Pub Law

[gobenn]

I like keeping the same glass when I'm in a pub. My new landlady says it's against the law. Is this true and if so what was the act of parliament?

[emeritus]

I would say its more to do with Hygiene as there is the risk of contamination when the nozzle of the beer pump is inside a previously used glass when filling.

[Buenchico]

There is no specific legislation but the principles of the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 (together with those embodied in the Food Safety Act 1990, as amended) apply.

Beer is usually dispensed by allowing the nozzle of the pump to enter the beer within the glass (especially when 'topping up' the last bit of a pint). Your 'old' glass will contain bacteria from your mouth, which will be washed into that beer, so the nozzle is immersed in a liquid containing your bacteria. If some of those bacteria adhere to the nozzle, they can then be passed into the next pint pulled (and thus onto another customer).

If a local authority Food Safety Inspector sees a pub employee dispensing a pint into an 'old' glass (particularly if he/she sees the nozzle enter the beer within that glass) the pub will be marked down in its Food Safety rating, with the licensee being advised to improve staff training.

[VHG]

I always understood it was the law in Scotland to use a new glass.

[New Judge]

Of course keeping their customers free from other people's germs is a laudable aim. However, I'd have more confidence in the "new glass" procedure if the new glass was clean. The state of some glasses (particularly wine glasses) provided in pubs is nothing short of disgusting in some places. I frequently have to ask for a glass to be exchanged and often the staff have great difficulty finding one which is not covered in smears or even lipstick. I still usually have to clean the best glass available.