FSA Annual Report of Incidents 2015 published

Yesterday, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) published its latest Annual Report of Food Incidents.

It shows that in 2015, the FSA and Food Standards Scotland were notified of, investigated and managed 1,514 food, feed and environmental contamination incidents in the UK.

The overall number of incidents was similar to those seen in recent years.

The four largest contributors to the total number of recorded incidents in 2015 were:

• Pathogenic micro-organisms (infections) (18%) - 67% of the pathogenic micro-organism incidents were related to either Salmonella species or Escherichia coli.
• Allergens (14%)
• Chemical contamination (other) (12%) - In 2015, fires were the cause of almost all ‘chemical contamination (other)’ incidents.
• Residues of veterinary medicinal products (8%)

Incidents fall broadly into two categories:

• Incidents involving accidental and deliberate contamination of food or animal feed in the processing, distribution, retail and catering chains. These incidents may result in action to withdraw the food from sale and, in certain circumstances, to recall, alerting the public not to consume potentially contaminated food.
• Environmental pollution incidents, (for example: fires, sewage/chemical/oil spills, radiation leaks) that may involve voluntary or statutory action (such as orders made under the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985).

Local authorities reported over 27% of all incidents in 2015. Together with central government and EU Member States, they accounted for 55% of all notifications.

If of interest, the report can be found here: 'Annual Report of Incidents 2015'