Food Safety Regulations And Standards

Every food business owner has an obligation to make sure that the meals they serve are safe to eat rather than tasty. This is not just because it can ruin their reputation, but it will also lead to costly penalties and legal liabilities. As you know, every state or country has legislation for food safety that all food operators must follow. It’s a legal duty to follow those laws to protect the health and safety of your staff and the public from any risks associated with your operations. 

In this blog, we’ll list down some of the things you’ll need to follow based on the key legislations, such as the Food Standards Act 1999, Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, and General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002. Let’s get started!

General Guidelines 

The primary goal of the General Food Law is to protect human health and consumer interest when it comes to food. With minor exceptions, it applies to all phases of food and feed production, processing, and distribution. Accordingly, food businesses must abide by the law governing feed and food safety.

Your main objective is to:

• sell food that is safe for people to eat
• sell food as it is labelled and advertised in terms of quality and content
• follow fair practices in the food trade, considering the health and welfare of animals, plants, and the environment

Below are the key things you should take into account:

Hygiene

The fundamental hygienic guidelines that food businesses must adhere to regarding personnel, facilities, and food handling are outlined in Regulation EC 852/2004. 

According to it, you should implement the controls needed to guarantee that the food is prepared safely to avoid putting your customers at stake. You must:

• keep your premises and equipment clean and in a good state of repair
• have good lighting, drainage, and ventilation
• have effective cleaning, pest control, and waste disposal practices
• train your employees to dress appropriately and have good personal hygiene
• have cross-contamination prevention policies

Identify and Mitigate the Risks

Another important practice you should follow is identifying potential hazards that may jeopardize food safety. The HACCP outlines how you can prevent contamination from any type of hazard—microbiological, physical, and chemical.

HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It is being used at all stages of food production to ensure safety until it reaches the point of consumption. Below are the key principles to follow:

• Perform a risk analysis.
• Determine the critical control points (CCPs).
• For crucial control points, establish critical limits.
• Develop monitoring practices.
• Implement corrective measures.
• Develop a verification process.
• Establish protocols for documentation and record-keeping

Temperature Control 

According to the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, specific foods must be held at a certain temperature to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. Improper storage or temperature control may only cause food spoilage, leading to various health risks. Thus, you must ensure that foods are kept at the right temperature to avoid those things from happening. 

Always remember that foods that must stay hot should be maintained at 63 degrees Celsius or above. Meanwhile, foods that require refrigeration should be stored at 8 degrees Celsius or lower, preferably at degrees Celsius or lower. Finally, frozen goods should be stored between -18 and -24 degrees Celsius.

Besides storage, you must also learn to safely ship temperature-sensitive items to maintain their quality until consumption.

Food Traceability

Food traceability is a critical measure of food safety. It makes monitoring the safety and quality of food products throughout the supply chain easier. Additionally, it increases consumer confidence in your products.

Ideally, to meet the traceability requirements, you want to keep the records of all the vendors who give you raw materials and the companies you supply your ingredients or food items to. These should include the following:

• Supplier’s name and address (or those of the company you are supplying).
• Kind and volume of the products
• Transaction or delivery date
• Batch number and any invoices or receipts for food purchases

Make sure to keep these records updated and available for food safety inspections. This can help in effective communication in the supply chain. 

Food Labelling and Withdrawal/Recall of Unsafe Food

Food labelling is another crucial part of the General Food Law Regulation (EC) 178/2002 as you will need to be as detailed as possible with your products to avoid misleading information. One inaccurate piece of information could risk one’s health. Thus, your labels must then inform your customers about the ingredients used in the product, potential allergens, nutritional value, and other important information. Use this as your guide.

Additionally, you must also withdraw unsafe food and inform the FSA if you happen to supply it to your customers. Then, do not also forget to be transparent and tell people why that food has been recalled or withdrawn. Read the guidelines on food incidents, product withdrawals, and recalls.

Have a Food Safety Management System

Finally, it’s very critical to establish a food safety management system if you’re owning a food business. You must examine each step in the preparation and production of food to determine what could go wrong with the products you sell and what needs to be done to guarantee the food is safe for your consumers. You may use supply chain software to help you along the process.

The Food Standards Agency has also created a ‘Safer Food, Better Business’ pack to help you implement food safety management practices and adhere to various legislations. You can visit the Food Standards Agency website for more information.

The Bottom Line

Food safety regulations and standards are here to ensure that human health is protected against potentially dangerous food. Thus, it’s very crucial for food businesses to abide by these rules to keep their business running and ensure long-lasting relationships with their customers. Use this blog as your guide to a safe and successful food business.

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