starting a food business Archives

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

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

Food Safety and its Importance

Food safety and its importance matter for many, but mostly two ‘main’ reasons:

The most important reason of ensuring food safety is that no one should be made ill by the food they eat. Good food practices, supported and guided by law, will ensure protection for becoming ill due to unsafe food.
The other reason is that providing customers with quality and safe food keep them coming back. This is undoubtedly good for business.

What is Food

There are many various definitions of what food is, but for the purposes of catering, food may be defined as:

Any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, that is intended to be, or reasonably expected to be, ingested by humans.

Therefore food is not only meal such as, burgers, steaks, salads, etc. Food includes drink, chewing gum, sweets, condiments, ice, flavourings and any substance, including water, intentionally incorporated into food during its manufacture, preparation or treatment.

Food Poisoning

Food safety and its importance can often by undervalued. But ignoring it might have series consequences. If food safety practices and handling standards are poor, food may become contaminated. This might result in people who consume said food to become ill. In extreme cases, food poisoning can be fatal.

If an incidence of food poisoning is traced back to particular business, both, the owner of food premises and an employee who was deemed negligent in preparing/serving the meal could be found liable. They could be prosecuted, and possibly fined, imprisoned, or have their business closed down. At the very least, it will most likely result in loss of customers.

Establishing good practices with regard to food safety will keep both customers and staff safe, and be good for business.

The Symptoms of Food Poisoning

Food poisoning is an unpleasant illness which usually occurs within 1 to 72 hours of eating contaminated or poisonous food. Symptoms can be various and can include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea and vomiting as the body seeks to remove the poisons and prevent damage to the vital organs. The condition can last usually from 1 to 7 days, but can last longer. Other symptoms that suggest a case of food poisoning is particularly serious and requires medical attention include passing blood, either by vomiting or in diarrhoea, slurred speech, blurred vision, or mental confusion.

Identifying the source of the poisoning is necessary, but not always straightforward. This is because the illness might not have been caused by the last food to be eaten.

Prevention

Catering businesses can make a huge difference by following procedures and practices that promote food safety. It doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, simple systems and rules work best as people find them easier to remember and stick to. All of the procedures and practices together form what is known as Food Safety Management System. You can read more about it in our blog entry from 5th May 2023 titled Food Safety Management System (FSMS).

The Food safety Authority of Ireland is a statutory body with main function to ensure that food produced, distributed or marketed in Ireland meets the highest standards of food safety and hygiene reasonably available and to ensure that food complies with legal requirements and recognised codes of good practice.

Food legislation is enforced on behalf of the FSAI by a network of official agencies working under service contract to the FSAI.

Enforcement of Food Safety Standards

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998 contains enforcement provisions which are in addition to the powers to prosecute and other provisions on specific pieces of food legislation. The provisions in the FSAI Act provide a means of reacting to and dealing with situations posing a risk to public health.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has the power to carry out the following in order to determine compliance with food legislation:

The inspection, approval, licensing or registration of premises and equipment, including premises or equipment used in connection with the manufacture, processing, disposal, transport and storage of food.
The inspection, sampling, and analysis of food and food including food ingredients.
The inspection and analysis of food labelling.

In July 2023 the FSAI issued ten Enforcement Orders served on food businesses. Commenting, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said that while the majority of food businesses adhere to food safety regulations, it is clear that some businesses are not fully compliant. Dr. Byrne continued ” … All food businesses, from the established to the newly opened, must fully adhere with food safety regulations at all times. Enforcement action will be taken for transgressions, in the interest of public health protection.”.

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

Pest Control

Pest Control in any food handling premises is an extremely important process. Food pests are a source of food poisoning organisms. When one talks about pests, the majority of people think of rats, mice, birds, flies, etc. Whilst they are a major food safety hazard from the Pest Control perspective, domestic pets are also a significant hazard. By being pets they are often not considered a danger. However, domestic pets should never be allowed into food handling areas. They carry bacteria in their fur, feathers, skin, saliva and intestines. Stroking or fussing cats, dogs or other pets will contaminate food handlers.

What is a Food Pest

A food pest is an organism that lives on or in human food. Pests can contaminate food with bacteria and disease, but they can also cause physical contamination from droppings, urine, fur, feathers and even dead bodies.

Importance of Pest Control

Pest problems can result in lost revenue through damaged stock, gaining a bad reputation and in some cases legal action against the business.

According to the FSAI News Article from 13th July 2023, 12 Enforcement Orders served on food businesses in June. Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in June include: a history of rodent activity with droppings found near fruit juice intended for children; open, ready-to-eat foods such as fresh lettuce suspected as having come into contact with rodents, with a likely risk of Salmonella; heavy cockroach activity in the kitchen, with dozens of live cockroaches spotted moving around food preparation areas, on the walls, floors, fridges, and inside food storage containers; a lack of adequate traceability systems and procedures for all products, undermining consumer safety; a failure to maintain the cold chain with insufficient fridge space to safely store high risk foods such as cooked rice and pasta; rodent droppings noted in the service area and near food storage; risk of cross contamination with ready-to-eat food such as smoked salmon stored next to raw food such as chicken and pork chops; and inadequate ventilation throughout the premises, evident by the large build-up of mould on the walls, ceilings and external doors.

Premises Maintenance as Part of Pest Control Process

Food premises often provide ideal conditions for pests as they provide food, warmth, shelter and water. It is therefore important to make sure premises are properly maintained to avoid pest infestation.

It should be part of any food handling business’ routine to check for signs of pest infestation. If any kind of pests activity is noticed and reported, this has to be dealt with immediately. It may be necessary to seek professional help from a pest control contractor or a local authority. It is always preferable to treat the problem by removing the pest. This avoids the possibility of it dying inside the food area and causing further contamination. Extreme care should be taken if chemical controls are to be used.

Pest Prevention

Prevention is better than cure and good housekeeping can play an important role in pest prevention. Some of the steps towards preventing pest infestation are:

Food should be always stored correctly in pest proof containers and off the floor.
Storage areas must be easy to clean and allow for easy access to check for signs of pests.
Food should never be stored outside as this attracts pests.
Rubbish areas should be kept clean and waste should be kept in bins with tight fitting lids. Untidy waste areas can attract pests by making food easily available.
Waste areas should be cleared regularly as rubbish can provide shelter, warmth, food and moisture for pests.
Ensure goods are used within the appropriate date to help prevent problems with stored product pests.
External water sources such as dripping taps or broken drain pipes can attract pests. These should be properly and regularly maintained.
Deliveries of goods should always be checked for signs of infestation. delivery should not be accepted if any signs of pests activity can be seen.
Make repairs as soon as possible to damaged drain covers, door bases or other parts of the building that will allow access to pests.
Fit insect screens on windows and doors that open directly into food preparation areas.

All pests damaged goods should be removed and destroyed.

Common Food Pests

Common food pests that can be found in almost any, rural or urban setting are:

Rats and Mice – rats live in sewers or in nests around buildings. In a year one pair of mice and their offspring can produce 2,000 babies if left undisturbed.
Flies – Land on animal faeces and rotting food, collecting bacteria on the hairs of their bodies. They may fly from food to food causing cross-contamination.
Cockroaches – They are nocturnal insects. They like warm and dirty places. Eggs take around 2 months to hatch and each egg case may carry between 10- to 30 eggs depending on the species.
Ants – May be attracted by unprotected food.
Birds – Birds carry many pathogenic bacteria and can cause significant damage.
Stored Product Pests – Weevils may be found in flour and other dry goods. They are normally quite harmless in the egg stage, and enter the food during food growth.

Food premises can be (and have been as mentioned above) closed down as a direct result of pest infestation. Pest problems should never be ignored!

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

Starting a New Food Business

It is very important when starting a new food business to be in compliance with all relevant food safety laws. The main purpose of food law is to ensure a safe food supply. In addition, its purpose is to protect consumers’ interests in relation to food. When a business starts handling food they are regarded as a ‘food business operator’. It is a legal responsibility to make sure that the business complies with food law and produces safe food.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is responsible for enforcing food legislation in Ireland. The FSAI carries out this enforcement through service contracts with official agencies.

Official agencies (such as HSE) carry out inspections, take samples and conduct audits of the food businesses they supervise. This is to check that the food businesses are complying with the law. They will also take enforcement action if they discover a food business has broken the law. Enforcement officers from the official agencies are also a good source of food safety information.

Starting Points to Starting a New Food Business

At the initial stages of starting a food business, it is important to contact the official agency appropriate to the nature of the business. This is so the food business can be registered and, if necessary, apply for an approval number.

To operate legally a food business:

Be registered or approved.
Have a set of controls in place to ensure safe food – formally known as a Food Safety Management System (see Safe Catering Pack).
Have an effective traceability system in place, which will allow withdrawal or recall of food from the market if a safety problem is discovered.
Ensure that everyone handling food in the business has received enough food safety training to allow them to do their job safely. For fully online food safety training, please explore food safety course via eLearn Safety online training platform.
Comply with the relevant food law.

A wide range of food is available in Ireland today. Whether that food is produced by a large multi-national company or a small local food producer, it must be safe for consumers to eat.

The Main Responsibilities of a Food Business

The main responsibilities of a food business are:

The food business must ensure it does not include anything in food, remove anything from food, or treat food in any way which means it would be damaging to the health of people eating it.
The food business must ensure that the food it serves or sells is of the nature, substance, or quality which consumers would expect.
The food business must ensure that the food is labelled, advertised and presented in a way that is not false or misleading.

To summarise, the food for human consumption should be protected from contamination. In addition, it should be fresh and of good quality with accurate and correct labelling. Everyone deserves to be protected against food that might make them ill and that is exactly what the law aims to do. By operating an effective Food Safety Management System, businesses can abide by the law more easily. The Food Safety Management System does not mean ‘additional’ work. It means aiming to do things in the right way, every day. Good procedures will go a long way towards ensuring success.

Ensuring Compliance with Food Law

The food business ensures compliance with food law by operating a Food Safety Management System. The system must be based on HACCP (Hazards Analysis Critical Control Point) principles.

By law, a food business must be able to show what procedures are followed to ensure that the food it makes or sells is safe to eat. These procedures must be written down. Everyone who handles food must be trained and qualified in safe food handling practices. The up-to-date records of all training and refresher training should be kept on records. All food handlers must receive appropriate instruction in the essentials of food hygiene before they are allowed to start work.

When it comes to food, it is important to consider accountability and traceability. A food business must be able to show where food stuff came from and where it goes to. This is important if the business sells to a retailer, but not if it sells to a customer. There has to be a clear path to indicate ‘who did what’ when food handling is in question.

Operating an effective Food Safety Management System means that food business practices are routinely checked and recorded. This will enable the business to comply with legal requirements. It will also help compile a ‘due diligence’ defence, should one be needed.

Additional Information

For useful information about starting a new food business in Ireland, please refer to FSAI Resources Booklet for Small Food Businesses. In addition, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) provides beneficial content for new businesses and those already running businesses. They often organise and moderate webinars aimed at those wishing to start a new food business. More information is available on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) website.

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 Storage and Deliveries

Proper food storage and deliveries play an important role in ensuring that the food remains safe to eat. Existing food businesses which intend to start delivering food orders need to consider any new or different risks posed by this change in operation. They should adapt their Food Safety Management System to make sure food placed on the market remains safe to eat. Businesses that already deliver food, directly to the customer or to another business, must ensure uninterrupted safe food handling practices.

Food Deliveries

It is important that food is purchased from reliable suppliers. ‘Due diligence‘ demands that care be taken on purchase handover. When food is delivered, a person responsible for the receipt of the food should check:

Quality of the food.
Evidence of damage by pets.
Evidence of damage due to food spoilage.
Evidence of contamination.
That the items are well within the date.
refrigerated or frozen foods are at the correct temperature.

Always and without any doubt reject any food that you are not happy with and return it to the supplier! Always make sure that the transfer time after purchase of frozen or chilled foods is as short as possible, preferably in cool bags or boxes and that the food is stored in the refrigerator or freezer in the shortest possible time. Remember:

Frozen food deliveries must be kept at –18°C or below.
Refrigerated food deliveries must be kept between 0°C and 5°C.
Hot food deliveries must be kept at 63°C or above.

Food Storage and Deliveries – Spoilage

Food is spoiled when it is unfit for human consumption. The main causes of food spoilage are usually the following:

Microbial and enzyme activity – this can adversely change a food’s colour, taste, smell, appearance or texture, e.g. moulds and yeasts.
Chemical contamination – food has come into contact with substances not intended for human consumption, e.g. cleaning chemicals or insect sprays.
Physical contamination – undesirable foreign objects have contaminated food, e.g. human hair or food pests.
When food is spoiled, always label it ‘Unable for Human Consumption‘ and store it in a designated area away from other food.

‘Use By’ and ‘Best Before’ Dates

Most food packages are labelled with a ‘Use By‘ or ‘Best Before‘ date. It is an offence to serve food that has exceeded its use by date. Such food should be discarded or clearly marked ‘Unfit for Human Consumption‘. ‘Best Before‘ dates are often an indication that the food will be at its premium quality if stored correctly until that date.

Dry Stores

Not all food must be kept refrigerated or heated. Some food can be kept in dry stores. However, many dried or dehydrated foods such as milk powder, powdered eggs, etc. will allow bacterial growth if they become moist. It is therefore essential these foods are stored in a dry place and are used immediately after preparation. All dry foods, including flour, biscuits, etc., will remain safe whilst dry.

Dry stores key points:

Storage areas must be well lit, clean, cool, dry and well ventilated.
Free-standing slatted shelves allow good ventilation and evidence of pest infestation to be seen quickly.
Food should be stored off the floor to allow thorough cleaning.
Good stock rotation will prevent build up of old stocks and will reveal evidence of pest infestation quickly.

Stock Rotation

All food should be stored in date order and the First In First Out (FIFO) rule followed and observed. To help with stock rotation:

Check ‘Use By‘ and ‘Best Before‘ dates regularly.
Put products with a shorter shelf life at the front of the shelf at the front of the shelf so they are used first.
Clear away any out of date stock.

Other Food Storage and Deliveries Hazards

There are other food safety hazard points associated with food delivery and storage. Safefood lists a number of additional hazards that are associated with the food storage and deliveries. These can be read in their Food Delivery & Storage article.

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

Safe Catering Pack – A Friendly Approach to HACCP

Are you starting a food business? Are you overwhelmed with different areas you need to know in terms of food safety? Or you are an existing business in need to simplify or develop your food safety system? Well, look no more as the Safe Catering Pack developed by Food Safety Authority of Ireland is a friendly approach to HACCP. This simple tool helps caterers to develop a system to manage food safety and comply with the food hygiene regulations. It presents options for businesses to choose how they are going to do this.

Safe Catering Pack

The pack was developed with help and expertise from the food industry and environmental health officers. It is based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point). HACCP is a process that helps you look at how you handle food and introduce procedures to make sure the food you produce is safe to eat.

The pack was designed for catering businesses. It may also be used by retailers who have a catering function within their business. The pack can be used by businesses that have not yet developed their own food safety management system. In addition, it may also be used by businesses to improve existing systems.

By working through the workbook you will step by step develop your unique food safety management plan. This plan is literally your road map to managing food safety for your business. Once the workbook is complete you can manage food safety on a daily basis by using the food safety record books. The record books allow you to check that food safety hazards are being controlled.

Starting a Food Business

Starting a business can be exhilarating and wildly fulfilling. However, it can be quite complicated, and may challenge you in ways you had not imagined. Knowing the challenges and problems you may encounter in your start-up can help you to prepare for the unexpected, and possibly help avoid common pitfalls. The Safe Catering Pack developed by Food Safety Authority is a simple straightforward guide to help you to develop a system to manage food safety and comply with the food hygiene regulations.

If you would like to purchase a FSAI Safe Catering Pack you can do so HERE.

Food Safety Training

Please remember! It is a legal requirement that all staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!

So get trained now! Myelearnsafety.com offers fully online food safety courses. You don’t have to complete any of the food safety courses in one sitting. You can study whenever suits you and you can take breaks when required. The system will remember where you have stopped so you will be able to continue from that point on once you return to your studies. So you can study 20 minutes today, 20 minutes tomorrow and so on or whatever suits your needs as you will have 24/7 access for 1 year (365 days) to the course.

Additional information about individual courses can be found on our Courses page.