Scottish food sampling report for 2008 published

In 2008, the Food Standards Agency’s database, the UK Food Surveillance System (UKFSS) recorded microbiological and chemical data for more than 13,000 samples in Scotland, covering a wide range of food categories and analyses.

As was the case in 2007, the report of the 2008 data by The Scottish Food Enforcement Liaison Committee’s Research Working Group indicates that the majority of samples tested were found to comply with food safety and standards legislation.

Recommendations are made for areas to address in future local authorities sampling programmes, and a number of issues are highlighted in relation to food standards that merit particular attention by the enforcement community in Scotland.

In addition, the report highlighted a 10 per cent decrease in food sampling in Scotland between 2007 and 2008 and emphasised the importance of surveillance measures currently in place in protecting public health and consumer interests in relation to food.