CIEH welcomes Liberal Democrat commitment to enhancing food safety

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has welcomed the Liberal Democrat Party’s manifesto commitments to ‘provide local authorities with greater powers and resources to inspect and monitor food production’ and ‘ensure all imported food meets UK standards for health and welfare’.  

As CIEH has continually outlined, local authorities often lack the recognition, regulatory powers and resourcing to adequately fulfil their crucial roles, evident in the recent rise of foodborne illnesses. From inspecting local food businesses to ensuring quality control at our borders, environmental health professionals play an essential role in enforcing food legislation upholding high standards of hygiene and safety. The commitments from the Liberal Democrats are an essential step in addressing the workforce challenges that have led to the current growth of outbreaks that threaten the UK’s public health and enhancing the UK standards of food safety. CIEH also welcome the decision to launch a ‘National Food Strategy’ and call upon Liberal Democrats to work alongside CIEH to ensure all policies related to food work together to deliver health and environmental benefits.  

The Liberal Democrat manifesto made several further pledges that align with asks contained within CIEH’s manifesto. The commitment to pass a Clean Air Act, based on World Health Organization guidelines aligns with CIEH’s consistent campaign for an ambitious, holistic approach to air pollution. The manifesto made further reference to the role of local authorities, with a welcomed commitment to strengthen the powers and resources they need to tackle climate and nature emergencies. Furthermore, the decision to introduce a Sewage Tax on water company profits coordinates with CIEH’s calls for stronger action to improve the UK’s waterways. Finally, CIEH welcome the inclusion within the Liberal Democrat manifesto to invest in public health, and emphasis the need to greater recognise the role of environmental health professionals within preventative public health protection within these investment plans.  

Louise Hosking, Executive Director of Environmental Health at CIEH, said: 

“When the election campaign began, we were clear with our asks to all political parties to commit to enhancing the vital role environmental health professionals play in protecting the nation’s health. 

We are delighted that the Liberal Democrat Party have openly committed to enhancing local authorities’ resources to inspect and monitor food safety and air pollution.  

We continue to call on all political parties to commit to supporting environmental health and the policies in our manifesto.”