Delivering Lichfield Food Festival safely is a team effort

The event was held over the August Bank Holiday Weekend (26 August to 28 August) drawing thousands of ‘foodies’ to the city eager to try the vast range of culinary treats on offer.

Lichfield District Council has a role protecting public health and the environment and to this end almost 200 food and beverage stalls were visited by environmental health officers over the weekend resulting in 53 higher risk stalls receiving a formal food hygiene inspection.

Lichfield District Council’s Regulation and Enforcement Manager, James Johnson, said:

“Our officers worked alongside the event organiser and the stallholders to give visitors over the Bank Holiday weekend the best possible experience.

“Protecting public health and the environment is important and working in partnership helps maintain Lichfield’s reputation as one of the UK’s premier destinations for food lovers.”

Event organiser Jon Arrowsmith added:

“Having on-site support and valued experience from Lichfield District Council throughout the weekend took the 11th Lichfield Food Festival to a whole new level in relation to customer safety and hygiene standards.

“It was really reassuring to see the officers not only liaising with traders and visitors but also offering them advice on how they operate going forward.”

That’s Mature, which was at Lichfield Food Festival offering its range of grilled cheese toasties, welcomed the environmental health officers.

Tom Staley, of That’s Mature, said:

“I think the main benefit for us is making sure the consumer can trust who they are eating from. We all work so hard to maintain standards and ensure our risks are minimized so it's great to see local councils supporting and praising companies that are actively enrolling best practices."

“The staff that visited were super friendly, extremely approachable, and always willing to give advice and help.”