I WAS disappointed to read your article on Which?
magazine's study of businesses complying with food safety rules which criticised West Dunbartonshire Council's food safety enforcement performance ("Low rank on food safety for Scottish council", The Herald, January 14). The figures were in fact out of date.
As of January 2014, 91% of the 749 food premises in West Dunbartonshire are now meeting these higher standards. This has been achieved by stringent inspections and follow-up action by environmental health staff, and demonstrates our officers' diligence in raising standards through effective control measures that protect public health by bringing under-performing food businesses up to standard.
The figures used in your article relate to 2012/13 when the council began adopting the significantly higher compliance standards with food hygiene legislation that had been introduced in the Food Standards Agency's guidance on avoiding cross-contamination with E coli O157.
The enforcement of this new guidance led to an increase in the number of high and medium risk-rated premises with a consequent reduction in the number of broadly compliant food businesses. The drop in the number of broadly-compliant premises was therefore anticipated by the council, and had also been predicted by the Food Standards Agency in Scotland.
The improvements in compliance in the intervening period is a testament to the council's commitment to food safety enforcement.
Peter Hessett,
Head of Legal, Democratic and Regulatory Services,
West Dunbartonshire Council, Garshake Road,
Dumbarton.
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