Food Safety Legislation

The main piece of legislation applicable to food premises is the Food Safety Act 1990.

The act is concerned with all aspects of food production and sale. It includes the offences associated with producing or selling unfit or contaminated food and falsely describing food.

n addition the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 (similar regulations apply in Wales and in Scotland) implement a European Directive and detail all the specific requirements made of food businesses. This includes things like providing hand wash basins, keeping premises clean and protecting food from contamination. It also requires people handling food to be suitably trained and for food businesses to assess the risks they present to food safety (Hazard analysis).

The regulations also set the temperatures at which food must be kept. Food should either be kept chilled below 8°C or kept hot above 63°C.

The primary purpose of food safety legislation across the UK is to prevent;-

• Food being rendered injurious to health
• Food being sold or supplied which is not of the nature substance or quality demanded to the purchasers prejudice
• Food being falsely or misleadingly described.

To prevent falling foul of the law proprietors of food businesses should ensure they have;-

• Undertaken an assessment to identify all food safety risk associated with their business and implemented suitable controls to ensure food is stored and sold in a safe condition (HACCP – Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point).
• Trained employees- training to be commensurate with the employee’s activities. Level 2 Food Hygiene Qualification for food handlers. Level 3 Food Hygiene Qualification for Supervisors and Level 4 Food Hygiene Qualification for Managers.
• Premises which are designed and maintained in such a condition as to facilitate good food hygiene and cleaning practices.
• Cleaning equipment to ensure staff are able to maintain the premises in a clean condition
• Suitable refuse containers to ensure waste can be segregated from food products and prevent contamination.
• Hand washing facilities to facilitate good personal Hygiene
• Suitable protective clothing issued to all employee’s to protect the food from the employees, e.g. readily washable overalls and aprons, hats and hair nets.
• Procedure in place to ensure that food is not at risk from contamination by rodents, flies and other food pests.
• Suitable storage facilities to ensure that chilled and frozen food can be stored in the correct condition.

A cautionary tale...

The owners of a restaurant with putrefying food in its fridge have been fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £6,000. In addition they were both banned from ever running a food business again by an Great Yarmouth magistrates court.

The owners admitted 13 food safety offences, were issued with prohibition orders after EHOs found containers of putrefying food and food contaminated with insects in the fridge of their restaurant, Aylsham, Norfolk.

EHOs from Broadland District Council first visited last August. They found appalling conditions and a catalogue of serious food safety offences.

The premises were in a filthy condition and had not been cleaned for some time. Food equipment was encrusted in dirt and food debris.During a revisit, the EHOs found containers full of putrefying food in the fridge as there was no effective stock control system in place. Food contaminated with insects was also found in the fridges.