EssentialHealth & Safety KEEP IT CLEAN
High standards of food hygiene are critical for any food business, but particularly for coffee shops and sandwich bars, many of whom prepare food in direct view of their customers. David Bashford, director of client services at Food Alert gives EC some tips
Food Alert has just launched its
Espresso POM
(Peace of Mind) service, created specifically to meet the food safety
requirements of cafés, independent coffee shops, bakeries, delis and sandwich bars
High standards of cleanliness, as well as good hygiene practices, are vital. Of course, there are legal requirements in place that food businesses must comply with, but that is not the only reason to maintain a high standard. For example, customers are far more likely to return if they are confident in an establishment's overall standards of cleanliness and hygiene. Before we look at ways of ensuring good hygiene you
must ensure your food business is registered with your local authority. It is a legal requirement that takes seconds to comply with and all that is required is to complete a one page form provided by your local authority. If you have not received a visit from your Environmental Health Officer for over 18 months (or you have never received one) - check you are registered by calling them. Any new food business must complete and submit a registration form at least 28 days before they open. The first step in any effort to ensure good hygiene is to
make sure that you are as fully aware of the requirements of food hygiene law as possible. Incredibly, many operators are not aware of, or do not understand, their legal obligations. Quite often, this is because they feel it will be complicated or written in language they might not understand. True, some aspects of the legislation are written in language that appears to be used with the sole purpose of baffling everyone else, but the main requirements and duties are
relatively easy to identify. The two main pieces of legislation that every caterer should familiarise themselves with are the Food Hygiene (England)(Scotland)(Wales)(N.Ireland) Regulations 2006 and Regulations (EC) 852/2004. Both are easy to locate on the Internet and are available to download. Now let's take a look at the three main areas that
require attention in order to maintain good hygiene. As I go through them, ask yourself if any of them are new to you.
A. LEVEL OF LEGAL COMPLIANCE: FOOD HYGIENE AND SAFETY
Among the items that will come under scrutiny here are personal hygiene standards; control and monitoring of hand- washing; your arrangements for stock rotation (first in, first out); your ability to answer any customer enquiries regarding the presence of potential allergens in the foods you supply; the cleanliness of work surfaces and equipment including floors, walls and ceilings; and your pest control processes. It is a legal requirement to train and/or supervise food handlers and an EHO will wish to see what your policy is and records must always be kept.
B. LEVEL OF LEGAL COMPLIANCE: THE STRUCTURE OF THE PREMISES
The design and construction of your premises must meet legal requirements. In addition your food operation should
26 Essential Café
Information about any advertisements appearing in this issue:
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