Receiving food delivery is an important activity in any food handling business. This is to ensure that all food is received fresh and safe when it enters the foodservice operation. All food deliveries must be moved to proper storage as quickly as possible.
Clean designated receiving tables must be provided for all food. It is essential to keep raw meats away from ready-to-eat food such as salads, breads, etc. If the food is not separated, dangerous contamination can occur. It is very easy in a busy environment for delivered foods to come into contact with each other. This is why great care must be taken at all times to prevent this. Always use separate probes for different types of food. For example, never use a probe that was just used for raw meat, such as chicken, to measure the temperature of a ready-to-eat food. Never bring packaging material into the kitchen. It may have become contaminated outside.
Record and check all food coming into the kitchen. All personnel responsible for receiving and storing must be fully trained and empowered to reject any food that is not fit for use. eLearn Safety offers an easy and convenient way to train your staff in basic safe food handling through fully online food safety courses. The Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 is an ideal starting point! This course is designed to introduce participants to food safety and hygiene issues. It is based on the training criteria set down by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s Guide to Food Safety Training Level 1.
It is important to check every delivery before the food is accepted.
Always check the following:
The above list is an important practice – not for safety alone, but for quality as well.
Food must be always rejected if the food packaging is damaged, there are signs of pests and relevant food temperatures are not observed. A record of all received and returned food should be kept. Similarly, it is important to store food as quickly as it can be put away. Above all, always remove outside packaging and store frozen food first. In addition, raw meat should be transported and stored separately from ready-to-eat foods. Never accept a delivery that is left outside of your premises and exposed to elements! Always receive food deliveries directly from a delivery person!
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Food contaminants are those things with the potential to contaminate food and make it unsafe to eat. The things that contaminate food are known as ‘food contaminants’.
Food contaminants may be either:
The things that contaminate food can either exist in the food naturally or be added to it at some point before it is eaten.
Each food handling business must foster a positive food safety culture. Failure to comply with basic food safety legal requirements is not only a potential risk to public health, but also a risk to the food business’s reputation if things go wrong.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) reported that ten Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses during the month of November for breaches of food safety legislation:
Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in November include: evidence that people were living and sleeping in the food preparation area; dead mice found in the ingredient storage area which is a part of the food production area, along with numerous mice droppings on shelving; ongoing cockroach infestation in the kitchen, storage areas and on the shop floor; large food storage containers found to be covered in food debris, dirt and cobwebs; evidence of mould and mildew on a chip storage container and on the chip scoops; inadequate temperature control measures in place for high-risk foods; no evidence to demonstrate that the food business operator was trained in food safety, with no evidence of a food safety management system; heavy deposits of mouse droppings behind the fridge, freezer and in the main food preparation area and in the dry goods store; evidence that food infested by rodent droppings was placed on the market; an establishment operating as a meat cutting plant, also producing meat preparations and meat products, without approval from the competent authority.
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Keeping records and food safety are integral components of a sound Food Safety Management System. These records should be kept on a daily basis. Record keeping does not need to be complicated or time consuming. It is important to keep important information that along with written down procedures demonstrating what a food business does to ensure safe to eat food is provided. In addition, the law requires food handling businesses to keep certain records.
Things that records should include are, e.g.:
Checks to make at the beginning of the day:
Checks to make at the end of the day include:
The following are useful records to keep about suppliers:
In addition, the following records must be kept:
The things relating to staff training records should include:
Before a new food handler is allowed to handle food, they must receive written or verbal instruction in the essentials of food hygiene. Everyone who handles food must be trained and qualified, and records of training and refresher training should be kept. eLearn Safety offers fully online food safety training. eLearn Safety online courses are convenient, affordable and user friendly courses developed with students in mind.
The purpose of Food Safety training is not only to gain the Certificate which someone will keep at the bottom of their deepest drawer, piled with many other long lost and forgotten items. The purpose of Food Safety training is to learn how to handle food in a safe and hygienic manner as in the end, all food handlers have a legal and moral duty to keep their customers safe from harm. The Certificate itself is just a nice add-on.
If something that was unexpected happens, or if something goes wrong in the food handling area, it is important to make a note of it. For the sake of keeping records and food safety, it should be recorded what was done about it to put things right.
For example, if a food handler mistakenly puts ready to eat food on the bottom shelf of the fridge and unwrapped raw meat on a plate above it. This can result in juices from the raw meat to fall onto the food below. In this case actions done to correct this should be noted. For example, the records might look something like the following:
The Safe Catering Pack is designed by Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) for caterers as a practical, easy to use, Food Safety Management System.
Using the pack will help to:
The pack was designed for caterers, but it may also be used by other food businesses. It is ideal for businesses that have not yet developed their own food safety management system but may also be used by businesses to improve existing systems.
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
Following food law and compliance are integral parts of any food handling/producing business. The food business can ensure compliance with food law by operating a Food Safety Management System. This system should be based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.
It is a legal requirement for any food business to demonstrate what procedures are followed to ensure that the food it handles is safe to consume. All procedures must be recorded in written form.
For a food handling business to ensure food law and compliance, everyone who handles food must be trained and qualified in safe food handling. For easy and convenient ways to ensure safe food handling competencies, eLearn Safety developed fully online Food Safety courses with learner in mind. All learners are supported throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. eLearn Safety staff has extensive training experience with many years industry experience. Priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace. Once the training has been completed, all training and refresher up-to-date training records should be kept.
A food business must be able to demonstrate where foodstuffs came from, where they went (if the business sells to retailers) and who did what in the meantime. The procedures that are followed (such as daily checks) must be kept in place permanently and all records must be available for examination by the relevant Authorities, in most cases Environmental Health Officers from HSE on the behalf of the FSAI.
Operating an effective Food Safety Management System means that aspects of the running of a food business are routinely checked and recorded. This will enable the business to comply with both; legal requirements and fulfil due diligence requisite.
Everyone deserves to be protected against food that might make them ill. This is what the food safety law aims to do. By operating an effective Food Safety Management System, businesses can abide by the law more easily. Good procedures and practices will go a long way towards ensuring a full compliance. Unfortunately this is not always the case. In October 2023, the FSAI served five enforcement orders on food business. According to the FSAI, some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in October include:
…cooking trays not washed after use and congealed with grease and charred food particles; mould growth visible on the internal surfaces of a milkshake blender with a foul odour detected when the lid was removed; the presence of undeclared allergens in food with a potential to cause a life threatening allergic reaction; no evidence of a food safety culture; a drinking water sample taken from the food business indicating contamination of the supply; large open containers of raw chicken left on various surfaces throughout the food premises at room temperature, permitting the growth of bacteria; no hand washing observed during the inspection; filthy premises with dirty cardboard used both as a food contact surface for cooked rice and on the flooring throughout the premises.
Providing unsafe food is a serious food business failure. This may result in serious legal actions, prosecutions and imprisonment.
Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!
Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.
To find out more, please check our Courses page.
Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie
