ABSTRACT
An official controller’s opinion of why something is non-compliant or ‘not right’ must be based on factual and objective evidence. To be able to produce this evidence an official controller should keep accurate records of his/her observations, organoleptic examination of food, structure and equipment, any samples taken and results obtained. These records may be kept in the form of a contemporaneous notebook or on specially designed forms and official reports. Samples may be taken from meat and from the premises, together with photographs and video clips, the latter also being useful with live animals. This can be helpful in all cases, but particularly when more serious breaches are alleged.
