Food safety conference
Neil Griffiths
The topic of horsemeat was – unsurprisingly – not as extensively discussed as at last year’s food safety conference.
But, Neil Griffiths, director of the Society of Food Hygiene and Technology and ceo of food testing and consultancy firm SVA, discussed the holes the scandal had revealed in the industry in light of the Elliot review, released this summer.
Griffiths: “The Elliott report is, to a degree, a side issue. What will be the bigger issue is what comes out in law that requires you to do something down the line. Although the Elliott review will have an impact in the UK, it will be diluted right the way down when it gets to Brussels.
“What happens in Brussels will be the real impact that will impact on you as businesses, which will impact on retailers on what they decide to do.
“Requirements to audit better, clearly, have come out of this. [There is a] necessity to amend and improve testing, because, if I’m honest, some of the testing that was supplied in areas like horsegate are open to some high levels of criticism.
“It is absolutely essential for the industry – moving information around is one thing, searching it, being able to track it – but my god you’ve got to validate it.
“Rubbish in, will give you rubbish out, and so the information that we rely on in the industry has got to be validated.
“We have to be sure it’s right; otherwise we end up in situations. Challenging times but trust me they are exactly the same challenges [we have seen for years.]”