Report calls for review of food plant inspections

A review into the E. coli outbreak in south Wales has made eight recommendations for the Food Standards Agency to review food legislation and guidance to local authorities in relation to how often they should inspect premises and whether there is any need for further legislation.
It also asks the FSA to look at whether the local authority correctly applied current legislation in relation to the closure of a meat processing plant owned by John Tudor and Son.
European consumers have become increasing concerned about food safety, mainly due to the bovine spongiform encephalopathy scare in cattle beginning in the late 1980s, a foot and mouth disease outbreak in 2001 and of avian flu in 2003 and this year.
John Tudor and Son has been allowed to resume trading following a new food safety inspection, and investigations are continuing into the source of the E.coli outbreak.