Retail food safety guides

Food Safety is not just a matter for MAFF to enforce Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) in food. Retailers and distributors have duties under the Food Safety Act 1990 to ensure the safety of food supplied to the public. A recent report from Campden Food Research Association(1) explains the law relating to MRLs. If challenged in law on the safety of food, retailers and distributors can rely on the 'due diligence' defence-meaning they took all reasonable precautions. 
    The guide includes a decision tree which moves from end-product testing to establishing a preventive approach whereby potential hazards are identified and controlled. The procedure set out seems to be oriented more to identifying the risks from imported produce than UK-produced food.
    The guide gives the impression of a partial theoretical exercise without reference to any implementation. By contrast in 1990 the Produce Packaging and Marketing Association Ltd (PPMA) produced a practical guide to good practice for its members(2). The Code was developed in order to assist members to demonstrate the 'due diligence' defence required under the Act, and to provide an industry‑wide standard.
    The importance of this will increase in the coming years. It is only a matter of time before consumers will demand the publication of residue analysis results from retailers and distributors.

1. Considerations of Due Diligence with Respect to Pesticide Residues in Food and Drink. C.N.G. Scotter for Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association, February 1995, 46pp.
2. The Code of Practice-Pesticide control for produce narketing organisations, Produce, Packaging and Marketing Association, London, 1990.

[This article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 28, June 1995, page 27]