Contribution by Sarah Barnes

Comment by: Sarah Barnes

Focus area: Food manufacturing (small businesses)

Regulator concerned: Environmental Heath (Local Authority)

Comment:
We are a cheesemaking company based in West Cornwall producing 170 tonnes of handmade cheese; namely Cornish Yarg, a nettle wrapped cows milk cheese.

We have always been very well supported and advised by our local EHO’s, [TEXT DELETED], both in person when they visit to carry out their Routine Food Inspection and also when we require legal and food safety guidance.

In addition we have had a very positive and valuable working relationship with [TEXT DELETED] previous role as Commercial Food Safety Manager, in which she is responsible for all Approved Premises throughout Cornwall.

[TEXT DELETED] had a significant and invaluable position in an onerous FDA visit which we were the subject of in 2010. [TEXT DELETED] organised a visit to the dairy, in her training role with more junior EHO’s, to develop their broader food business knowledge by sharing our HACCP, good practice and dairy knowledge. She was always extremely proactive in providing updates on industry, FSA and EU requirements and was constantly available for practical suggestions and recommendations.