Changing Times in Boston
The Impact of Economic Migration
BostonTraditional and historic market town
Economy based on agriculture and
the food industry – Seasonal work &
low wages
Millennium
• increase in economic migrants;
• Portuguese (>5,000)
• Gangmasters – exploitation
• Social unrest
2005 onwards• Portuguese numbers decrease
• Influx of Eastern Europeans, initially Polish – followed by Lithuanian, Latvian and Russian
• Population continues to increase – estimates that up to 20,000 Eastern Europeans in the area!
Impacts on the Borough• Language & cultural differences• Increase in HMOs• Illegal encampments• Social tensions• Strain on public services
Public Health• Return of bed bugs, cockroaches, cases
of T.B.
Food SafetyInspections of 19 Eastern European Retail
Stores and Warehouses – Findings;• 7 Shops handling and slicing cooked meats• 3 of the above shops without proper wash hand
basins• 7 shops found to have high risk foods with expired
‘use by’ dates• 7 shops were not complying with temperature
requirements
Food Safety • 9 shops had products of dubious origin • 6 shops had unmarked eggs• 5 had cleaning issues• All had a lack of knowledge/training of food safety• No food safety management systems• Concern regarding transport of high risk products
Trading Standards/HMRC Raids• 88 litres of counterfeit spirits (isopropyl)
Formal Action
• Seizure/surrender of > £6,000
of meat products
• Closure of 1shop
• Prosecution of the owner of 2 shops
Informal Action• Hygiene Rules produced
Food Alert 2010Listeria Monocytogenes Found
in Polish Black Pudding Sausage
2011 Improvements not sustained!
What Next?
‘System Thinking’
Eastern European Community Support Worker engagement
Social marketing
Review Hygiene Rules
Firm but fair approach
The Future?
• Greater Integration
• Business development and diversification
• Better understanding and compliance with public health legislation
• Action by central government to assist areas like Boston affected by economic migration
Top Related