Keeping Records and Food Safety

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.:

• Daily Checks.
• Supplier Information.
• Staff Training Records.
• Anomalies (unusual things and things that went wrong).

 

Daily Checks

Checks to make at the beginning of the day:

• Checking the temperatures of fridges and freezers.
• Confirming that sufficient supplies of cleaning materials are available.
• Ensuring that premises are clean and ready for food preparation to commence.
• Confirming that staff are appropriately dressed and fit for work.

Checks to make at the end of the day include:

• Making sure that all food has been put away or, if it is past its ‘Best Before’ date thrown away. Some useful information on shelf-life of food products can be found in eLearn Safety blog entry Shelf-life of Food Products from 10th March 2023.
• Checking that all bins in the food preparation area have been emptied and the bags renewed ready for the next day’s business.
• Making sure that disposable cleaning cloths, aprons etc., have been disposed of in the waste.
• Checking that reusable cleaning cloths, aprons etc. have been put in the right place to be taken away for cleaning.

 

Supplier Information

The following are useful records to keep about suppliers:

• Contact details (address, telephone number, email address, supplier representative details).
• What products are ordered from the supplier.
• How much is usually ordered and how often.
• How long it takes after placing an order to be delivered (‘lead time’).

In addition, the following records must be kept:

• What food products have been bought.
• From whom products were bought.
• The quantity of bought food.
• The date they were received.

 

Staff Training Records

The things relating to staff training records should include:

• The type of training.
• Who received it.
• The date training took place.
• The outcome (e.g., food safety training certificate).

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.

 

Anomalies

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:

• Threw away ready-to-eat food as it was unsafe to eat.
• Disinfect the fridge.
• Wrapped the meat and put it in the proper place in the fridge.
• Conducted refresher training with the food handler concerned.

 

Safe Catering Pack

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:

• Produce safe food.
• Comply with food hygiene law.
• Train staff.
• Protect your business’ reputation.

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.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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 Law and Compliance

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.

 

Ensuring Food Law and Compliance

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.

 

Food Law and Compliance, Traceability and Accountability

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.

 

Enforcement of Food Safety Laws

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.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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

Allergenic Food Contamination

Allergenic food contamination can produce serious life threatening reactions in some people. Many people are allergic to certain foods, so you must always be aware of all the ingredients contained in the food served by your kitchen. For example, many pre-prepared foodstuffs such as ice cream contain eggs, and other foods contain traces of nuts. Be very careful when garnishing food, because even if a pre-prepared food type is allergen free, if it is garnished with chopped nuts it can become fatal to certain people.

 

Allergen Awareness Training

All members of staff must be trained in Allergen Awareness and observe the house rules. They should be able to recognise the symptoms of an allergic reaction. For a convenient fully online Managing Food Allergens course, please see eLearn Safety course on Managing Food Allergens. It is very important to make sure that food suppliers provide complete ingredient information. This is especially important if any changes to food ingredients are made. The best way to ensure your suppliers are compliant is having a robust and up-to-date Food Safety Management Systems in place. Some useful information can be found in eLearn Safety blog entry from 5th May 2023 titled Food Safety Management System (FSMS).

 

Consequences of Allergenic Food Contamination

Another important task of all food handlers is to listen carefully to customers. If an allergy sufferer asks for information about the ingredients of a certain food, it is essential that all involved in the food business have allergenic food contamination awareness so they can give an accurate response to their customers.

Naturally, there are some food handling establishments whose unique selling point is food that are classified as allergenic. Examples of such establishments are restaurants that serve sea food or dishes containing nuts. The most important word here is awareness – all staff must be aware of food ingredients in each dish. Likewise, customers must be aware that the seafood restaurant will most likely serve fish as a main offering.

Businesses cannot claim they don’t know what allergens are in the food they are serving or use ‘blanket-cover all’ expressions ‘food may contain allergens’ for all food they serve.

 

Anaphylactic Shock Symptoms

Allergic food contamination is a serious issue as allergies can cause an anaphylactic shock. Anaphylactic shock is life-threatening.

The symptoms include:

• Reddening of the skin, swelling of the lips and eyelids.
• Swelling of the throat, difficulty breathing and/or speaking.
• Feeling faint due to a serious drop in blood pressure.
• Nausea.
• Collapse and unconsciousness.

If someone suffers these symptoms, immediate medical attention must be provided. In addition, calling an ambulance is a must.

 

Allergenic Food Contamination – Food Allergens

There are 14 allergens that must be declared by law. These are:

1. Cereals containing gluten – wheat (such as spelt and khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats. Note: The cereal name, e.g., ‘wheat’, must be declared and highlighted, not ‘gluten’.
2. Crustaceans, e.g., crabs, prawns, lobsters.
3. Eggs.
4. Fish.
5. Peanuts.
6. Soybeans.
7. Milk.
8. Nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macademia/Queensland nut). Note: The name of the nut, e.g., ‘almond’, must be declared and highlighted, not ‘nuts’.
9. Celery.
10. Mustard.
11. Sesame seeds.
12. Sulphur dioxide and sulphites (at concentrations of more than 10 mg/kg or 10 mg/L in terms of total sulphur dioxide) – used as a preservative.
13. Lupin.
14. Molluscs e.g., mussels, oysters, squid, snails.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland published useful information in relation to Food Allergens on their web page titled Food Allergens – Advice for Consumers.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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

Cleaning and Food Safety

Cleaning and food safety are inseparable terms. A clean kitchen is one that has been thoroughly cleaned to prevent the contamination of food by living and non-living contaminants. Cleaning safely does not mean cleaning areas and surfaces you can see only. Cleaning safely means cleaning in places you cannot see.

 

Priority Cleaning and Food Safety

High priority cleaning should be given to items that are frequently touched. Examples include water taps, door handles, light switches, etc. These should be cleaned more than once a day to prevent contamination and should be cleaned and allowed to dry naturally after every shift. Allowing items to dry naturally removes the chance of contamination by using towels.

A kitchen must be properly cleaned and sanitised. It is of utmost importance to follow the guides and instructions provided with the cleaning agents to prevent chemical contamination of food.

 

Cleaning Plan

The following six-point cleaning plan is one example of achieving cleaning and food safety:

1. Pre-clean. Remove all debris and loose dirt (e.g., sweep floors, wipe work surfaces).
2. Main Clean. Remove grease and waste using detergent and appropriate cleaning materials with hot water.
3. Rinse. Remove detergent.
4. Disinfect. Use the appropriate agent. Always follow manufacturers instructions.
5. Final Rinse. Use potable water to remove all traces of disinfectant.
6. Dry. Air dry or use disposable towels to avoid the chance of contamination by reusable towels.

All kitchen work areas should be cleaned after each task.

You can find out all about essential food safety in eLearn Safety fully online food safety course Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 which is based on the training criteria set down by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s Guide to Food Safety Training Level 1.

There are many additional resources available online that look into great detail of cleaning and food safety. For example SafeFood has plenty of very useful information on their website page titled Kitchen hygiene and food safety.

 

General Advices on Cleaning and Food Safety

To keep the kitchen clean, always ensure the following:

• Always clean as you work.
• Make sure that your work area is cleaned and disinfected after each task and that all waste is cleared away.
• Ensure your work space is as clean and uncluttered as possible as otherwise this could lead to cross-contamination and is a hazard.
• Try to leave tasks such as the preparation of raw meat until last. Always clean and disinfect  thoroughly the work area immediately after preparing or handling raw meat.

Never store chemicals in the same area as food. If food gets contaminated, it can seriously harm all that consume contaminated food.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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

Spores and Toxins in Food

Spores and toxins in food can be a cause of a serious food poisoning. Spores are a bacteria’s survival package. Some bacteria when faced with adverse conditions such as rising temperatures will form a survival spore. A spore has a protective shell which can withstand higher temperatures than those reached in cooking.

 

Spores in Food

Water boils at 100°C. This means that most of cooking will be only a little hotter. However, spores can survive temperatures of up to 120°C. When the heat returns to room temperature, the spore opens.  Once this happens, the bacteria starts growing to form another colony. This is why hot holding at temperatures above 63°C prevents spores become active, whereas rapid cooling does not give a chance to spores to open.

Two common spore-forming bacteria are Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus. Some foods such as red kidney beans simply need to be cooked to break down the toxins and render them harmless.

 

Toxins in Food

Some toxins are produced by careless defrosting food (e.g. scombrotoxin). Toxins are poisons that are produced by bacteria and plants. Toxins can be deadly, such as that produced by Clostridium botulinum. The verocytotoxin produced by E. coli and its relatives causes damages to kidneys and the intestine. This may result in death, especially in the elderly and the very young. Seafood can also contain dangerous toxins. One of these toxins can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Paralytic shellfish poisoning as the name suggests, causes paralysis. Shellfish such as mussels feed on smaller animals that produce this toxin. In large groups these animals can be seen as a red bloom known as ‘red tide’. There are monitoring systems such as satellite images, that warn where and when shellfish must not be harvested.

 

Spores and Toxins in Plants

Plants can contain toxins. Some toxins are produced by moulds. These toxins include aflatoxin, which can seriously harm the liver. Such toxins are found in cereals and dried fruits that have been poorly stored. All these examples demonstrate the importance of always obtaining quality food from reputable suppliers.

 

Preventing Food Poisoning

• There are 4 simple steps to prevent food poisoning. As SafeFood writes in their article Food poisoning: causes, symptoms and treatment, steps you can take to prevent food poisoning are:
  Clean – always wash your hands before and after handling and eating food, after visiting the toilet or playing with pets or animals.
  Cook – make sure that food is thoroughly cooked in order to destroy any harmful bacteria that might be present.
  Chill – keep food cool in order to prevent bad bacteria from growing; make sure that your fridge is at the correct temperature to keep cold foods chilled – aim to keep your fridge at 5°C or below.
  Prevent cross-contamination – separate raw and cooked foods during storage and cooking and never let raw food, for example raw meat, come into contact with food that is ready-to-eat.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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

Dangers of Vibration at Work

Use of plant and equipment that produces vibration is often not considered as a serious risk and dangers of vibration at work are often overlooked.

Vibration is the transmission of force from work processes into the worker. The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA) defines vibrations as ‘rapid movement to and fro or oscillating movement‘.

 

Examples of Vibration at Work

People in the course of their work life may be exposed to many sources of vibration. Dangers of vibration at work are more often overlooked than not. Some vibration affects the whole body (WBV), e.g. when driving a dumper truck over rough and even ground. Here the vibration, in the form of large shocks or jolts, is transmitted to the whole body via their feet or the seat. This could cause injury to the lower back and spine.

The most common problem is Hand Arm Vibration (HAV). HAV is caused by exposure to vibration, e.g. from using hand power tools. This can be very disabling, causing severe pain in hands and arms and lack of hand movement and feeling in the fingers. It is preventable but permanent once the damage is done.

 

Dangers of Vibration at Work – HAV Symptoms

The most common HAV symptoms to look for are:

• Tingling in the fingers.
• Loss of feeling and sensation in the fingers.
• Reduced strength in the hand.
• Fingers that go white in the cold and then red and painful on recovery.

 

Dangers of Vibration at Work – HAV Controls

Dangers of vibration at work, i.e. risk from vibrating tools or machines can be minimised by:

• Introducing methods that eliminate, substitute or reduce the exposure to vibration.
• Avoiding prolonged or frequent use of vibrating equipment.
• Keeping cutting tools sharp so they remain efficient.
• Making sure equipment is well maintained.
• Avoiding forcing or gripping the tool more than is necessary.
• Wearing gloves to protect the hands.
• Exercising and massaging the fingers during breaks to restore circulation.

Health surveillance is crucial to spot and respond to early signs of damage.

 

Dangers of Vibration at Work – Further Reading

Chapter 2 of Part 5 and Schedule 6 to the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 299 of 2007) as amended by the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) (Amended) Regulations 2007 (S.I. No. 732 of 2007) sets down the minimum requirements for the protection of workers from the health risks associated with vibration in the workplace. This is a legislation that looks into dangers of vibration at work.

The Health and Safety Authority of Ireland (HSA) on their webpage Vibration at Work provide relevant to vibration at work information.

 

Online Health and Safety Training

Proactive Health and Safety training is critical to ensure a safe workplace. An effective training program can reduce the number of worker injuries and deaths. It can also reduce instances of property damage, legal liability, illnesses, and missed time from work.

Health and Safety training helps establish a culture in which employees themselves help promote proper safety procedures while on the job. It is important that new employees be properly trained and embrace the importance of workplace safety. The role of training in developing and maintaining effective hazard control activities is a proven and successful method of intervention.

This is why we have established Myelearsafety school. We pride ourselves in how we guide, support and mentor our students. They receive support throughout their learning experience and into their working lives. Our staff have extensive training experience and also have many years industry experience. We understand the challenges that exist within Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. Our priority is to ensure that all learners are fully prepared to differentiate themselves in the workplace after completing our Health and Safety courses.

Myelearnsafety offers fully online Health and Safety 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

Unwitting Food Poisoning

Unwitting food poisoning is the result of people being unaware of basic food safety. It is usually brought on by implementing unsafe practices, taking chances and common misconceptions. Examples of common misconceptions are washing raw chicken before cooking or smelling food to make sure it’s not gone off.

 

What is Food Poisoning

Food poisoning is any disease of an infectious or toxic nature caused by the consumption of food or water. This includes all food and waterborne illness regardless of symptoms. They usually appear within 1 to 72 hours after eating contaminated or poisonous food. You can read some additional information about food poisoning in our blog entry Food Poisoning from 10th February 2023.

Most cases of food poisoning are the result of people not working properly in the kitchen. Another often cause is not paying proper attention to the delivery and storage of food. This is the case when we talk about food handling at home and in a food business.

By nature most food poisoning is unwitting food poisoning. However, it is most certainly always preventable.  This is why training and education are important. To ensure you know how to handle food safely we recommend completing one of eLearn Safety online Food Safety courses. The Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 is a good starting point.

 

Causes of Food Poisoning

There are many causes of food poisoning, all of which are avoidable. The most common causes are:

• Contamination of food by bacteria and viruses. This is most often by not washing hands frequently or properly.
• Not heating food sufficiently to kill bacteria.
• Holding food: keeping it not hot enough (above 63°C) or for too long a period. This will allow bacteria to grow.
• Not keeping food cold in the refrigerator, allowing bacteria to grow in a warm environment.
• Contaminating food, which will not be cooked, with bacteria. This is why it is important to keep cooked and raw food separate.
• People carrying bacteria and in turn contaminating the food. This may be in the form of an infected boil or cut. Some people can carry dangerous bacteria without sign of being ill.
• Eating poisonous fish.
• Chemicals that may be present in food such as insecticides, excessive additives and fungicides.
• Metals in food such as lead, copper and mercury.
• Eating poisonous plants such as nightshade, or mushrooms such as toadstools.

 

How Does Unwitting Food Poisoning Occur

As Matthew Gilmour, a Research Scientist and Director of the Food Safety Research Network at Quadram Institute in a report published on RTE (originally published by The Conversation) points out – small routine things, such as ‘sniff test’ might facilitate unwitting food poisoning. We all usually do it, as an unconscious reaction, in a hope to detect any issues with the stored food. However, most food poisoning microbes have no smell. In addition, microbes like Listeria and Salmonella are going to be near impossible to pick up with the sniff test.

As Dr. Gilmour points out “energies are best spent on storing [food] at the right temperature and cooking them for the right amount of time, rather than trusting […] nose to sniff out a pathogen”.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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

 

Hand Washing for Food Handlers

Hand washing for food handlers is an essential aspect of cleanliness and hygiene. When it comes to food hazards, food handlers are potentially one of the biggest risks in terms of food safety. However, to extend this, hand washing is not important only in a food preparing environment, but in a domestic one as well.

 

Hand Washing at Home

According to a research by BMC Public Health, Denmark tops the ranking when hand hygiene of consumers is looked into. According to a study Hand hygiene practices during meal preparation—a ranking among ten European countries, the ranking is as follows: Denmark, Greece, Norway, Romania, Hungary, Germany, UK, Portugal, France, and Spain. However, the overall conclusion of the study was that the hand washing is often done incorrectly by skipping areas of hand when washing, or washing one’s hands not long enough. Unfortunately, this is also true when handling risky food such as raw chicken. According to the study, the young families and pregnant women are most likely to neglect a proper hand washing technique. On the other hand, the elderly individuals generally do not wash their hands when required.

 

Hand Washing for Food Handlers – Why is it Important

Most likely, the single most important activity in the food preparation area is proper hand washing. Hands are used for everything – scratching your nose, touching your phone, keys, emptying bins, handling cash, and finally touching the food that is being prepared. It is incredibly easy to cross-contaminate food just by using unwashed hands.

Food workers have a moral and legal responsibility to ensure that they do not contaminate food. One of the characteristics of a good food worker is a positive attitude towards hygiene and a willingness to help maintain a high standard at the workplace. Hand washing is at the top of hygiene importance.

Food hygiene legislation places a legal responsibility on food workers, proprietors and visitors to maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness.

Keep the body clean – Food workers should wash or shower daily to remove the layers of dirt, dead skin, sweat and bacteria that build up on the body which can be passed onto food.

The law requires that:

• Food workers are required to maintain a high degree of personal cleanliness and wear suitable clean clothes, and, if necessary, protective clothing.
• It is an offense for an employee of a food business to fail to comply with Annex II of the Regulation EC no. 852/2004 (on the hygiene of foodstuffs).

Want to learn more? Explore eLearn Safety fully online Food Safety (HACCP) Level 1 course.

 

When to Wash Hands

Hands can never be washed too often, but they can be washed not often enough. This is especially important when hand washing for food handlers is in question. Always aim to wash your hands:

• Before changing into work clothes to avoid transferring dirt and bacteria onto them.
• Before handling food of any type.
• After handling one type of food and before handling something else, especially after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, raw eggs and dairy.
• After cleaning surfaces, utensils or any equipment.
• After handling waste.
• After handling money.
• After blowing your nose.
• After coughing or sneezing.
• After touching hair or face.
• After going to the toilet.
• After eating, drinking or smoking.

The main point to take is – Wash Your Hands regularly!

 

Hand Washing for Food Handlers – How To Steps

Hands must be washed at a wash hand basin supplied with running hot and cold water. Liquid bacterial soap and an approved means of hand drying should be used. The hands, front and back and the gap between the thumb and forefinger must be washed using a rubbing action. It is not satisfactory to run fingers under the tap and then to dry hands on uniforms.

• Hands should be thoroughly dried.
• Separate sinks need to be available for hand washing!
• The correct way to wash your hands:
• If required, make sure your sleeves are pulled up or turned up and they don’t cover your wrists.
• Wet your hands under warm running water.
• Use enough soap to form a good lather, and soap all parts of your hand, fingers and thumbs right up to the wrist.
• Keep washing your hands for about 20 seconds.
• Rinse your hands under running water until they are free of all traces of lather. Use fingers to help remove the suds.
• Turn off the tap with an elbow or paper towel.
• Dry hands thoroughly using fresh paper towels.

To learn more watch the below video prepared by SafeFood.net titled How to wash your hands properly.

 

Hand Washing for Food Handlers – Why Does it Matter?

Hand washing for food handlers is extremely important as correct hand washing will remove bacteria such as E. Coli and salmonella. Bacteria on the hands have an ideal environment, They have food, moisture and a temperature of around 37°C allowing speedy reproduction and a higher risk of infection. This is why hands must be kept meticulously clean at all times.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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

The Seven Principles of HACCP

Food handling businesses are legally obliged to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on the seven principles of HACCP.

At first, the HACCP system may seem complex. However, the HACCP process is just a step-by-step process that examines how food is handled. The purpose of this process is to ensure the food produced is safe to eat.

The word HACCP is an abbreviation for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point. To better understand the process, this abbreviation can be split in two parts:

• HA – Hazard Analysis and how we identify all possible risks, and
• CCP – Critical Control Point. For example, the CCP for cooking food is 75°C and no cooked food should be served at a temperature below this. The exact temperature of cooked food can be measured using a probe.

 

List of The Seven Principles of HACCP

The Seven Principles of HACCP are as follows:

1. Identify all the hazards that food might be exposed to.

This includes physical, chemical, microbiological and allergenic hazards. Once these hazards are identified, all the preventive measures for each hazard should be listed. Food safety hazard is anything that affects the safety and quality of food. A food safety hazards can endanger the health of a consumer. They can originate in the ingredients, the production process or the final product itself. Some additional information can be found in our blog entry from 5th May 2023 titled Food Safety Management System (FSMS).

2. Identify the Critical Control Points.

There will be various points in the process where hazard exists, but not all of them can or need to be controlled. Food may contain bacteria when delivered, but as long as the food is heated thoroughly and sufficiently to kill all bacteria later on in the process, controlling the microbiological hazard on delivery is not critical. However, carrying out the heating step correctly is vital.

3. Determine Control Actions for each CCP.

Once the critical control points have been identified, control actions can be decided and written down. Precise and clear measures and targets should be defined and documented for every CCP. The actions to be taken will obviously depend on the situation.

4. Establish the monitoring methods for each CCP.

The control actions are then monitored at given intervals. This is to ensure daily control of critical processes. Monitoring in food service relies on various temperature measurements. Daily audits should be carried out to ensure equipment is set up and working correctly. In addition, regular audits will ensure that the hygiene processes are completed satisfactorily and that the food safety policy has been followed. The frequency of monitoring depends on the level of risk. All monitoring results should be recorded.

5. Establish a registration and documentation system (good record-keeping).

Keeping records of all monitoring results and procedures is helpful to ensure and to demonstrate that a food business has taken all reasonable precautions to minimise risks. Good documentation endorses the quality of the work performed.

6. Establish the corrective actions for each CCP.

For all CCPs, pre-planned corrective measures should be defined for situations when the control criteria are not met. For example, if food has not been cooked well enough, it should be cooked again or thrown out. The procedures to regularly measure the CCPs, as well as the responsible person for each task, need to be defined.

7. Verification.

Checking that the HACCP system works. Any food safety system needs to be kept up to date. Audits, microbial testing, review of documents and evaluations of employee training will help to ensure this and that the HACCP system is working well and comprehensively. A regular review of practices should be carried out regularly  to ensure that all the procedures are being actively followed at all times.

 

The Safe Catering Guide

Any Food Safety Management System, HACCP included, must be documented. All records must be maintained and available for inspection when required. Records are important to demonstrate the system is being implemented and managed effectively. Records might include HACCP documentation, deliveries, temperature monitoring, pest control, sampling, customer complaints, cleaning schedules, staff training, etc. For convent, affordable and efficient staff training solutions please check eLearn Safety fully online food safety courses.  The HACCP system should be reviewed annually, if there are any changes, or if something goes wrong.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has developed a guide that is based around the HACCP system. The Safe Catering Pack contains colour coded, easy to understand tick charts that cover hazards, controls and critical limits, monitoring/verification and corrective actions. General food safety information is also included as well as a wide range of forms for monitoring and taking records. This guide also includes specific/chemical contamination and food allergies.

 

Online Food Safety Training

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