Food Safety Consultative Council [FSCC]
Meeting Minutes
Friday 22 March 2024 @ 10am
Attendance
Members Present:
- Adrian Cummins, RAI [AC]
- Alice McGlynn, Consultant [AMG]
- Annette Sweeney, TUD [AS]
- Conor Mulvihill, DII [CM]
- Dale Crammond, MII, [DC]
- Dave Lang, Craft Butchers of Ireland [DL]
- Deirdre Ryan, Bord Bia [DR]
- Dermott Jewell, CAI [DJ]
- Janis Morrissey, Irish Heart Foundation [JM]
- Mark Christal, Enterprise Ireland [MC]
- Patrick Farrell, Keelings [PF]
- Paula Barry Walsh, DAFM (retired) [PBW]
- Siobhán Murphy, HSE [SM]
Apologies:
- Catherine Morrison, BIM [CM]
- Jamie Knox, Dr Pepper [JK]
- Jonathan Griffith, IHTA [JG]
- Louise Reynolds, INDI [LR]
- Paul McKeown, HPSC [PMK]
- Sorcha Kavanagh, Repak [SK]
- Adrian Cummins, RAI [AC]
Absent:
- Regina Sexton, UCC [RS]
- Eamonn Quinn, Kelsius [EQ]
FSAI staff present:
- Gail Carroll [GC]
- Gerard Power [GP]
- Jane Ryder [JR]
- Rob Phillips [RP]
- Ruth Conefrey [RC]
1. Welcome and Declarations of Interest
Paula Barry Walsh [PBW] kindly acted as temporary Chair of the FSCC after the outgoing Chair Ray Bowe [RB] stepped down from the role and pending appointment of the new Chair. PBW and GC acknowledged the invaluable contribution, dedication, and passion RB demonstrated as Council member and Chair over his tenure.
PBW welcomed Council members to the first meeting of 2024 and acknowledged apologies from Council members unable to attend on the day.
PBW also reminded members that some Declarations of Interest remain outstanding and will need to be submitted to secretariat in advance of the next scheduled meeting. GC confirmed that the Governance Framework for the Council would need to be revised with new procedures around submission of Declarations of Interest.
Agenda was agreed with no feedback noted.
Actions:
- Outstanding Declarations of Interest to be signed and returned to GP
2. Update on appointment of new FSCC Chair
GC began by confirming that in line with the Councils Governance Framework the FSAI Board will select a new Council Chair from the existing Council members who have been Council members for more than 3 years and who have expressed an interest in the Chair role. three candidates . The FSAI is expected to select the Chair at the Board meeting on Tuesday 26th March and GC will advise Council of their selection once confirmed.
GC also spoke of the need to update the Governance Framework to establish criteria and more detailed nomination process for Council Chair. The term of the Chair may need to be updated to mirror that of selected member’s term.
Actions:
- GC to advise Council of new Chair once decision made by FSAI Board.
- Governance Framework to be revised during 2024.
3. Minutes and actions from previous meeting: 14 September 2023
Minutes from previous meeting agreed with no feedback noted. GP confirmed all outstanding actions were completed.
Actions:
- Minutes from September 2023 meeting to be uploaded to the FSAI website.
4. FSCC 2024 Workplan
GC summarised the selected topics utilised for Council meetings throughout 2023 using the FSCC Workplan voted for by Council members in early 2023. From this list of potential topics selected for this voting process several strong topics remain available for inclusion in the proposed 2024 Workplan. GC opened the floor for suggestions from Council members on potential topics for inclusion in 2024 and informed that as per Governance Framework guidelines suggestions were sought from the FSAI Execute.
Two strong recommendations gathered from this exercise were the suggestion of topics around CBD products and a potential food hygiene rating system (FHRS) being utilised in Ireland.
RP was then able to talk in detail about the extensive work already conducted within FSAI relating to any future food hygiene rating scheme. Discussions centred on the potential opportunities for greater transparency and improved industry standards that might result from such a scheme, providing a tangible asset to industry. A sub-committee of the FSAIs Scientific Committee is considering this topic and a wider stakeholder view on this from the Council would be very informative for any future approach.
There followed a discussion among Council members regarding potential topics for consideration for the 2024 Workplan, with suggestions around new technology in food industry engaging much conversation as a potential topic.
Council members were reminded of the previous voting process in relation to drafting the FSCC Workplan and the possible requirement of nominations for sub-groups to cover selected topics at future meetings.
Any new vote would be notified to Council members in advance of the next scheduled meeting, and it was decided that in the interim the topic of a potential food hygiene rating system in Ireland would be agreed as the next topic covered at a FSCC meeting.
Actions:
- GC to draft list of potential topics for consideration for vote by Council members
- GP to circulate any agreed list of topics for agreed voting process
5. Review of FSCC Open Meeting 2023
FSAI Communications Manager JR gave a presentation to the Council highlighting all feedback received relating to the 2023 FSCC Open Meeting held at the Gibson Hotel in Dublin on Thursday 16 November 2023.
The selected topic for the event was ‘When food safety met sustainability’, with over 150 attendees marking a return to the first in-person FSCC Open Meeting since 2019. Guest speakers from across industry discussed this topic in detail with panel and there was diverse representation of consumers, academia, manufacturers, service sector and retailers. Attendees actively participated in proceedings which contributed to lively and informative discussions. Feedback obtained from attendees and Council members was noted due to its highly positive nature.
GC spoke of potential topics for the 2024 Open Meeting tentatively scheduled for November 2024. FSAI will discuss possible topics for this year’s event and inform the Council once confirmed.
Actions:
- Open Meeting topic and date to be confirmed with Council by GP once agreed
6. FSCC topic discussion: FSAI Training & Compliance
PBW introduced the guest speaker for the agreed topic discussion. RC works as the Training and Compliance Manager at FSAI and PBW gave the Council a short professional biography before the presentation begun.
RC talked through the presentation agenda outlining the FSAI’s role in and priorities for food safety training. The following items were discussed in detail with interaction from Council members:
- FSAI food safety training requirements relating to Regulation (EC) No 852/2004
- Training courses for food inspectors
- Training courses for food businesses
- Statistics on FSAI training provided across industry over recent years
- Training support activities available to FSAI including: Trainers’ Network, Educators’ Forum, Local Enterprise Offices and Bord Bia.
- A live demonstration of the new FSAI Learning Portal
RC followed this presentation by leading a detailed discussion and overview of the new portal demonstrating all modules, resources, facts, videos, historic webinars and links to further training materials that will be available to stakeholders upon the launch of the portal on 25 April 2024. The Training and Compliance Team within FSAI hope to host their next ‘Breakfast Bite’ series webinar on this subject on 15 April 2024. Information will be circulated in due course to all stakeholders and industry forums by press release close to the launch date.
GC reminded the Council that their input was valuable to help grow engagement throughout industry on this topic. Council members discussed the presentation in detail, asking RC a range of questions relating to the portal including: ease of public access to the portal, can resources be downloaded, potential future translations of modules, would learning logs be included, possibility of built in evaluations and the likely content and duration of training videos contained within the portal. RC concluded discussions by informing Council that a link to the portal and initial log in instructions would be distributed in due course.
Actions:
- Link and instructions to Learning Portal to be emailed to Council members by GP
- FSAI to circulate details of upcoming FSAI Breakfast Bite relating to the new portal to Council once details are available
7. FSAI update to FSCC
GC summarised the FSAI Update provided to Council members in advance of the meeting. The Council were updated on the following topics in detail:
- December 2023 audit of official controls in the dairy production chain conducted by the FSAI
- Enforcement orders served on food businesses throughout 2023
- Stakeholder consultation relating to the planned FSAI 2025-2029 strategy
- Recent FSAI research showing high trust in food safety by consumers
- FSAI publications since the last meeting
- An update from the FSAI Scientific Committee
- Brexit update and recent issues of note
There followed a brief discussion by the Council on the topic of industry issues ongoing since Brexit, with the recent shortage of Veterinary roles at UK ports noted.
GC thanked members for their input to the FSAI 2025-2029 strategy through those who have responded to the online survey.
Actions:
- Update on strategy to be provided at next Council meeting.
8. FSCC Chair update to FSAI Board for 2023
GC provided an overview of the annual FSCC report presented to the FSAI Board on 12 December 2023 in the absence if outgoing Chair RB.
Gail updated Council members of the following updates provided by RB in December:
- All new appointments throughout 2023
- A brief breakdown of each FSCC meeting held in 2023
- The agreed 2023 FSCC Workplan
- The appointment of a New Chair and Deputy Chair to the Council in 2024
- Council members participation in the FSAI media campaign for World Food Safety Day held on 7 June 2023
- FSCC participation at the 2023 FSCC Open Meeting
Actions: n/a
9. AOB
PBW confirmed that the next Council meeting would be held in-person at FSAI offices on Thursday 20th June 2024.
Actions: n/a