Food Safety

Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety

Leitrim County Council Veterinary Department is involved in implementing a wide range of National and E.U. Food Safety legislation as listed in Schedule 1 of the FSAI Service Contract. The Service Contract and a list of relevant legislation may be viewed on www.fsai.ie.

Leitrim County Council has responsibility for the following functions:

• Supervision of small abattoirs which slaughter cattle, sheep and pigs, and for the welfare of the animals slaughtered.
• Examination all animals before and after slaughter to ensure that they are fit for human consumption and to ensure that the animals are properly handled and slaughtered with due regard for their welfare.
• Supervision of small meat plants which prepare, cook or wholesale meat, meat products or ready meals for supply to hotels, restaurants, butchers and retailers.
• Sampling for Veterinary Residues, Process Hygiene Criteria, Food Safety Criteria and compliance with certain other water & food safety criteria.
• The food businesses under supervision supply meat and meat products in Co Leitrim and throughout the island of Ireland. The Veterinary Officer carries out regular inspections of these businesses to ensure that proper standards of buildings, equipment and cleanliness, as set out in EU and Irish law, are being maintained. These standards are checked by testing samples of product from these premises to ensure their quality.
• The service is provided under the terms of a Service Contract with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.