Expertise in Food Safety, Health & Safety and Infectious Diseases

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Introduction

Dr Belinda Stuart-Moonlight is one of the UK’s foremost food safety and infectious disease experts, providing expert witness services since 2001. She is tenaciously thorough, her growing reputation built on exacting attention to detail. Her numerous successful outcomes are grounded in scientific knowledge and ongoing experience of industry practice through her consultancy, training and auditing work.

Why choose Dr Belinda Stuart-Moonlight as your Expert Witness?

  • Has worked on landmark and significant cases, including the recent manslaughter trial of R v Kuddus and Rashid following the fatal allergic reaction of Megan Lee to peanut-contaminated curry
  • Cardiff University CUBS certificate in civil and criminal arenas
  • Every action instigated as EHO successful in Court
  • PhD in microbiological risk and its legal context
  • Daily experience of industry practice through consultancy, auditing and training work
  • In large outbreak cases, she is fundamentally a breach expert (reviewing systems), complimenting causation evidence of medics and microbiologists
  • Advisor to ABTA and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) for 10+ years

Click here to read Expert Witness Journal article giving more detail of Belinda’s expert witness work.

Click here to read Expert Witness Journal article ‘The Inexorable Rise of Food Hypersensitivity’

dr Belinda Stuart-Moonlight

Dr Belinda Stuart-Moonlight frequently wins plaudits in her capacity as an expert witness in both criminal and civil cases:

Food safety

Areas of work in the food safety arena include:

  • microbiological, chemical, allergenic and physical contamination risk
  • Sentencing Guidelines categorising harm (levels 1 to 3)
  • due diligence defence
  • HACCP
  • staff training
  • pest infestation risk
  • travel related gastroenteritis
  • food poisoning incidents and outbreaks
  • food safety management systems
  • health risk criteria and statutory notices

An example case that Belinda took on was R – v – Mohammed Khalique Zaman, where the defendant was found guilty of manslaughter and sent to prison for in excess of 6 years for causing death in a peanut allergy sufferer.

Infectious Disease Control

Areas of work in the infectious disease arena include:

  • Norovirus on cruise ships
  • Norovirus in other hospitality settings e.g. hotels
  • other infectious intestinal diseases of protozoal, viral and bacterial origin
  • food poisoning
  • contaminated water supplies including with Cryptosporidium
  • infections caught during employment such as Leptospirosis

An example case that Belinda took on was Mr Eric Swift and 15 Others – v – Fred Olsen Cruise Lines, where Norovirus occurred on subsequent cruises on one ship and time for effective decontamination was wanting. This case went to the Court of Appeal and the original judgement (against the cruise line) was upheld.

Workplace Health and Safety

Areas of work in health and safety include:

  • suitability of Health and Safety policy
  • general and specific risk assessment
  • employer’s and employees’ duties so far as is reasonably practicable
  • accidents and safe systems of work
  • safety in kitchens and food factories
  • health in kitchens and food factories

An example case that Belinda took on was Leicester City Council – v – B & Q plc where, following a fork lift truck crushing accident, the suitability of the workplace transport risk assessment and safe systems of work were found wanting.

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