Food Safety
General Information
The objective of the Commercial Section of the Environmental Health Services Division is to ensure that food and drink
intended for human consumption, which is produced, stored, distributed, handled or consumed within the district is without
risk to health and safety of the consumer, and satisfies the requirements of the Food Safety Act 1990.
This is achieved by the Section carrying out unannounced inspections of food premises, analysing food and water samples,
investigating allegations of food poisoning and other complaints concerning the safety of food. Complaints to the Section
range from unhygienic food premises, unsatisfactory methods of food handling, food products that are mouldy, or that contain
foreign matter, or otherwise considered unfit for human consumption.
The purpose of our investigations into these matters is to ensure the safety of food by primarily identifying and removing
sources of any illness, and to prevent further spread. If necessary legal action can be taken to secure food safety improvements
or where gross negligence has arisen.
However, besides our enforcement role we also wish to encourage good hygiene practices through education and training.
We welcome your comments and feedback on our policies and procedures. Please use contact details provided below.
Downloads
Hazard Analysis, Food Safety Management Procedures and Safer Food Better Business (SFBB)
Are you complying with food safety law and have you got a documented Food Safety Management System in place? If not....
then help is at hand!
You should be aware that from January 2006 new European Community Food Hygiene Regulations replaced the previous Food Safety
(General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995. Proprietors of food businesses are still required to identify food safety hazards
and risks relevant to their business, and to put in place procedures to prevent problems. However you are now also required
to provide some simple written evidence that your procedures to ensure food safety have been thought through carefully and
are being properly applied.
- You must examine all food operations carried out within your business, including purchase, storage, handling, preparation,
cooking, service and transport, and ensure that at each stage, the food is being treated in a safe and hygienic way.
- When you examine your food business operations in this way, you will be able to identify where food safety problems may
arise, and ensure that you and your staff have the necessary procedures in place at any critical points, to control these
food safety problems.
- Examples of hazards you should consider are the presence of harmful bacteria in raw meat, the growth of harmful bacteria
in foods stored at room temperature, cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods, contamination by pests, physical contamination,
and chemical contamination.
- This close examination of your food business operations, known as a Food Safety Management Procedure is not difficult
to carry out and the controls you put in place can be very simple
In order to comply with this requirement from 2006, you can either:
- Produce your own Food Safety Management System, this can be simple and the amount of detail required will differ from
business to business depending on the size and nature of the activities you undertake.
- You can also follow the guidance issued by the Food Standards Agency which is called Safer Food Better Business. This
will guide you through how to comply and provide the necessary documentation.
- You can order or download a free copy of the Safer Food Better Business Pack direct from the Food Standards Agency
(www.food.gov.uk) or pick up a copy free of charge from the Council Offices, located
in Narborough.
