Hull in print

Hull is leading the way in food sampling. The food section of the City Council's Environmental Health Department covertly buys ready-to-eat food from retail premises all over the city and sends them to the Public Health Laboratory for microbiological examination.

Unsatisfactory results that represent a risk to consumers prompts an immediate visit by an environmental health officer to the premises. These visits are normally well received by proprietors who welcome the advice and assistance offered. Follow-up samples generally confirm that newly introduced practices have resolved the difficulty.

On the rare occasions where proprietors are not receptive to assistance, suitable procedures are taken to ensure public safety. Although all local authorities must carry out this service, Hull's sampling programme has been highly regarded for some time. Only 3.8 percent of samples in Hull were found to be unsatisfactory last year compared with a national average of 30 percent.

Environmental health officers say this is mostly due to commitment of local food businesses to work with food inspection staff to continually improve and learn, resulting in higher standards. In the past four years, the average number of samples submitted for microbiological examination at the Public Health Laboratory at Hull Royal Infirmary has been 1,430. It is proposed to increase this number to 1,800 from next year.

Sampling is usually of foods that may be consumed immediately without further preparation from the customer, and includes cooked meats, confectionery, cooked shellfish, sandwiches, ice cream and cheese.


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