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The Food Standards Agency has recently published the annual statistics for 2005-2006 food safety inspections carried out by local council environmental health teams.
Out of almost 500,000 food premises in England, approximately 300,000 were inspected at least once during the year. Of those 300,000 premises, approximately 128,000 were committing food safety law infringements. Some premises would have had minor contraventions, but many would have had serious defects and malpractices which would have led to enforcement notices being served.
Times could be changing for those businesses which do not make the grade in respect of food safety. The days when the local authority served you with a letter or enforcement notice discreetly so that no-one i.e. your customers knew about it are fading fast.
We have the Freedom of Information Act – under which people are entitled to know what actions local authorities have taken on a whole range of issues and more importantly, we have SCORES ON THE DOORS!
Scores on the Doors is the scheme whereby local authorities publish the results of their inspections by requiring the establishment to display an inspection rating certificate on the premises (the score on the door) or the Council publish the scores on their website. I’ve just looked through my local Council’s Scores on the Doors website and checked out a couple of well known High Street pub operators. I don’t think I’ll be having my Indian take-away from the usual place in future, nor will I eat in a number of well known High Street pubs as they are judged to have poor hygiene standards.
So, what should you be doing to ensure you meet the requirements of food safety law sufficiently well to display a score on the door of 4 or 5 (0-2 is poor, 3 is good, 4 is very good and 5 is excellent).
Food Safety
What are the main hazards?
· Poor temperature controls
· Inadequately re-heated foods
· Foods left out at ambient temperatures
· Inadequate cooking – failing to reach 75°C
· Keeping food past its use by date
· Poor personal hygiene practices
· Cross contamination from raw foods to cooked foods
· Poor standards of cleanliness
· Pest infestations
· Re-heating foods more than once
What can be done to eliminate the hazards?
Food poisoning is not inevitable and by following some simple FOOD SAFETY RULES you can be confident that your food operation will be both a gastronomic delight and safe for customers.
In effect, you can think of the ‘SIX P’S’
· Preventing contamination
· Preventing dirty premises
· Proper temperature controls
· Personal hygiene
· Pest prevention
· Proper practices and procedures in cooking
Preventing Contamination
· Keep raw and cooked foods separate
· Store raw foods below cooked foods in the fridge
· Disinfect or sanitise work surfaces
· Use different coloured chopping boards for different food preparation
· Keep foods covered
· Look out for foreign objects that could fall into foods
Preventing Dirty Premises
· Clean as you go
· Move equipment and clean underneath it and behind it
· Wipe down walls
· Use a disinfectant, degreaser or detergent, or sanitiser
· Clean down at the end of the day
· Devise cleaning schedules and stick to them
Proper Temperature Controls
· Keep foods cold – below 8°C, or even below 5°C
· Make sure fridges work at temperatures between 1 - 4°C
· Cook foods thoroughly – above 75°C
· Keep foods hot – above 63°C
Personal Hygiene
· Proper hand washing is the key to good food hygiene – use hot water, soap, nailbrush and paper towels
· Don’t cough, sneeze or spit over food
· Wear protective over clothing
· Don’t wear jewellery
Pest Prevention
· Keep flies out of the kitchen
· Use a fly screen or insectocutor
· Put pest proofing strips on doors
· Watch out for mice droppings, cockroaches
· Keep food rooms clean
· Move stock regularly to clean
· Keep drains clean and disinfected
Proper Practices and Procedures in Cooking
· Implement HACCP i.e. identify hazards and control them
· Cook food thoroughly and serve immediately
· Do not keep food at ambient temperatures for more that 4 HOURS
· Sanitise work surfaces regularly
· Cook foods when needed where possible – don’t cook too far in advance
· Do not re-heat foods more than once
· Defrost foods thoroughly
· Cool foods rapidly, within 90 minutes and put in the fridge
· Keep temperature records
· Do not use food past its ‘use by’ date
· Throw away food when out of date or label ‘not to be used’
· Keep records of what you do for “due diligence”
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