Fridge men's court chiller
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• Reefer operators must recognise that they can face legal action if a consumer dies of food poisoning caused by poor temperature control of food during transportation, an industry expert has warned.
Independent consultant Cyril England told a Transfrigoroute conference: "Operators ought to realise this is a new and extremely serious problem."
England told the conference that experts now believe Listeria (a pathogen which can thrive even below 3°C) "will be the food epidemic of the 1990s "unless the chilled food chain is made secure. It will not be long," he warned, "before claims for food-borne Listeria are tested in the courts."
Transfrigoroute believes the best way to fight the Listeria threat is through stringent selfregulation. "We need to be able to claim 'due diligence' and while accreditation to BS5750 won't do it, high standards of facilities, systems and management controls, coupled with the keeping of adequate records, should enable us to do so," says Christopher Sturman, divisional manager of Wincanton Transflora.
Environmental health officer Edwin Kingcott revealed that the Government's review of the 1984 Food Act is likely to extend maximum temperature regulations to chilled distribution. This could reduce the Limit to 7°C for meat, 1°C for red offal and minced beef, 4°C for raw milk and poultry, and 4°C for fish.
Specialists from the Campden Food & Drink Research Association stressed the importance of training, as did Kingscott. "The present review of the Food Act includes a proposal to require food business managers to train their staff in food hygiene."
Asda, Eurottmnel and BOC Transhield are among latest recruits to Transfrigoroute.