Monitoring food businesses to ensure compliance with legislation on food labelling and composition is the responsibility of county councils, unitary authorities, the London Boroughs and some but not all metropolitan borough councils. These local authorities are also responsible for taking enforcement action, including prosecutions, where non-compliance is found.

Data are reported to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on the number of food and drink analyses undertaken in relation to compositional issues and labelling and presentation issues:

23,599 analyses were undertaken in 2014/15, 16,899 for compositional issues and 6,700 for labelling and presentation issues.

29,324 analyses were undertaken in 2013/14, 19,386 for compositional issues and 9,938 for labelling and presentation issues.

26,940 analyses were undertaken in 2012/13, 16,982 for compositional issues and 9,958 for labelling and presentation issues.

Data are also reported to the FSA on the total number of prosecutions concluded for food standards issues. This includes action in relation to composition, labelling and presentation but also for other issues such as chemical contamination. In 2014/15, 2013/14 and 2012/13 respectively, 75, 57 and 78 United Kingdom food establishments were subject to prosecution.

The FSA has recently established a central register of successful food law prosecutions. Analysis of data collected for the first year of operation of the register is not yet complete, but in future it will provide more definitive data on prosecutions for offences of this nature.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has delivered educational campaigns to caterers and consumers on reducing the risks of Salmonella infection through good food hygiene practices. The latest figures show that the number of confirmed cases of Salmonella in the United Kingdom has reduced: there were 8,924 confirmed in 2013 compared to 9,307 in 2012, continuing a gradual downward trend since 2001. The focus of the majority of controls of Salmonella in chicken is earlier in the food chain, during primary production. This means that the risk of Salmonella is significantly reduced before chicken produced in the UK reaches shops and restaurants. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads on the control of Salmonellas in broilers and laying flocks, working closely with the FSA.

The UK Food Standards Agency, which is the lead agency for Campylobacter has been in regular contact with relevant departments in each of the four nations through their national offices. Ministers have not spoken to their Northern Ireland counterparts about Campylobacter.

The United Kingdom Food Standards Agency (FSA) is working in partnership with industry to tackle Campylobacter, exploring a range of interventions targeted at different points in the food chain to reduce contamination levels before the meat reaches the consumer. Also, in publishing the quarterly results of its UK-wide microbiological survey of Campylobacter contamination in fresh whole chilled chickens at retail sale, the FSA is maintaining consumer awareness of the issue and encouraging retailer action.

The FSA has provided guidance for consumers on the safety measures that they can take to reduce their risk of spreading and contracting Campylobacter from raw poultry in the home and this featured in its Food Safety Week campaign earlier in the year.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for meat hygiene official controls in poultry abattoirs across the United Kingdom (UK). The FSA advises there are six poultry abattoirs in Northern Ireland.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Veterinary Service (DARD VS) delivers meat hygiene official controls in poultry abattoirs on behalf of the FSA in Northern Ireland. DARD VS veterinary officials carry out these controls in the areas of ante-mortem inspection, post mortem inspection, sampling and regular verification audits of the abattoirs.

Post mortem inspection is carried out by qualified poultry meat inspectors or plant inspection assistants working under the direct supervision of the official veterinarian (OV). The OV is responsible for verifying on a daily basis that the post mortem inspection is carried out in accordance with food law. Part of the post mortem inspection includes examination of the carcase and offal for visible contamination.

DARD VS official veterinarians also conduct regular audits of approved establishments to verify that food business operators are complying with food law requirements.

Five of the poultry abattoirs have an audit category of ‘broadly compliant’ and one abattoir has an audit category of ‘not broadly compliant’ as of July 2014. Where an abattoir is not broadly compliant DARD VS takes action to improve compliance.

The outcomes of audit for FSA approved poultry abattoirs for Northern Ireland are published at:

www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/meat/audit

It is the responsibility of food business operators to comply with food law and ensure the food they produce is safe to eat.

The FSA in the UK are committed to reducing Campylobacter contamination in poultry at retail sale. A UK survey commenced in February 2014 and includes samples from NI. The results are published at:

www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2014/9279/campylobacter-survey

The first set of results was published in August 2014.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is responsible for meat hygiene official controls in poultry abattoirs across the United Kingdom (UK). The FSA advises there are six poultry abattoirs in Northern Ireland.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Veterinary Service (DARD VS) delivers meat hygiene official controls in poultry abattoirs on behalf of the FSA in Northern Ireland. DARD VS veterinary officials carry out these controls in the areas of ante-mortem inspection, post mortem inspection, sampling and regular verification audits of the abattoirs.

Post mortem inspection is carried out by qualified poultry meat inspectors or plant inspection assistants working under the direct supervision of the official veterinarian (OV). The OV is responsible for verifying on a daily basis that the post mortem inspection is carried out in accordance with food law. Part of the post mortem inspection includes examination of the carcase and offal for visible contamination.

DARD VS official veterinarians also conduct regular audits of approved establishments to verify that food business operators are complying with food law requirements.

Five of the poultry abattoirs have an audit category of ‘broadly compliant’ and one abattoir has an audit category of ‘not broadly compliant’ as of July 2014. Where an abattoir is not broadly compliant DARD VS takes action to improve compliance.

The outcomes of audit for FSA approved poultry abattoirs for Northern Ireland are published at:

www.food.gov.uk/business-industry/meat/audit

It is the responsibility of food business operators to comply with food law and ensure the food they produce is safe to eat.

The FSA in the UK are committed to reducing Campylobacter contamination in poultry at retail sale. A UK survey commenced in February 2014 and includes samples from NI. The results are published at:

www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/news/2014/9279/campylobacter-survey

The first set of results was published in August 2014.

The following quantity of conditions have been identified in poultry at official post mortem inspection and prevented from entering the food chain by officials working for and on behalf of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) since April 2012:

Some conditions are not recorded by the FSA. The list of conditions for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry were created following expert working group workshops for each species over the last five years. Members of the workshops included stakeholders from the Department for Environment, food and Rural Affairs , Animal Health, EBLEX, BPEX, private veterinarians, industry vets, FSA, Association of Meat Inspectors.

The Food Standards Agency published the report of a United Kingdom survey of Campylobacter and Salmonella contamination of fresh chicken at retail (B18025) in October 2009.

This survey found that 87% of Campylobacter and 41% of Salmonella isolates tested were, resistant to at least one antibiotic drug.