Food Hygiene

Food hygiene is the practice of properly storing, chilling, cleaning, cooking food and avoiding cross-contamination to prevent the spread of bacteria in food. Improper food hygiene when handling raw food may lead to food poisoning.

Food Safety and Legislation

Food safety refers to the conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food. These practices prevent contamination and foodborne illnesses. You must comply with the rules set out in the Irish food hygiene legislation ISO: 340/2007 irrespective of the size or type of business. This legislation sets out rules on food hygiene, both specific rules and more general requirements, including premises layout, temperature control, HACCP, equipment, transport, waste, personal hygiene and training. Also you must comply with legislation on the general principles of food law EC 178/2002. This legislation makes it illegal to place unsafe food on the market. You must be competent with these legislations. Chef Consulting Services can provide you with training in E.H.A.I. certified primary course in food safety Level 2. See our training and other services page for further details. 

Food Safety is an essential public health issue for all. The potential threat to public health from foodborne disease continues to increase due to growth in development and the global distribution of food. Food can be adulterated or contaminated in many different ways. Some food products may already contain bacteria or parasites. These germs can be spread during the packaging process if the food products were not handled properly. Improperly cooking, preparing, or storing food can also cause contamination. Therefore the consequences of not having an up to date food safety policy or a failed food safety policy can be costly which impacts not only on public health but also on your business.

HACCP

The acronym or name HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) confuses many people but, simply put, it refers to procedures you must put in place to ensure the food you produce is safe. These procedures make up your food safety management system based on the seven principles of HACCP. This will enable hazards to be identified and controlled before they threaten the safety of food and your customers.

Seven Principles of HACCP

The 7 principles of HACCP are:

1. Identify the hazards

2. Determine the critical control points

3. Establish critical limits

4. Establish a system to monitor the control of the critical control points

5. Establish the corrective action to be taken when monitoring indicates  that a particular critical control point is not under control

6. Establish procedures for verification to confirm the HACCP system is working effectively

7. Establish documentation concerning all procedures and records appropriate to these principles and there application

Chef Consulting Services can help you implement a bespoke HACCP system to suit your particular business needs. We can also update existing HACCP plans and construct detailed flow charts for your HACCP plan, or check them for compliance. We also carry out hygiene audits both announced and unannounced to help you maintain compliance with the existing food regulations along with a full suite of food safety training options. Please refer to our training and other services page for further details.