CATERERS could suffer if island authorities continue to duck European food safety laws. Consultant Paul Whitelaw, who runs Safe Food Solutions (Guernsey) Ltd, said lack of legislation allowed some to get away with poor food safety standards.

‘For too long it has been neglected,’ he said.

New legislation came into force across the EU in January but it is not applicable in Guernsey. Mr Whitelaw said trade would suffer in many ways unless the island matched the laws.

He said suppliers would stop trading with local companies for fear that their reputations would suffer if their products, poorly prepared in Guernsey, were implicated in a food poisoning case.

And insurance costs would be much higher for island caterers because it could not be guaranteed that EU levels of food safety were being maintained, he added.

‘Companies are not going to be trading, or they will be loathe to trade, in a high risk market that is not being controlled.’

The new EU legislation requires those in the industry to carry out documented food safety management procedures based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles. Mr Whitelaw said these differed from current food hygiene laws, and professional training would be needed to implement them.

Environmental Health offers guidance for companies that wish to meet that criteria, but it was not forced to do so under law.

John Cook, environmental health and pollution regulation officer designate, said it would like to bring local legislation into line with the EU.

In the meantime, the department was offering guidance and workshops for caterers who wish to attain that standard.

‘We are doing all we can to raise awareness in the food industry. However, we will be asking for our legislation to be amended in line with the EU directives.’

Mr Whitelaw said voluntary schemes were not enough. Poor training or poor resources meant such schemes could do more harm than good, he added.

Mr Cook said that he believed that food hygiene standards in Guernsey compared favourably with the UK average.

‘Obviously we have premises that are very good and some that are not as good,’ he said.

He said inspectors were trained in line with UK, and hence EU, standards and undertook their work to the same standards as they would do in the UK.

High-risk areas, such as the hospital kitchens, would be assessed frequently, but that there could be several years separating inspections of low-risk areas, such as shops that sold packaged sweets.