FOOD SAFETY AND HYGIENE IN CATERING- Part 3
Keeping Bacteria at Bay
We’ve looked at the main microorganisms that can cause food-borne illness, but how can a situation arise that allows the bacteria to multiply so much that they can cause illness at all?
Like most living organisms, bacteria require certain conditions in which to thrive.
◦ The correct temperature
◦ The correct level of moisture
◦ Oxygen
◦ Time
Provide these conditions and bacteria will multiply at will.
In a food preparation/handling environment, the main causes of food contamination are:
- Not cooking foods properly
- Improper defrosting of foods
- Preparing foods too far in advance
- Incorrect storage of foods (improper refrigeration/humidity)
- Poor personal hygiene
- Cross-contamination between raw and cooked/ready-to-eat foods
All of these examples can result in the creation of an environment perfectly suited for the growth and reproduction of harmful bacteria. By providing a suitable environment we run the risk of bacterial or viral contamination, which could result in illness, injury or even fatality.
It is for this reason that we use certain techniques in order to discourage or eliminate the presence of bacteria. These include:
◦ Heating
◦ Cooling
◦ Pasteurisation
◦ Cleaning
◦ Sealing
As a worker in a food-handling environment, it is your duty to take certain precautions in order to minimise the instance of food-borne illness. It is also a legal obligation.
Food law is there to provide guidance and safeguard the public health against food-borne illness. We will take a look at just what is meant by FOOD LAW and what it involves.
Food Law
As a food worker your number one priority is always to handle food in a safe and hygienic way.
In order to ensure that everyone acts with the same due care and attention when working with food, legal controls have been put in place which dictate how certain foods are reared, transported, processed, stored and served. It is what we commonly refer to as Food Law.
The Food Chain
In order to arrive on a customer’s plate food must first pass through a number different hands. It must be grown or reared, transported, processed, stored, often changing location more than once before it is finally eaten. That’s a lot of pairs of hands!
This is why Food Law exists.
It sets a standard to which every person who handles food must adhere - from the farmer, to the delivery driver, to the cook… and everyone in between. It is the best way of ensuring that food remains uncontaminated before it reaches the plate.
Take a look at the flow charts below. One shows the typical journey of a joint of beef; the other shows the typical journey of a potato.
Beef:
Potato:
During any one of these stages in the food chain a single product could be handled by multiple people.
With all that movement and all those pairs of hands, the risk of contamination is high.
But because of food laws, the standards that they set and the people who enforce them, we can rest safe in the knowledge that - as long as those laws are properly followed - our food will remain safe and in prime condition.
Food Laws apply to anyone who handles food at work.
Whether you’re a chef, a food handler on a production line, or a food business owner/operator, you must be aware of the law.
Responsibilities
Everyone involved in catering has a responsibility to act in a manner that safeguards the end consumer. In other words, you must make sure that the consumer receives safe food.
Food Handlers MUST:
- Maintain high standards of personal hygiene
- Undertake training and, if necessary, refresher training
- Report to their employer before starting work if suffering from the symptoms of food-borne illness
- Remain away from the workplace until clear of illness symptoms for the appropriate length of time
- Follow all company rules and procedures regarding food safety and hygiene
- Report any food safety problems to a supervisor
Food Business Owners/Operators MUST:
- Adopt food hygiene practices appropriate to their business
- Register with all relevant local authorities
- Develop and maintain a documented system of food safety management - (see HACCP)
- Comply with requests/requirements of Environmental Health Practitioners (EHP)
The rules governing food handling practices in the UK are split into two groups: Legislationand Regulations.
These are set both here in the UK (by the Government Food Standards Agency) and by European Regulation. There are lots and lots of rules and regulations designed to cover all aspects of food production and handling, but the ones that are perhaps most important of all are summarised below:
Legislation
The Food Safety Act 1990 (Amended) is a piece of Legislation by which food standards are set.
The main offences are:
• rendering food injurious to health
• selling, to the purchaser’s prejudice, food which is not of the nature or substance or quality demanded
• falsely or misleadingly describing or presenting food
What this basically means is that all food that is served to a customer MUST be safe, as described, and of an acceptable quality.
• For more information on the Food Standards Agency legislation visit:https://www.food.gov.uk/enforcement/regulation
Regulation
EC (European) and UK Regulations deal with the practicalities of food handling and production. That is, they set codes of practice that MUST be followed by all food handling workers. The best way to think of it is that Legislation is the over-arching set of rules that protect the consumer. Whereas regulation is the hands-on work; the practical, everyday standards that have to be adhered to by all
Enforcement
Food law is enforced in the UK by Environmental Health Practitioners (or EHPs).
EHPs are representatives of local authorities, and their job is to ensure that all food operations up and down the country adhere to the same rules and regulations.
EHPs
Environmental Health Practitioners will, at some point, visit your workplace. They make routine visit to ensure that food safety and hygiene practices are being followed. They have the legal right to enter the workplace without an appointment, and the power to stop a business from operating with immediate effect if they think that it poses a danger to public health.
But EHPs aren’t all about closing businesses. Quite the opposite, in fact! They are there to help you run a safe, hygienic operation and can offer help and advice on how best to do so. The last thing they want to do is stop a business from trading. So work with them and listen to what they have to say; they know what they’re talking about!
An EHP is there to protect the public. If they think that any area of a food handling/production business is failing to meet required levels of food safety and hygiene, they have the power to take a number of steps.
Hygiene Improvement Notices
This is a written notice by an EHP that lists any areas in which improvements must be made. They are normally issued along with a stated time period within which to make the improvements (such as 7 days).
At the end of the given time period the EHP will normally return to re-inspect the site; if everything is satisfactory, no further action will be taken. But if the improvements have not been satisfactorily met further action may be taken.
Seizing Evidence
An EHP may take away evidence from a site that s/he thinks necessary to form the basis of a prosecution. This will only happen in extreme cases where the level of food safety and hygiene poses a real threat to public health, or where a HIN has been issued but not satisfactorily met.
Closing down
Again, an EHP will only close a site if s/he thinks that to allow it to continue in its current state would pose a threat to public health. An EHP will sometimes close a site temporarily to allow improvements to be made before allowing it to continue trading.
Prosecution
In instances where food safety and hygiene practices are simply dangerous, an EHP may use evidence to form the basis of a prosecution. This may be the case if a member of the public has been harmed through consuming contaminated food, a site has an uncontrolled pest infestation that has been ignored, food safety documentation has been falsified, or for any other reason that is deemed
Staying Safe & Hygienic
In order to maintain a good, safe and hygienic workplace all areas of food production and handling must be closely monitored. We can split these areas up into 4 main categories:
- Temperature Control
- HACCP
- Environmental Control
- Personal Hygiene & Development
Temperature Control
Regulations require foods which can support the growth of food poisoning bacteria (such as meats, dairy products, fish, etc.) to be kept within a safe temperature range. Below are some of the important temperatures you will need to remember:
- 63°C - Hot food must be kept at, and displayed prior to service at, a minimum temperature of 63°C. This is known as the minimum hot holding temperature.
- 8°C - The temperature of chilled food must not exceed 8°C at any stage during delivery, storage, preparation and ‘cold display’.
- 5°C - Cooked foods must be chilled to a temperature of 5°C or below, as quickly as possible.
These are sometimes referred to as critical temperatures as they are the maximum and minimum temperatures required for safe food handling practices.
HACCP
It is a requirement for food businesses to implement and maintain a documented food safety management system. This system must be based on the principles of HACCP.
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, and is a recognised system by which to monitor and control risk in a food production environment. It works by identifying any hazards within the workplace environment and by highlighting all critical stages of the production process where the risk to food safety are at their highest. By identifying and highlighting these critical areas, measures can be put into place to ensure that best practice procedures are followed.
We will look into HACCP in more detail later.
Environmental Control
As the name suggests, Environmental Control involves controlling the state of the environment in which you work - i.e. the food preparation and storage area.
Whereas HACCP is concerned with identifying critical points in the production process that need to be monitored, Environmental Control ensures that the whole of that production process takes place in a clean and hygienic environment.
So, a code of practice must be followed by all employees at all times. Only by following these practices can a clean and hygienic workplace be maintained.
The code of practice will typically deal with the following:
- Equipment: Must be in good repair, clean and fit for purpose.
- Working practices:Food must be kept free from risk of contamination at all times.
- Storage:Goods must be stored in a place appropriate to their type, labelled correctly, and not displayed or sold beyond their use-by dates.*
- Premises: As with equipment, the work premises must be clean, in good repair and fit for purpose.
- Design: Food areas must be designed in such a way so as to prevent cross-contamination and allow best practices to be carried-out. For example, a cold storage area should not be positioned next to an oven, as the heat generated by the oven would compromise the storage temperature of the cold goods.
- Facilities:There must be sufficient sanitary facilities to allow for the safe washing and preparation of both food and workers, without the risk of cross-contamination. So, for example, there must be separate hand-washing facilities to those facilities provided for washing/rinsing food.
- Disposal:Any spoiled food must be clearly labelled and suitably wrapped/contained. It must be separated from the general waste and disposed of appropriately - away from food storage/preparation/production areas.
* A note on Use-by dates:
Food will normally carry one of two labelled recommendations for the date by which it should be consumed - a Best Before date, or a Use-by date. Best Before dates apply to lower risk foods and are intended as a guide, after which common sense and knowledge must be used - does it look/smell/taste fit for purpose?
Use-by dates apply to higher risk foods (such as raw or ready-to-eat meats, fish and poultry).
A food should not be used past its use-by date.
Personal Hygiene and Development
Anyone who wants to work with food must consider the following:
- Personal Cleanliness: Keeping themselves and their clothing clean.
- Hand Washing: Washing hands whilst at work to prevent contamination.
- First Aid:Cuts must be covered with clean, brightly coloured (typically blue) dressings.
- Health:Any ill health must not be passed on through food.
- Habitual Practices: Not smoking, chewing gum, or other unhygienic practices in the workplace.
- Appearance: Removing jewellery and wearing suitable protective clothing in order to avoid food contamination.
- Training:Undertaking workplace training and following instruction. Receiving food hygiene a safety training.
Fines, Prosecution, and Liability
You may be reading all of this and thinking how much work it involves… and it does. Following food laws and keeping a suitable record of your activities is a lot of work. But it is also the difference between a good establishment and a bad one.
If you follow the rules and regulations laid out by the authorities you will be left to get on with your job without worry.
But fail to follow the law and you could find yourself in a whole lot of trouble. If you fail to follow the law you will be prosecuted - not your colleague, supervisor or manager (though they may be prosecuted too). Whoever is responsible for failing to meet food safety and hygiene requirements - regardless of whether they are the employer or an employee - is the person who will be prosecuted.
So remember…
- YOU are responsible for your actions and YOU will be prosecuted if you breach the law.
- Prosecution for serious offences can lead to UNLIMITED fines, and a prison sentence of up to TWO YEARS.
- Less serious offences could lead to a penalty of up to £5000 per offence.
When you look at it that way, a little bit of paperwork and some common sense really could save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
Due Diligence
This is a phrase you may hear a lot in the workplace. And for good reason. Should the worst happen, there is an outbreak of food poisoning and you find yourself subject to prosecution, due diligence is the greatest defence you will have.
Due diligence is a way of describing the actions that you take every day to ensure that a safe and hygienic environment is maintained. Due diligence is every temperature reading you take, every piece of food you label, every work area you sanitise, and every delivery you check. It is everything that you do on a daily basis to satisfy food safety laws and regulations.
This is why good record-keeping is essential. Well-kept records will prove that your Food Safety Management System has been implemented, followed, and maintained. This will in turn prove that you have taken every possible precaution to ensure that best food safety practices have been followed. Temperature records, employee training records, delivery, storage and cleaning records will all act in your defence. As will cleaning rotas, maintenance checks, and service schedules. All of this will collectively demonstrate how food safety is identified, achieved and maintained in your workplace.
So you must ensure that your records are properly maintained.
Records
Records need to be Accurate, Clear and Truthful.
They must be an indication of what actually happened at any given time - not what you would like to have happened! Falsifying records is a very serious - and dangerous - offence.
Records show how Critical Control Points have been identified and checked. Should a problem occur, the records must show how that problem was dealt with and the outcome.
Remember: look after your paperwork, and it’ll look after you!
Summary
As we have seen, food law is an extremely important part of everyday work in the food industry. It may seem daunting - facts and figures to remember, paperwork to complete - but on the whole it’s a case of common sense. Before you do anything, think… is this good practice? Am I following procedure? Have I done everything I can to ensure that this food is safe and hygienic?
The rules aren’t there to complicate things. By remembering just a few key facts and figures you can work safely and productively, incorporating food law into your everyday routine. Food law is in place to protect consumers.
It is an offence to prepare and sell:
- Unsafe food
- Spoilt food
- Food of inferior quality
You MUST always:
- Protect food from contamination
- Ensure that food safety hazards are controlled
- Keep the premises clean and tidy
- Keep yourself clean and tidy
- Keep your equipment clean and tidy
- Follow procedures and keep documented records
