REHIS News

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease COVID-19 a pandemic, reflecting the worldwide spread of this infection.

Brewers and distillers across Scotland are using their production facilities to make hand sanitiser to help fight the coronavirus outbreak.

BrewDog, Leith Gin and Verdant Spirits are all getting involved in efforts to ramp up production of hand sanitiser, amid shortages driven by coronavirus fears.

Verdant Spirits, based in Dundee, hopes to produce 400 litres of the gel this week. Owner Andrew Mackenzie tracked down the ingredients listed on the World Health Organisation's website.

The implementation date for Scotland's deposit return scheme has been delayed by more than a year.

The "go-live" date is to be pushed back from April next year to July 2022.

Under the scheme, people will be able to return a container to shops in return for a 20p fee which was paid when the drink was purchased.

The government said the delay would give businesses time to ensure the necessary infrastructure was in place.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "Our deposit return scheme will be the first national scheme of its type operating in the UK.

The call comes as a BBC investigation has discovered a large number of sellers on Facebook Marketplace were not registered as a food business with their local authority.

According to the BBC, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) Chair, Heather Hancock, has called for Facebook to bring in stricter seller checks on its Marketplace platform.

Facebook requires people selling food from their homes on a regular basis to register with their local authority, but BBC News reportedly found a number of food sellers were unregistered.

he HASCOG Scotland meeting scheduled to take place at REHIS HQ on Thursday 26 March has been cancelled.

In the light of the developing Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation the decision has been taken to postpone the presentation of this year’s Annual Environmental Health Forum, scheduled to take place on 29/30 April, and to consider its delivery in one format or another later in the year. A difficult decision to take but one that is right for the protection of public health and wellbeing in Scotland.

Please be assured that REHIS is monitoring the developing Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation. Scottish Government advice will inform any decision on whether or not to hold REHIS events and meetings and any decisions will be taken at the earliest opportunity and in the interests of public health. Decisions will be communicated to all participants, E-mail alerts will be issued to all who are registered to receive them and updates will be published on the REHIS website.

For further advice on Coronavirus (COVID-19) please visit:

Food Standards Scotland have published their annual report “Local Authority Food Sampling in Scotland”. 

The popular Beat the Street initiative is an innovative real-life walking game that helps build active communities with improved activity levels and a positive impact on air quality. So far, more than a million people have played the game in the UK and beyond and it is currently taking place in East Renfrewshire and East Kilbride.

The operator of a North Sea trawler has been fined £50,000 over safety failures which led to the death of a crewman.