27th March 2009
Prof Pennington’s long-awaited report makes unsettling reading for the Food Standards Agency and the Meat Hygiene Service.
The main blame has been pinned squarely on William Tudor, the butcher at the centre of the outbreak.
But Prof Pennington also says there were ‘prolonged’ and repeated failures’ by MHS area management and official veterinary surgeons to enforce hygiene standards at the abattoir in Treorchy that supplied John Tudor and Son.
For more than 10 years the abattoir was allowed to continue to operate while disregarding hygiene legislation and regulations. Prof Pennington said that as long ago as 1996, a year after the MHS took over meat inspection duties from local authorities, workers at the abattoir must have realised that attempts at enforcement were ‘utterly ineffective’.
He continues: ‘The longstanding, repetitive, failures were made much worse by the fact that there was an abundant knowledge amongst the [MHS] staff that it was a failing abattoir.’
Prof Pennington is also critical of the FSA’s decision to delay full enforcement of Haccp regulations that came into force for ‘small meat establishments’ in 2003.
The report says it took two years for the MHS to implement fully the regime despite it being a key plank of government hygiene policy.
A statement by Peter Hewson, FSA acting veterinary director to the inquiry, that Haccp ‘did not add much’ to legislation in terms of regulation was labelled ‘surprising and unfortunate’.
Prof Pennington says: ‘The necessity of Haccp regulations was a matter for parliament, whose decision should have been respected and implemented, and not for the MHS whose sole function was to organise and put in place an effective enforcement regime.’
FSA Wales was also criticised for its 2004 audit of Bridgend County BC’s food hygiene enforcement service, 18 months before the outbreak.
The report finds that the auditing team, which included three qualified EHOs, was too concerned with ensuring that ‘the right boxes had been ticked’.
An FSA Wales assistant director, who led the audit, is criticised for not asking key questions during interviews with council EHOs, instead leaving blank spaces on questionnaires.
Following the release of the report, the FSA commented in a statement: ‘The outbreak of E. coli in Wales in 2005 was a grave, but unusual, event and the report of the independent public inquiry is valuable in understanding the chain of events that led to the outbreak.
‘Everyone involved in the production and distribution of food has a role to play in ensuring food safety – from food producers to people in their homes.
‘When rare outbreaks such as this occur we must learn from them and further strengthen our systems.’