Council's new Food and Feed Plan to protect consumers and support local businesses

Article date: 5 September 2025

Adopted by Cabinet earlier this week (Wednesday 3 September), the plan aims to prevent food poisoning, food and water-borne illness, and allergenic reactions by ensuring that all food and drink produced, stored, distributed, handled, and consumed in St Helens Borough meets strict health and safety requirements.

Delivered by the council's Environmental Health and Trading Standards teams, the plan covers food safety, food standards, and animal feed services.

Cllr Trisha Long, Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities, said: "This plan reaffirms our commitment to protecting residents' health while supporting local businesses to thrive. Safe, high-quality food benefits everyone — it builds public trust, protects our communities, ensures fair competition, and strengthens our local economy."

The Food and Feed Law Enforcement Annual Plan 2025-2026 is a vital part of St Helens Borough Council's work to maintain consumer confidence, protect public health, and uphold the borough's reputation for safe and well-run food businesses.

The plan also sets out how the council will continue to support businesses in meeting food safety standards, providing guidance and advice to help them comply with legislation and flourish in a fair trading environment.

Cllr Tracy Dickinson, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services, said: "Much of the work of our environmental health officers goes unseen, but it is absolutely vital in keeping residents safe. A recent case involving a potential allergen contamination showed just how important their expertise is — preventing a costly product recall, avoiding food waste, and most importantly protecting consumers. This plan supports that vital work, giving our officers the framework to continue safeguarding public health while working constructively with local businesses."

For more information, visit: https://www.sthelens.gov.uk/environment

Protecting consumers, supporting businesses, preventing waste

St Helens Borough Council's Regulatory Services recently supported a major food manufacturer facing a potential allergen contamination incident. The company had identified that garlic powder used to flavour products including canned soups contained traces of peanut — an undeclared allergen.

In response, the business placed 700,000 cases of product (4.2 million packs), worth more than £3 million, on hold while seeking advice from the council's Environmental Health team on whether a withdrawal or consumer recall was necessary.

Environmental health officers carried out detailed sampling and analysis, which confirmed that peanut levels were well below the threshold likely to cause an allergic reaction - a hypersensitive person would have to consume between 12 and 30 cans of soup in one sitting.

The findings were shared with the Food Standards Agency, which approved the products to be returned to sale. This outcome protected consumers, avoided unnecessary food waste, and safeguarded the business from significant financial loss.