There are a number of product safety challenges and risks facing the food and drink industry in the US, including balancing innovative products with regulatory compliance. Here, we explore what these risks are, how companies can prepare, how the recall landscape is evolving and our predictions for the future.… Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs invites you to join us for a webinar on 5 May 2022 where we will discuss the environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that affect food manufacturers, from changes in legislation, priorities for remaining compliant, navigating supply chain transparency and how, together, these feed into the wider corporate governance obligations both current … Continue Reading
I was pleased to have an article published in a recent ABA Natural Resource and Environment publication. The article covered “Food Labeling Issues and Trends in Europe: Lessons for US and European Practitioners from Recent Allergen Recalls”, and is now available for download here. Since writing the article, there have been a number of further … Continue Reading
We are pleased to share with you the latest edition of “frESH Law Horizons: Key Developments in UK & EU Environment, Safety and Health Law, Procedure and Policy”. This month we review 40 new developments that may be of interest to those in the environmental, safety and health sector, including: BUPA was fined £3 million after … Continue Reading
Trade press reports have highlighted a spate of recent recalls relating to food and drink products in the UK resulting from labelling errors. Examples include foods recalled because of salt crystals not mentioned on the packaging (which represent a potential choking hazard), chocolate drinking straws with labels not in English (with allergen information therefore not … Continue Reading
Penalties imposed by the courts in relation to the adulteration of food can be serious. The Guardian and other papers in the UK reported recently that an Indian restaurant owner has been imprisoned for manslaughter following the death of a customer who suffered an allergic reaction (a severe anaphylactic shock) in January 2014 after eating … Continue Reading
Official Statistics 2014/2015 The Food Standards Agency (“FSA”) has today published official statistics for the year 2014/2015 on food law enforcement across the UK, compiled from information given to them by local authorities. The returns from local authorities cover food hygiene (microbiological quality and contamination of food by micro-organisms or foreign matter) and food standards … Continue Reading
What is Nanotechnology? Nanotechnology is a generic term used to describe the design, engineering, production and use of substances and materials at the nanoscale (1 nanometre representing 1 billionth of a metre). To illustrate, one sheet of standard paper is approximately 100,000 nanometres thick and one nanometre is roughly how long a human fingernail will … Continue Reading
Although sentencing guidelines currently exist in relation to corporate manslaughter and health and safety offences resulting in a death, there are no current guidelines to the UK courts in relation to sentencing non-fatal health and safety offences or food safety offences. The guidelines, produced by the Sentencing Council (SC), are intended to fill that gap … Continue Reading
We have blogged previously on the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation (the “EU FIC”), which will apply in the UK from 13 December 2014. The EU FIC will mean a number of significant changes for the labelling of pre-packed food. However, it will also affect the provision of information on non-pre-packed/ loose foods, including … Continue Reading
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has recently published the results of its biannual public attitudes tracker. The results show that the top food safety concern for respondents is food hygiene when eating out. Perhaps more noteworthy though is the increased awareness of the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS), often called “scores on the doors”. The … Continue Reading
