Revised food safety regime being considered - Defa

There are about 1,800 food businesses across the Isle of Man

A revised food safety regime is being considered by the Manx government, the minister for environment, food and agriculture has said.

Plans for the introduction of a food hygiene rating system brought forward by Clare Barber's predecessor, Geoffrey Boot, were rejected in Tynwald in 2022.

Ms Barber told the House of Keys that the food sector had raised "significant concerns about their viability [and impact on businesses] in the current economic environment".

It was important that a food hygiene regime was "appropriate and reasonable for the Isle of Man", she said.

'Significant challenges'

The department was looking into increasing awareness of food hygiene across the sector by developing "more comprehensive support, advice, guidance and training that can be delivered at a lower cost and collaboratively", she continued.

It already has a legal obligation to inspect premises depending on levels of perceived risk, which covers regular surveillance of "high risk" premises as well as for new businesses.

However, David Ashford, Douglas North MHK said that in 2022 the department said it had "developed a good hygiene scheme expected to come into force that year".

And the next year in the department's annual plan a key objective was to introduce a food hygiene scheme, to be completed by December 2024.

Ms Barber said that the department had tried to progress a previous scheme but faced "significant challenges" and so it would review its approach and provide an update to Tynwald in October.