new law allows for the use of gene editing and other methods that may arise in the future, provided the end result is a crop that is no different to a variety that could have been naturally produced.
A guest at a Highland hotel died after a heavy metal bench he was sitting on toppled backwards and trapped him against a wall, a court has heard.
Patrick McGuire, 67, from Wisconsin in the US, was knocked unconscious at the Glengarry Castle Hotel, near Invergarry, in April 2019.
Inverness Sheriff Court heard the cause of his death was asphyxiation.
The hotel’s owners have been fined £14,000 after admitting a health and safety breach.
Sheriff Gary Aitken told the court: “No-one goes on holiday expecting not to come back.
“There can be fewer low risk activities than sitting outside on a garden bench, taking a photograph and having a cigarette.”
On Tuesday , the court heard the hotel’s owners – Robert and Donald MacCallum and late partner, Janette MacCallum – had recognised the risk of benches sinking into grass and becoming unstable.
It also heard they failed to put in place suitable inspections and maintenance.
Sheriff Aitken was told Mr McGuire had gone outside the hotel at about 22:30 and sat back on the bench. The seat tipped backwards causing him to hit his head on the wall.
Mr McGuire was trapped between the 72kg bench and the wall, causing positional asphyxiation.
The hoteliers were facing a £21,000 fine, but it was reduced because they accepted full responsibility at the earliest stage.
Sheriff Aitken said: “It is a tragedy that this event occurred and in no sense is the penalty a reflection on the value of Mr McGuire’s life.
“No-one can put a value on human life.”
Fiscal depute Roderick Urquhart told the court Mr McGuire went outside to take photographs and have a cigarette and never returned to his room.
Mr Urquhart said: “His wife retired to bed waking at approximately 00.30 noticing that her husband had not returned. She tried unsuccessfully to call him and then set about searching the hotel for him.
“She searched the building and then extended her search to the hotel grounds. She found him lying on his back with his head touching a nearby wall, in a seated position on a bench.”
Emergency services were called and the incident was later investigated by Environmental Health at Highland Council, Health and Safety Executive and police.
Defence solicitor Jaimie McGready told the court the hotel had previously identified a sinking risk to the cast iron benches and had embedded wooden blocks in the grass to try and stabilise them.
A risk assessment of the hotel and its grounds was also carried out by their insurers and the risk was not identified.
He said: “The risk was not an obvious one, even to the experienced risk assessors. The hotel has now introduced increased staff training and are ensuring no guests are outdoors when the doors are locked.”
Mr McGready said the benches had been replaced with wooden ones placed on concrete slabs and maintenance records were being kept.
He said: “This incident was an isolated one, devastating and a great shock for the family. The circumstances here are unusual and extremely rare.”
ASH Scotland is deeply concerned at latest figures suggesting that regular e-cigarette use by 15-year-olds has tripled and more than doubled for 13-year-olds in the last five years.
The Scottish Government’s Health and Wellbeing Census 2021-22 found that 10.1% of S4 students and 4.3% of S2 students report using e-cigarettes regularly (once a week or more). Figures from the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS) in 2018 showed regular vaping by 13-year-olds and 15-year-olds at 2% and 3% respectively.
The Health and Wellbeing Census, which surveyed 25,380 S2 and S4 pupils, also revealed that young people living in the most deprived areas of Scotland are more likely to regularly vape (7.8%) than those in the most affluent areas (4.6%).
Sheila Duffy, Chief Executive of ASH Scotland said: “Children using e-cigarettes is a major worry as most vaping products include nicotine, which is highly addictive, and toxic e-liquids that have not been safety tested for inhalation, and could risk damage to their growing lungs over time.
“Young people who experiment with e-cigarettes are three times as likely to start cigarette smoking than those who do not, and this is a prospect we should all want our children to avoid.
“Promoting novel products such as recreational e-cigarettes is one way in which the tobacco industry is reaching out to future generations of potential consumers and it is an issue that needs to be tackled by the Scottish Government as a matter of urgency.
“With the Scottish Government having published an analysis of responses to its consultation on tightening the rules on advertising and promoting vaping products in September 2022, swift action is now required to introduce measures – enabled by the Health (Tobacco, Nicotine etc. and Care) (Scotland) Act 2016 – to protect the long-term health of Scotland’s young people and future generations.
“We are, therefore, calling on the Public Health Minister to lay robust regulations for parliamentary approval without further delay.”
The director of a ‘Man with a Van’ business and his employee have been sentenced for dumping household waste in Glasgow.
53-year-old Stuart Allison, from Bearsden, was fined £750 and ordered to pay compensation of £1,900 to Glasgow City Council for the clean-up.
His employee Steven Hutton, aged 44, from Coatbridge was fined £750. Both had previously pled guilty to an environmental breach.
The procurator fiscal depute told the court that between 10 June and 2 August 2020 there was large scale dumping of unauthorised waste at Dalsetter Crescent, Glasgow. Dalsetter Crescent is a dead-end street within a Drumchapel business development site.
Glasgow City Council Environmental Health Officers visited the site on 14 July 2020. They found a large quantity of tyres and household waste. They seized items of correspondence with names and addresses from the household waste.
Police attended at three of the addresses and spoke with the householders. These witnesses all said that they had hired a ‘Man with a Van’ via Facebook. They’d made payments to Stuart Allison’s bank account or paid Steven Hutton in cash to remove unwanted household items such as a sofa, bed, washing machine, dryer, television, dolls house and a hoover
CCTV from a nearby business showed two vans involved in the dumping of unauthorised household waste. Both vehicles were tracked back to Stuart Allison.
On the morning of 22 December 2020 police attended at the homes of Allison and Hutton with search warrants. They seized several electronic devices including iPhones and arrested both men.
During interview Allison confirmed he was the director of four businesses including a ‘Man with a Van’ business and that neither he or his companies held a waste management licence. He said he had several Facebook profiles which he used to advertise and contact prospective clients and that he was responsible for arranging Hutton’s work
While in custody Hutton confirmed that he had worked for his cousin Allison but had recently been sacked. He also stated to police that he ‘HAD DUMPED WASTE IN NEARLY EVERY STREET WITH A DEAD END IN GLASGOW’.
Analysis of the phones revealed numerous discussions on the uplift and disposal of household waste detailing enquiries, pricing, and the logistics of disposal of waste from individual jobs.
There were many references to rubbish being taken to the dump and ‘dump runs’ but some messages showed that Allison knew Hutton was on occasion fly tipping the waste rather than disposing of it lawfully.
Speaking after the sentencing, Fiona Caldwell, who leads on wildlife and environmental crime for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said:
“Fly tipping causes the public real and legitimate concern. It is criminal behaviour which creates an eyesore and is costly to clear up and one that the local council must often carry.
“The deliberate and criminal actions of Stuart Allison and Steven Hutton show a clear disregard for the environment and undermines legitimate waste management companies.
“There is no excuse for illegal dumping of waste and, as with this case, where there is sufficient evidence of a crime and if it is appropriate and in the public interest to do so, we will prosecute.”
The fiscal told the court that on the evening of Friday 24 July 2020 much of the waste at Dalsetter Crescent was consumed by fire. There is no suggestion that Allison or Hutton were involved in the fire.
After the fire the debris consisted of 51 tonnes of tyres and 17 tonnes of household waste. Glasgow City Council cleansing staff believed the volume of waste was significantly reduced by the fire.
The site clearance required 10 operators, a JCB shovel and operator and five artic lorries. The total cost of the operation to the public purse was estimated to be £10,000. Most of this estimated cost related to the removal and lawful disposal of tyres.
Allison and Hutton were not responsible for dumping the tyres. Another individual has previous been convicted and imprisoned in relation to dumping the tyres.
The cost for removal of the household waste was approximately £1,900.
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