Scotland

Classification and monitoring

Please note, this page is currently in beta and the shellfish monitoring results link below will take you to a differently styled page. You can then click through from there to return to the Cefas website homepage by clicking on our logo, or back to this page by following the text link or clicking back on your browser. 

The Food Standards Scotland (FSS) sets out the overall policy for the monitoring and classification of shellfish harvesting areas. They manage the programme according to a published protocol.

The process

Local sampling officers in Scotland take samples from shellfish harvesting sites and send them for E. coli analysis. Local authorities also enforce the controls for areas within their jurisdiction.

Cefas scientists - working with other partners in Scotland (particularly Shetland Seafood Quality Control) - test the shellfish samples for E. coli, under contract to the FSS.

This website provides the E. coli monitoring data generated under the Scottish shellfish harvesting classification programme. The last five years' worth of data is viewable in list and graphical form for each representative monitoring point (RMP).

The FSS uses this data when classifying shellfish harvesting areas in Scotland.

All data is published under the Open Government Licence.