Abstract :
Food safety compliance amongst ethnic minority food retail businesses has been identified as being less than satisfactory. In order to identify barriers to compliance, a research project was undertaken which identified 40 food retail businesses which had a record of nonconformance to acceptable food safety standards. These businesses were risk assessed by environmental health officers (EHOs) and given an appropriate category commensurate with their performance. Over a six month period the businesses were offered advice and cultural and communication issues were addressed. Seminars and one to one support were offered to the businesses. After a six month period a further risk assessment was undertaken. The results showed 26 (65%) of businesses had improved their risk assessment, 6 (15%) had remained the same, 4 (10%) exhibited some deterioration in standards and 4 (10%) had deteriorated a full category. In conclusion, the research recognizes that language difficulties and lack of knowledge and understanding of the principles of food safety are a major barrier to promoting food safety however when support is offered it can make a significant difference to working practices.
