CIEH issues advice to food businesses and festival-goers after suspected food poisoning incident

The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has reminded food businesses and festival goers to be mindful of good hygiene practices this summer in the aftermath of a suspected food poisoning incident at Truck Festival last weekend.

Organisers of Truck Festival in Oxfordshire removed a food vendor after attendees reported gastrointestinal symptoms and local Environmental Health Officers (EHOs) are investigating.

The incident serves as a reminder for food businesses and consumers to be vigilant when attending such outdoor events this summer, especially when hot temperatures can impact fridge operations, and infections can be spread quickly with large numbers of customers in a short space of time.

Hannah Ward, a member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health who specialises in festival and mobile catering inspections, said:

"While it would be inappropriate to speculate on the cause of this incident while investigations are ongoing, cases such as this highlight the critical importance of maintaining the highest standards of food hygiene and temperature control at festivals and other large-scale events.

“It also highlights the importance of site facilities such as customer handwashing provisions which is often lacking at festivals, with customer having to rely on alcohol hand sanitiser for multiple days which is not suitable for heavily soiled hands.

"Food businesses operating at temporary events have the same legal responsibilities as any other food business, to place safe food on the market, however they must do so in variable and challenging conditions. Responsibilities include ensuring food is sourced from reputable suppliers, stored at the correct temperatures, and handled by appropriately trained staff.

“Other legally required utilities are out of their control every week. Therefore, event organisers have a responsibility to provide timely site facilities to vendors such as water supply, waste, power, and suitable camping facilities. The delay of these facilities has a knock-on effect to the food business’ safe operation and service delivery.

"Festival environments can present additional challenges, including hot weather, temporary kitchen facilities, high customer volumes and limited storage and operational space. Food operators must ensure they have suitable systems in place to manage these risks and that food safety procedures are rigorously followed throughout the event."

Advice for food businesses

CIEH is reminding food businesses trading at festivals and outdoor events to:

• Maintain effective food safety management procedures.
• Keep high-risk foods chilled below 8 degrees (legal requirement)
• Prevent cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat foods.
• Ensure staff have appropriate food hygiene training and understand safe food handling practices.
• Provide adequate handwashing facilities and ensure strict personal hygiene standards.
• Keep detailed records of food suppliers, temperature monitoring and cleaning procedures.
• Have procedures in place to respond quickly to any reports of illness and cooperate fully with regulatory authorities.

Advice for consumers:

Consumers can also take steps to reduce their risk when purchasing food at events:

• Wash regularly with soap and water and sanitise hands before eating.
• If you become unwell after eating at an event, seek medical advice if symptoms are severe or persistent and report concerns to the event organiser or local authority environmental health team.

Advise for event organisers (*note there is no suggestion that Truck Festival doesn’t adhere to any of these important procedures and processes):

• Contract a fully competent food safety specialist or EHO to work at your event and involve them in the advance stage to ensure water provision is adequate.
• Ensure concessions and traders are prioritised suitably for site services.
• Ensure you have an outbreak management plan, including surveillance and questionnaires being carried out by trained professionals.

Hannah added: "The vast majority of food businesses operating at festivals work extremely hard to provide safe, high-quality food, and it is not common for event-goers to experience problems. However, maintaining robust food safety standards is essential to protect public health, consumer confidence and maintain positive PR for the event industry."

More useful advice and guidance can be found on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/food-standards-agency 

A spokesperson for Truck Festival:

"On Sunday morning, our on-site medical team received reports from a number of attendees with similar symptoms. Our Health and Safety team launched an immediate investigation and identified a third-party food vendor as the suspected source. That vendor was removed from operation within 90 minutes of the first report.

We reported our findings to the local Environmental Health Officer the same day and are supporting their ongoing investigation into the cause. We share the disappointment and frustration of those whose weekend was affected.“

A spokesperson for Vale of White Horse District Council, said:

"We have been made aware of a potential food poisoning outbreak at Truck Festival. Truck Festival reported the issue to us and said that a number of festival goers reported the food poisoning symptoms to the medical tent. From this, after some investigations, they were able to quickly identify a potential source and Truck Festival closed the stand.

"We are investigating the issue and are working with the food business, Truck Festival, UKHSA and the trader's own local registering authority."