The food safety service has written a service plan that has been produced as required by the Food Standards Agency framework agreement on local authority food law enforcement. It is written in the format prescribed by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), its purpose being to demonstrate that East Cambs District Council has in place adequate and effective arrangements to meet its statutory obligations in respect of food safety.
The FSA recognised the impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had on food business operations and officer workload. The FSA implemented a recovery plan in 2021/2022 to which the team has been working. The food safety service is in a good position to fully revert back to the pre-Covid model for the programme of food hygiene inspections, following the requirements of the food law code of practice.
The council's commercial team are responsible for:
- enforcing food safety legislation in around 880 premises
- registering and keeping an up to date register of food businesses
- approving establishments that require approval and ensuring these feature on the Food Standards Agency website
- following up complaints about food sold or manufactured and concerns about food hygiene in the district
- taking samples of food, water and the environment for microbiological examination and chemical analysis