REHIS News

Cuts to environmental health departments are putting the public at “high risk of harm”, according to the Unison Tipping Point Study.

The study used Freedom of Information requests to local authorities and a Scotland-wide survey of UNISON members working in environmental health departments to examine the impact of austerity in areas such as food safety and standards, waste management and pollution control.

MPs have called on the Government to strengthen the commitments made in its 25-year Environment Plan in order to prepare for the event of a no-deal Brexit scenario, claiming that the UK is currently at risk of losing one-third of green legislation if no agreement with the EU is agreed.

An independent review of “Cleaner Air for Scotland- The Road to a Healthier Future” has been announced. 

Cleaner Air for Scotland – The Road to a Healthier Future (CAFS) is Scotland’s first strategy specifically dedicated to tackling the issue in Scotland – previous strategies were conducted on a UK basis – was published in November 2015.

Public Health England (PHE) has announced that a UK resident has sadly died after becoming infected with rabies following a cat bite during a visit to Morocco.

They said that while there was no risk to the wider public, as a precautionary measure, health workers and close contacts of the person who died were being assessed and offered vaccination when necessary.

The Scottish Government has launched a campaign highlighting the pitfalls of buying illegally bred puppies.

Buy a Puppy Safely campaign will focus on raising awareness of the tactics used by illegal breeders to deceive buyers.

Research shows that Scots are more likely to buy an illegally-bred puppy than they might think, with only 24% of Scots buying from an approved breeder and 1 in 4 considering using an online or website to buy a puppy.

The owner and manager of a takeaway, have been jailed for manslaughter after a teenage girl died when the meal she ordered carried peanuts.

Mohammed Abdul Kuddus and Harun Rashid, who ran Royal Spice in Lancashire, who were found guilty in October, have been jailed for two years and three years respectively at Manchester Crown Court.

Pret a Manger’s allergy labelling was inadequate, the coroner in the case of a girl who died after eating a baguette from the food chain has said.

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, died after eating a Pret a Manger artichoke and olive tapenade baguette bought from Heathrow Airport in 2016. She had severe allergies to many foods including sesame, which had been baked into a baguette, the ingredients had not been listed on the packaging. She collapsed during a flight from Heathrow to Nice, despite her father administering two EpiPen injections.

On 10 October 2018, the World Health Organisation (WHO) published ‘Environmental noise guidelines for the European region’. The guidelines have been developed, based on the growing understanding of these health impacts of exposure to environmental noise.

Scotland’s Drinking Water Quality Regulator (DWQR) has published a report on the quality of water found in private water supplies. The report finds that many of these supplies comply with drinking water standards but a significant number need to make further improvements.

Around 3.6 per cent of the Scottish population receive their water from a private water supply rather than from Scottish Water. In 2017 local authorities reported to DWQR that there were 22,269 registered PWS in Scotland, 2,494 Type A and 19,775 Type B.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA), Food Standards Scotland (FSS), Public Health England (PHE) and Health Protection Scotland (HPS) are reminding people to take care when handling raw meat and to cook it properly.

This comes following a rise in cases of a particular strain of Salmonella typhimurium linked to lamb and mutton. The first increase in cases of this particular strain was seen July 2017. Prior to that, only two cases of this strain had been detected in England.