Local Outcome 5: The work of the Council’s food safety team drives up food standards in East Dunbartonshire and helps to keep the public safe
The Environmental Health Team has been engaged in the delivery of essential public health services throughout the reporting period to protect the community from hazards in the environment and to regulate and facilitate the growth of responsible businesses.
The reporting period has seen the continued delivery of field responses in relation to all essential environmental health matters including public health service requests on environmental protection matters, food safety interventions, and air quality monitoring.
Activity during the first half of 2024-25 centred upon service delivery in relation to the wide range of priorities and objectives that are associated with the regulatory work of a Community Protection Service.
Food Safety inspections are an important part of this work because they drive up food safety standards and highlight that a certain standard is expected from businesses.
When it comes to issues of a potentially contaminated food product, the team can also act quickly to protect the public. By using their established networks and protocols, and working alongside colleagues in Communications, the team can ensure that vital information is disseminated quickly to reduce risks.
During the reporting period, officers have been involved in the on-going delivery of full programmes of inspection and sampling activity in relation to food safety as part of Official Food Controls.
As a result of this work, enforcement action was taken in a number of cases where conditions at local food business establishments were found to be a risk to public health.
The effectiveness of their work was recognised when the service received positive feedback from Food Standards Scotland following an audit of local authority official controls at approved food establishments.
In addition, the team has responded to a range of requests from partnership agencies throughout the period, such as Food Standards Scotland, in terms of local responses to national Food Alerts and the NHS in terms of infectious disease notifications and the requirement to carry out patient interviews.
The reporting period also saw the approval of the Environmental Health Food Service Plan 2024-25 and the Health and Safety Service Plan 2024-26 which together detail the arrangements for carrying out the Council’s statutory duties under food safety and health and safety legislation.
Evonne Bauer, Executive Officer – Community Service, East Dunbartonshire Council, said, “Much of the work of the Council’s food safety team happens under the radar of public awareness, but its work is vital to public health and safety.
“In addition to carrying out day-to-day duties, the reporting period has seen significant strategic work including the approval of future plans which detail the arrangements for ensuring that our statutory duties under food safety and health and safety legislation are met in the coming years.
The positive feedback from Food Standards Scotland following an audit of local authority controls in local food businesses was most welcome and reflects the good work of our service.
In addition to issues of food safety, the team also looks after public health in terms of nuisances and communicable diseases, occupational health and safety, noise pollution, air quality and contaminated land. Interventions in these areas have been delivered through a mixed of planned interventions to local businesses, reactive responses to public health complaints and required assessments of environmental conditions across the district.
Members of the public can check food hygiene inspection reports for local food premises by visiting the Food Standards Scotland website