Opening a Food Business? Essential things to know
- Bill Donne
- Oct 7, 2023
- 3 min read
Ref: Environmental Protection and Food Safety Procedures
Some information that you might find useful.
FOOD REGISTRATION WITH THE LOCAL AUTHORITY
If you sell, cook, store, handle, prepare or distribute, you may be considered a food business and will need to register with the LA.
BASIC FOOD HYGIENE TRAINING
All food handlers should have the Level 2 in Basic Food Handling/Hygiene. The certificates are only valid for three years and then they have to attend a refresher course and sit the examination. Online courses and very good and affordable c.£25 per person.
MENU RECIPES
Standard recipe cards list ALL the ingredients and the method of preparation, cooking, cooling, re-heat and service/temperature/presentation of each dish on the menu. The ALLERGENS ingredients should be highlighted in BOLD on the recipe card.
ALLERGENS SPREADSHEET
Once the recipe cards are written you should produce an Excel spreadsheet with columns for the Allergens identified in each dish by a tick if present. The left-hand column should have all the dishes on the menu including side orders.
The allergen spreadsheet should be available for the front of house staff (FoH) to refer to. The FoH staff need to be trained to ask customers if they suffer from allergies. Getting this wrong can be fatal and only recently someone died from simply eating a chicken breast that had been soaked in Buttermilk (Dairy).
Some larger businesses actually publish the allergen information on their website for customers to view.
Most suppliers of pre-packed food will have this information on request.
STAFF TRAINING
It is important as a business owner that you deliver and record the training you or a third party have given to staff. Make sure that the member of staff countersigns the training record as part of your due diligence.
HACCPs-hazard analysis critical control points
The risk assessments of possible hazards within your food preparation and cooking methods that includes:
(P) Physical-Foreign Objects-glass/stones
(C) Chemical-Pesticides/Antibiotics/Additives
(B) Biological-Spore forming/toxin/Bacteria
(A) Allergens-Ingredients in Recipes
How to manage the food hygiene and safety procedures in your food business.
COSHH-Control of substances hazardous to health
COSHH is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health. You can prevent or reduce workers exposure to hazardous substances by:
§ finding out what the health hazards are;
§ deciding how to prevent harm to health (risk assessment);
§ providing control measures to reduce harm to health;
§ making sure they are used ;
§ keeping all control measures in good working order;
§ providing information, instruction and training for employees and others;
§ providing monitoring and health surveillance in appropriate cases;
§ planning for emergencies.
COSHH is the law that requires employers to control substances that are hazardous to health.
HEALTH AND SAFETY AT WORK
You will need to have in place risk assessments (RA) to cover the procedures in your workplace and identify ways to mitigate them. Some of the RA will be simple eg Slips, Trips and Falls, but others may be specific to your business-chip fryers, meat slicers etc. Refer to the manufacturers guidelines.
Where to find more detailed guidance for businesses on controlling the risks of a wide range of specific hazards
www.hse.gov.uk
HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY STATEMENT
You will need a policy statement and a Poster in the staff room
The law says that every business must have a policy for managing health and safety.
www.hse.gov.uk
Bill Donne M.IoL
Licensing Consultant
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