Consultative Council Meeting Minutes - 17 May 2007
Date & Venue: 17 May 2007, Food Safety Authority of Ireland , Abbey Court , Lower Abbey St , D.1 .
1. Introduction/Welcome/Housekeeping
The Chair welcomed the members to the meeting. She also expressed her sadness at the recent passing away of former Council member Brid O’Connor and stated that a letter of condolence would be sent to her family on behalf of the members.
2. Agree Draft Minutes of 27 February 2007
The minutes of the last meeting were adopted without amendment.
3. Approval of Agenda
The agenda was approved subject to adding the following items to AO:-
- Cryptosporidium in water;
- Vitamin D
- Preparation and handling of powdered infant formula.
4. Matters Arising
Apart from health claims, other matters arising were covered by the agenda. The issue of health claims will be a topic at the open meeting in October and can be addressed further if necessary at a subsequent meeting.
5. Access to Safety Net – Ruth Fitzsimmons and Carol Heavey
Ruth Fitzsimmons, Information Manager and Carol Heavey, Information Executive in the FSAI gave a presentation outlining;
- Information services;
- Methods of contacting the advice line;
- Profile of callers and reasons for calling the advice line;
- FSAI response
- FSAI publications available;
- Food alerts and the role of the advice line during alerts;
- The FSAI website – www.fsai.ie
- The various subscriptions and how to subscribe;
- Fsainews – bimonthly newsletter;
- Safetynet;
All information required by the members to access safetynet, i.e. passwords and instructions were circulated to the members present in sealed envelopes. Should members have queries on how to use safetynet, contact E Lippert .
6. Attitude Survey
A draft report of the attitude survey, prepared by Amarach was distributed to the members at the meeting and the members’ comments were requested and several were provided, for instance:
- Section 3.9 needs to be fleshed out;
- It was requested that seafood be covered in any subsequent surveys;
- Paranoia surrounding food hygiene and food safety;
- Disinfectants, etc lulling cleaners into false sense of security, when more thorough cleaning is actually required;
- Include questions about artisans and specialist foods;
Action: Arrange for Paula Mee to speak at a future meeting of the Council.
If members have any further comments, they should be submitted to the FSAI by 17 June. Also, the FSAI will ascertain when FSPB will be carrying out the next survey so that additional questions can be submitted. This will be an agenda item at the next meeting.
In addition, RE briefed the members on the recent FSAI advertising campaign about traceability. He informed the members that another campaign about labelling will follow later in the year.
7. Open Meeting 2007
RE presented the main points as concluded by the members of the Open Meeting Working Group. These were:
- Three speakers definitely confirmed
- A fourth speaker – pro conventional foods to be approached;
- Venue will be Davenport on 4 October
There followed much discussion about a potential fourth speaker and the theme of the meeting and the need for a devil’s advocate was stressed. The issue of the safety of organic vs. conventional food was hotly discussed and the members agreed that the topic of the open meeting could create much discussion. DA suggested some potential names and the FSAI will contact her for their details.
8. Food Safety Legislation
Jeff Moon, FSAI Chief Specialist in Environmental Health with FSAI spoke about the Authority’s work to ensure consistency of enforcement. He outlined the work the Enforcement Consistency Group, the various codes of practice, the advice notice which have been prepared and future plans.
This presentation will be circulated to the members for information. Discussion covered the related to the lack of a central database of all food premises, auditing of inspectors and training of EHOs. There was also acknowledgment that inspections for artisans were improving. It was the general view that consistency has definitely improved for industry also and this displayed how businesses and inspectors were working together. Members commented that the advice notes should be published and the Consistency Forum should be publicised to make premises being inspected aware of the efforts that EHO and enforcement agencies are making to improve their service.
9. FSAI Service Plan
The FSAI Service Plan was circulated to the members and RE outlined and briefed the members on the main points. Feed back from the members was appreciated.
Action: The service plan will be an agenda item at the December meeting.
10. Consultation on Food Labelling
A consultation document on food labelling from the Department of Health and Children was circulated to the members for their comments and views. The EC proposals in a summary are:
- Should the scope of the new legislation include presentation and advertising?
- Should allergen information be on restaurant menus, or should such information be available on request?
- Any ideas or thoughts on internet sales?
- For mail order food catalogues, how can label information be provided to enable informed choice?
- Is it the function of food labels to encourage/increase informed consumption?
- Do consumers expect/require animal welfare labelling or other ethical labelling?
The main points for consideration in the labelling consultation are:
- Legislation that is flexible and keeps pace with technology is required;
- How can legislation be framed in order to keep pace with technology?
- Should nutrition labelling be mandatory? If yes, what level of detail/what nutrients should be included?
- Is re-labelling acceptable – in the event of mistakes on labels?
- Should country of origin labelling be mandatory – if so, for what products?
- Products with ingredients sourced outside of the country – how should these be dealt with?
Members were requested to send their comments, if any to E. Lippert by 25 May. R. Ellard's synopsis of the consultation to be circulated to the members for assistance in responding to the consultation.
A copy of the recently FSAI leaflet on beef labelling was circulated to the members and this led to queries as to when similar will be available for pork, chicken, lamb. It was also questioned why labelling was a DoHC issue and it was confirmed that the FSAI advises the DoHC on these matters.
11. Any Other Business
Vitamin D Report
The FSAI report on Vitamin D was published and launched in May. Dr. Mary Flynn Chief Specialist in Public Health Nutrition from FSAI gave a presentation of the main points of the report and the background to it. EL to forward the presentation to the members. Dr Flynn addressed all of the questions raised following the presentation.
Powdered Infant Formula
Alan Reilly notified the members about a recently published WHO document about the handling of powdered infant formula. This document was prepared in collaboration with the FSAI and will be published all over the world in several languages.
Cryptosporidium in Water
Copies of the ‘boil water notices’ issued by Galway Co. Co., Galway City Council and HSE West were circulated to the members for information. Also circulated to members were copies of the documents sent to food business operators (FBO) in the affected areas outlining food safety measures to be implemented by FBO for a cryptosporidium contamination of a water supply and subsequent updates. An advice note to FBOs about small water treatment systems to remove cryptosporidium was also circulated, all for information purposes.
The ongoing crisis in Galway sparked a debate about the quality of Irish drinking water and the need for a reference laboratory to carry out typing for cryptosporidium was stressed. The FSAI is working with the EPA to put one in place.
It was questioned whether there were HACCP plans for water supply plants, but this is not part of FSAI’s remit. It is the responsibility of the local Authorities and the EPA. The EPA is preparing guidelines for single domestic dwellings and this should be available soon. Reference was also made to water tables and this led to some discussion and this led to the issue of land spreading. Members questioned whether drinking water should be part of the FSAI remit.
Action: The FSCC to recommend to the Board that it contact the Director of EPA with regards to drinking water. The recommendation will be drafted by R.Ellard and V.Campbell and will be circulated to the members for comments.
It was suggested that the FSAI could have a legitimate area of interest in this despite it being
part of its remit and some potential gaps were pointed out. It was suggested that during times of severe flooding that additional testing be carried out and this could be part of a risk assessment, but there was debate about who could carry it out.
Alan Reilly advised the members of the HPSC Zoonoses/notifiable diseases database and the link to this will be circulated to the members. It was also queried where the data on the coliform status of municipal water supplies can be accessed and it was confirmed that this was with the local authorities and the EPA.
Action: Water will be the sole issue at a future meeting of the Council and the EPA will be invited to attend/present. A representative from a municipal water plant will also be invited to the meeting. The data and information circulated to the members at a previous meeting of the Council which addressed the water safety issue to be reissued/circulated to members.
12. Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting of the FSCC will be the Open Meeting on 4 October 2007 in the Dublin. More information will follow closer to the date.
Last reviewed: 11/3/2009