Protect farm visits from excessive regulation, councils say

14 June 2010

Whilst public safety is essential, visits made to farms by at least five million people a year must be able to continue, council leaders said today, ahead of the publication next week of a report into the unprecedented E.coli 0157 outbreak at an open farm in Surrey in 2009.

The Griffin report, an independent examination of the outbreak at Godstone Farm and Playbarn, is expected to make recommendations in an effort to reduce the likelihood of such an incident happening again. The Health Protection Agency linked 93 cases of E.coli infection with Godstone in summer 2009 with 27, mainly young children, having to be treated in hospital.

LACORS, part of the Local Government Association Group which supports councils’ regulatory services, is keen to learn from the outbreak so people can be reassured they are not being put at unnecessary risk, but is warning against excessive regulation. Farms are a well-used and popular attraction, and an estimated 150,000 visits will be made to farms across the UK this weekend alone as part of Open Farm Sunday.

In the course of an average year there are around 1000 confirmed cases of E.coli, and only 5 - 10% of outbreaks are blamed on contact between people and animals. It is not clear what proportion occurs on open farms, making it hard to judge the appropriateness of any measures proposed to tackle it in these settings.

Farms which allow visitors to meet some of their animals have been seen as relatively low risk and are usually subjected to visits from the local council every few years. Open farms have official guidance to follow from the Health and Safety Executive to reduce the risk of visitors falling ill.

Chairman of LACORS, Cllr Paul Bettison, said:

"No-one who takes their children on a day out expects them to end up with a serious illness, and all the families affected by the E.coli outbreak in 2009 deserve our sympathy. It must have been a very traumatic incident for them and sadly some are still dealing with the effects of it.

"The important thing now is to establish the right middle-ground between safety and enjoyment for millions of children. Risks need to be kept to a minimum, but if regulations become too excessive the danger is that many farms will be unwilling to welcome visitors.

"Whilst it is a very serious illness for children to contract, the risk of catching E.coli from a visit to an open farm is extremely low, particularly if children are encouraged to wash their hands thoroughly after touching animals. We are not aware of any outbreak which has been linked to an open farm this year but it is important that businesses and visitors to these attractions continue to be vigilant.

"Children, particularly those who live in our cities, have a great deal to gain from visiting a farm. They learn important lessons about where their food comes from and see animals they might otherwise know nothing about.

"The burden of safety inspection mustn’t become so high that children can’t make regular visits to farms, and see animals like pigs and goats up close."

There are three key pieces of advice for families visiting farms:

• Follow rules about where you are allowed to go and which animals are safe to be touched
• Make sure everyone cleans their hands thoroughly after touching an animal and always before consuming food or drink
• Always consume food and drink in picnic areas away from livestock

LACORS (Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services) is the local government central body responsible for overseeing local authority regulatory and related services. Regulatory services is the name given to a group of services which exist to ensure public, consumer, environmental and worker protection. These range from protecting consumers against illegal doorstop selling to checking hygiene standards in restaurants and food factories. Many of the regulatory services that LACORS support are delivered though councils’ environmental health and trading standards services.

Government advice on avoiding ill health when visiting farms is available at http://www.hpa.org.uk/web/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1270122184581

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