The information in the archive was published by MAFF, Department of
Health and the Scottish Executive before April 1st 2000 when the Food
Standards Agency was established.
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to ACMSF information published after April 1st 2000
JOINT FOOD SAFETY AND STANDARDS GROUP
ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON THE MICROBIOLOGICAL SAFETY ON FOOD
Background
Terms of Reference
Membership and Secretariat
Contact details
Press releases
Minutes and agendas
Meeting Papers
Annual and Other Reports
Working Groups
Background
The Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF)
was set up by UK Health and Agriculture Ministers in 1990 in response
to a recommendation in the report of the Richmond Committee on the
Microbiological Safety of Food. It is an independent expert committee
providing advice to Ministers on the microbiological safety of food
with a membership drawn from the microbiological, medical and veterinary
professions, public and environmental health, the food industry,
food science, food retailing and consumer affairs. DH and MAFF officials
from the Joint Food Safety and Standards Group provide the Committee's
Secretariat.
Terms of Reference
The Committee's terms of reference are:-
"To assess the risk to humans of micro-organisms which are
used, or occur, in or on food, and to advise Ministers on the exercise
of powers in the Food Safety Act 1990 relating to the microbiological
safety of food."
Ministers have decided more specifically that the Committee will:
- advise on public health aspects related to microbiological food
safety;
- review available information on the incidence of human foodborne
illness due to micro-organisms, and to provide an expert assessment,
including advice on particular consumer concerns;
- provide expert advice on the threat to human health arising
from particular pathogens, including newly identified micro-organisms,
and on the degree to which the presence of such micro-organisms
merits regulatory or other intervention;
- advise on public health-related research matters, including
work on virulence, epidemiological needs, and lessons to be learned
from outbreaks of foodborne disease; and
- advise on the results of food surveillance and the possible
human health implications of the results.
To help its work, the ACMSF it is kept informed of progress of
the Government's food surveillance programme by the programme's
co-ordinating body the Microbiological Food Surveillance Group (MFSG).
The objective of the Group is to co-ordinate surveillance activities
and identify through surveillance the need for action to ensure
the microbiological safety of food. To this end, the Group's terms
of reference are to: "Review surveillance activity in the
public and private sectors on the microbiological safety of food
during processing, retailing and catering and in the home; consider
the adequacy of the available data and identify any gaps; make recommendations
for surveillance activities as part of an annual forward strategy;
receive regular reports on surveillance activities in order to monitor
their progress; consider advice and observations from the ACMSF
on the Group's forward strategy and the general direction of the
surveillance programme."
The Committee is also updated with information on the epidemiology
of foodborne infections by the Epidemiology of Foodborne Infections
Group (EFIG) which has the following terms of reference:"To
collate and assess available information on animal and human infection
and to identify through the evaluation of that information the need
for action to ensure the microbiological safety of food and to advise
accordingly by collecting and reviewing surveillance information
in the public and private sectors on foodborne disease in humans;
reviewing surveillance information in public and private sectors
on presence in food animals and in/on their products of micro-organisms
considered to pose a risk to human health throughout the food chain;
considering the adequacy of this information and identifying any
gaps; making recommendations for surveillance activities as part
of an annual forward strategy and monitoring progress on these activities
by receiving regular reports; receiving and interpreting results
of surveillance projects, identifying trends; considering advice
from the ACMSF on the Group's forward strategy and inform the ACMSF
of any findings as necessary; and any other appropriate means."
Membership
Chairman
Professor Douglas GEORGALA
Independent Scientific Consultant, Retired Director, Institute of
Food Research
Members
Mr David CLARKE
Operations Manager, Assured British Meat
Dr Tom CLAYTON
Head of Food Technology, Marks & Spencer plc
Mrs Patricia JEFFORD
Environmental Health Services Manager for Gravesham Borough Council
Professor Mackenzie JOHNSTON
Professor of Veterinary Public Health, Royal Veterinary College,
University of London
Mr Derrick KILSBY
Head of Food Microbiology Research, Unilever plc, Colworth Laboratory
Ms Eva LEWIS
Computer trainer and consultant, consumer representative
Dr Michael PAINTER
Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, Infection Control and
Surveillance Unit, Manchester Health Authority
Professor Stephen PALMER
Chairman of Division, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health,
University of Wales College of Medicine
Dr Terry ROBERTS
Food Safety Consultant, Retired Head of Microbiology, Institute
of Food Research, Reading Laboratory
Dr Norman SIMMONS
Emeritus Consultant in Microbiology to the Guy's and St Thomas'
Hospital Trust; Honorary Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, St Bartholomew's
and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Professor Cairns SMITH
Head, Department of Public Health, University of Aberdeen and Honorary
Consultant in Public Health Medicine, Grampian Health Board, Aberdeen
Dr John STEVENS
Group Technical Director, Unigate European Food
Mrs Beti Wyn THOMAS
Consumer consultant
Dr Tim WYATT
Consultant Clinical Scientist at Mater Hospital Trust, Belfast.
Secretariat
Dr Judith HILTON
(Medical Secretary)
Joint Food Safety and Standards Group, Department of Health
Mr Colin MYLCHREEST
(Administrative Secretary)
Joint Food Safety and Standards Group, Ministry of Agriculture,
Fisheries and Food
Minutes and Agendas
For a copy of the Committee's latest minutes and agenda click
here.
Meeting Papers
The Committee makes available the papers it considers at meetings
(other than those of a confidential or commercially sensitive nature)
some of which can be obtained from this website.
Others are available on request from the Secretariat.
Press Releases
The Committee issues a summary record of each meeting by way of
press release. Copies are available on the Central
Office of Information Website. Annual and
Other Reports
The Committee has published the following reports of its work:
- Report of Progress 1990-1992
HMSO ISBN 0-11-321664-5
- Annual Report 1993
HMSO ISBN 0-11-321816-8
- Annual Report 1994
HMSO ISBN0-11-321921-0
- Annual Report 1995
Department of Health. ISBN 1 85839 5763
- Annual Report 1996
Department of Health ISBN 1 85839 5763
- Annual Report 1997
Department of Health
- Annual Report 1998
Department of Health
- Annual Report 1999
Department of Health
Reports printed by HMSO can be obtained from the Stationery Office
(tSO).
Those printed by the Department of Health can be obtained from:
Department of Health,
PO Box 777,
London SE1 6XH
Fax 01623 724 524
email doh@prologistics.co.uk
In addition to its Annual Reports, the Committee has published
a number of subject-specific reports which are listed below. These
reports are tSO publications and are available from tSO bookshops.
The recommendations and Government responses to the reports are
available below or from the Secretariat.
- Report on Vacuum Packaging and Associated Processes (1993)
ISBN 0-11-321558-4, £6.50
- Report on Salmonella in Eggs (1993)
ISBN 0-11-321568-1, £5.85
- Interim Report on Campylobacter (1993)
ISBN 0-11-321662-9, £10.65
- Report on Verocytotoxin Producing Escherichia coli (1995)
ISBN 0-11-321909-1, £14.00
- Workshop on Foodborne Viral Infections (1995)
0-11-321961-X, £16.00
- Report on Poultry Meat (1996)
ISBN 011-321969-5, £15.00
- Report on Foodborne Viral Infections (1998)
ISBN 011-322254-8, £17.50
- Report on Microbial Antibiotic Resistance in Relation to Food
Safety (1999)
ISBN 0-11-322283-1, £27.50
- Synopsis on Microbial Antibiotic Resistance (1999)
ISBN 0-11-322295-1, £7.50
ACMSF Advice
The Committee's Annual Reports elaborate on the advice given in
a number of its subject-specific reports and include evidence given
to Parliamentary Select Committees, covering a number of areas,
including:
ACMSF Working Groups
The Committee considers a wide range of issues and in areas of
particular concern it may establish a Working Group to conduct an
indepth investigation into a specific subject. In order to take
forward its work, a Working Group includes a membership drawn from
the ACMSF with experience in relevant areas and also co-opts to
its membership expertise from outside of the Committee.
Working Group on Microbial Antibiotic Resistance in Relation
to Food Safety
The Working Group held its first meeting on 30 August 1996 with
the following terms of reference:
"To assess the risks to humans from antibiotic resistant
microorganisms entering the food chain and to consider the need
for any action to protect public health."
Membership
Chairman
Professor Douglas GEORGALA
Independent Scientific Consultant, Retired Director, Institute of
Food Research
Vice Chairman
Dr Geoff SPRIEGEL
Director of Scientific Services, J Sainsbury plc
Members
Mr James DEWHIRST
Farmer.
Member of the East Yorks National Farmers' Union Pigs Committee.
Past member of Farm Animal Welfare Council. Vice Chairman of the
British Pig Association. UK Chairman of the European Pig Producers'
Association.
Professor Anthony HART
Department of Medical Microbiology and Genitro-Urinary Medicine,
Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Professor Mackenzie JOHNSTON
Professor of Veterinary Public Health, Royal Veterinary College,
University of London
Dr Laura PIDDOCK
Senior Lecturer, Department of Infection, University of Birmingham
Ms Barbra SAUNDERS
Consumer Consultant
Dr Norman SIMMONS
Emeritus Consultant in Microbiology to the Guy's and St Thomas'
Hospital Trust, Honarary Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, St Bartholomew's
and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry
Dr David TAYLOR
Reader in Veterinary Microbiology, Department of Veterinary Pathology,
University of Glasgow Veterinary School
Dr Patrick WALL
Chief Executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. Formerly
Consultant Epidemiologist, Public Health Laboratory Service Communicable
Disease Surveillance Centre
The ACMSF's Report on Microbial Antibiotic Resistance was published
on the 18th August. A Synopsis was also published at the same time.
The Report and Synopsis are available from the Stationery Office
(Tel:0870 600 5522), priced £27.50 quoting ISBN 0-11-322283-1,
and £7.50 quoting ISBN 0-11-322295-5, respectively.
Working Group on Salmonella in Eggs
The ACMSF set up a Working Group on Salmonella in Eggs in
September 1998 with the following terms of reference:
"To establish the factors which determine the presence of
Salmonella contamination in or on eggs and to recommend measures
to reduce such contamination and consumers' exposure to it."
Membership
Chairman
Dr Michael PAINTER
Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, Infection Control and
Surveillance Unit, Manchester Health Authority
Dr Tom CLAYTON
Head of Food Technology, Marks and Spencer plc
Mr David HUMPHREY
Chairman, S J D Humphey Holdings Ltd.
Professor Tom HUMPHREY
Head, Food Microbiology Research Unit, Public Health Laboratory,
Exeter
Professor Mackenzie JOHNSTON
Professor of Veterinary Public Health, Royal Veterinary College,
University of London
Mrs Mary MILLARD
Environmental Health Team Leader (Food Safety), Environment Directorate,
Milton Keynes Council
Professor Stephen PALMER
Chairman of Division, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health,
University of Wales College of Medicine
Dr Terry ROBERTS
Retired Head of Microbiology, Institute of Food Research
Mrs Beti Wyn THOMAS
Consumer Consultant
The Working Group is continuing the work started when it first met
on 28 September 1998. It has conducted orientation visits and collected
substantial written evidence. The Group has heard a number of presentations
and has taken oral evidence from a number of organisations. The
working group hopes to submit its draft report for consideration
by the full ACMSF later this year. The group can be contacted either
at their e-mail address (WGACMSF@doh.gov.uk)
or in writing to the Secretariat.
Contact Details
The Committee can be contacted either at their e-mail address
or in writing to the Secretariat at: Room 502A Skipton House,
80 London Road, Elephant and Castle, London SE1 6LW Tel: 0171 972
5049/5050 Fax 0171 972 5558.
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