Labour query food safety expertise
Food spokesperson Dr Mary Upton said there is no adequate regulation or minimum training requirements for these consultants, which is unacceptable in an age of heightened consumer demand about food safety.
“If you open any telephone book nowadays, you will find a plethora of food safety consultants offering their services and advice on food safety practices and procedures.
“There is, however, no regulatory body in existence to ensure that these consultants are properly registered, properly trained and legally covered in the course of their work.”
Dr Upton said food safety and hygiene practices are now governed by complex and detailed legal requirements. Consumers and producers are becoming more concerned about these issues.
“But the many food safety consultants available for advice are not currently required to meet any criteria to qualify as consultants and dispense advice.
“More worrying is the lack of clarity about any legal liability on the part of the consultant if inaccurate or inadequate advice is proffered to a food outlet or food manufacturer.”
Dr Upton said there is a pressing need for a system of accreditation and minimum training for food safety consultants before somebody can erect a plaque outside an office, call themselves a ‘food safety consultant’ or put an ad in the Golden Pages.
There could be a role for either the Food Safety Authority or the Food Safety Promotion Board in this matter, he added.
