Coroner calls for stricter workplace hygiene checks
Spot checks on meat processing plants and abattoirs must be
stepped up, a coroner looking into the food poisoning death of a
five-year-old from Bridgend in Wales has said.
Gwent coroner, David Bowen, ruled last week that Mason Jones had
contracted E coli poisoning after eating school dinners sourced
from contaminated local butcher, John Tudor and Sons, but said the
whole food hygiene system had failed him.
He said, "The mechanism for the inspection of food hygiene
regulations should be reviewed as a matter of urgency.
"Unannounced inspections of abattoirs and premises on which meat
is processed should take place more regularly," Mr Bowen added.
"Compliance with food hygiene regulations should be more strictly
enforced."
He said he would be making recommendations about amendments to
both the Ministry of Justice and the devolved authorities at the
Welsh Assembly.
Mason died in 2005 after eating contaminated turkey and gammon
at school. Several children at his school in Bridgend also fell ill
and the meat responsible was sourced back to the local butcher.
Since the outbreak, the company's owner, William Tudor, 56, was
convicted on six counts of placing unsafe food on the market and
one count of failing to protect food from the risk of
contamination. He has served a one-year prison sentence.