Tough new food safety laws have finally been passed following the recommendations made in the Pennington Group Report, which investigated the circumstances leading to the 1996 Lanarkshire E.coli 0157 food poisoning outbreak - an episode which led to the deaths of 21 people.From November 1st, most butchers' shops in England will require a license in order to carry on trading legally.The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) (Butchers' Shops) Amendment Regulations 2000 were passed on April 3rd this year and require shops handling unwrapped raw meat and placing it on the market for supply or sale with ready to eat foods to obtain an annual license from their local Environmental Health Department.