Durham County Council

It was clear that the Authority actively supported and promoted the Home Authority Principle (HAP) and had formal agreements with 7 food businesses.

The Authority was considering the HAP when carrying out food standards and feeding stuffs enforcement. Referrals had been made to other local authorities that acted as home or originating authorities in respect of unsatisfactory food/feeding stuff samples and complaints. Where referrals had been made to the Authority from other enforcement bodies appropriate action had been taken.

The Authority was clearly working with food businesses to help them comply with food legislation. However, there was a need to ensure that all businesses received sufficient information to enable them to be able to comply with legislative requirements and that records of advice given were maintained to inform subsequent enforcement action.

The Authority was undertaking various activities to promote food legislation. In particular it had developed a valuable educational tool for promoting healthy eating and information on the nutrition of food which had received both regional and national recognition.