Acorn Training Certification & Consultancy

Food Hygiene Rating

3/1/2018

This is awarded to food businesses based on findings of inspections conducted by local councils and is a key part of food hygiene and safety for food businesses in Northern Ireland. The score is calculated from three component scores which are;

1.Compliance with current hygiene requirements i.e. how is the food prepared, cooked, reheated, cooled and stored?

2.Compliance with structural requirements i.e. the condition of the structure of the building(s), including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and any other services used on-site

3.Confidence in management and control procedures i.e. how is food safety in the business managed

It is also a statutory requirement for the food hygiene rating sticker to be displayed prominently on site to allow consumers make an informed choice on where they wish to purchase products or indeed when dining out.

See link below to the FSA rating scheme to allow you search for ratings in your local area;
http://ratings.food.gov.uk/search-a-local-authority-area/en-GB/Northern%2BIreland

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Food Allergy

19/12/2017

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What is a Food Allergy?
Food allergy is now recognised as an important food safety issue and is caused when the body mistakenly makes an antibody (IgE) to 'fight off' a specific food. When the food is next eaten (or sometimes is just in contact with the skin) it triggers an immune system response which results in the release of histamine and other substances in the body. These cause various symptoms, depending on where in the body they are released. Very rarely the immune system chemicals are released throughout the body, causing a 'systemic' reaction (such as anaphylaxis).

What Could I Be Allergic To?
You can be allergic to any food substance. Some of the more common food allergies are peanut allergy; tree nut allergy; egg allergy; milk allergy (dairy allergy); wheat allergy; fish allergy; soya allergy and sesame allergy. Some people also suffer from alcohol allergy, mustard allergy and fruit and vegetable allergies.

What Are the Symptoms of a Food Allergy?
Normally food allergy symptoms appear within a few minutes of eating the offending food, although they may be delayed by up to a couple of hours. The symptoms are usually those of 'classic' allergy, some of which are listed below:
Gut reactions - Abdominal pain, Vomiting, Diarrhoea
Skin reactions - Itching, Swelling (rash or nettle rash)
Respiratory reactions - Runny nose, Sneezing, Wheeze, Cough
The greatest care must be taken by all food manufacturers either they be small or large;
- to formulate foods so as to avoid, wherever possible, inclusion of unnecessary major allergens as ingredients;
- to organise raw material supplies, production, production schedules and cleaning procedures so as to prevent cross-contact of products by "foreign" allergens;
- to train all personnel in an understanding of necessary measures and the reasons for them;
- to comply with the relevant labelling legislation providing appropriate warning, to potential purchasers, of the presence of a major allergen in a product;
- to have in place an appropriate system for recall of any product found to contain a major allergen not indicated on the label warning.
Under Annex II of the EU Food Information for Consumers Regulation No.1169/2011 the following 14 known food allergens that must always be labelled in pre-packed and identified in some way for non-prepacked foods.
- Cereals containing gluten, namely: wheat (such as spelt and Khorasan wheat), rye, barley, oats
- Crustaceans for example prawns, crabs, lobster, crayfish
- Eggs
- Fish
- Peanuts
- Soybeans
- Milk
- Nuts; namely almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecan nuts, Brazil nuts, pistachio nuts, macadamia (or Queensland) nuts
- Celery (including celeriac)
- Mustard
- Sesame
- Sulphur dioxide/sulphites, where added and at a level above 10mg/kg in the finished product.
- Lupin which includes lupin seeds and flour and can be found in types of bread, pastries and pasta
- Molluscs like clams, mussels, whelks, oysters, snails and squid
Please check the following link for further guidance
https://www.food.gov.uk/science/allergy-intolerance
What Is the Difference Between a Food Allergy and Food Intolerance?
Food allergy is quite uncommon and normally causes symptoms within a few minutes of eating the offending food or being in contact with the relevant substance.
Food intolerance (non-allergic hypersensitivity) is much more common. The onset of symptoms is usually slower and may be delayed by many hours after eating the offending food; the symptoms may also last for many hours, even into the next day. Some common food intolerance's include lactose intolerance; gluten intolerance and histamine intolerance.

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Food Safety Culture

7/12/2017

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How can we measure our food safety culture?
Following on from last week’s blog I shall highlight how we could measure culture in our workplace.
“How can I manage what cannot be measured?”
On our visits on the production floor we can continuously observe the following;

Team member behaviours

E.g. hand washing, work practices, QC checks, and maintenance operations

Pre-production observations

I.e. is the equipment free from all debris?
is there any water pooling on surfaces?

Off the floor we can determine culture by;

Trending our microbiological results including environmental swabs, in process product, PPE, hand swabs and finished product
What issues or areas from improvement were highlighted during recent audits and have these been addressed?
How, Where, When do we train our staff and do we provide refresher training?
Do we provide opportunities for staff to suggest improvements to the plant and process thus allowing them have ownership of what they do

It is also worth noting that the British Retail Consortium have released a draft Version 8 of their standard for industry consultation and one of the items that maybe included is as follows;
1.1.2
The site’s senior management shall have a documented strategic plan for the development and continuing improvement of food safety culture. This shall include:

defined activities involving all sections of the company
an action plan indicating how the activities will be undertaken and intended timescales
review of the effectiveness of completed activities

This shall undoubtedly help in promoting a culture which is continuous thus ensuring consumers are protected from any harm.

REMEMBER FOOD SAFETY HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE NOT ON-SITE

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Food Safety Culture

1/12/2017

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Food Safety Culture – The Starting Blocks

Food safety awareness is at an all time high on the island of Ireland with new and emerging threats to the food supply being detected on an ongoing basis, the fallout from Brexit and the recent well documented issues surrounding the 2 Sisters Food Group chicken factory in West Bromwich (see link below).
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjeiJXByejXAhUpK8AKHZI5CIQQFghDMAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2F2017%2Fnov%2F03%2Fchicken-safety-scandal-2-sisters-factory-to-resume-production&usg=AOvVaw1HwTYXep7DdEJ580A3lDmh

As a food safety consultant I am always thinking of the risks in today’s food manufacturing environments and how I can improve the service that I provide to my clients. Am I just devising, creating and implementing quality systems to meet differing audit protocols or do I ensure that the business owner and their employees fully appreciate what they do?

Therefore I help them create values, attitudes, competencies and levels of behaviour that ensures the quality system is working in harmony with the bigger picture i.e. we are in the process of establishing a food safety culture.

As with all policies, procedures etc it starts at the top;

Business owners need to lead this culture in what they say and do, “walk the talk”

Employees need to be confident in what they do is correct

Accountability, who continues to drive the culture, simple answer is everyone!

Communication, what we say, when we say it, where we say it and how we say it

Share knowledge what works well and what doesn’t this allows the culture to grow and develop, it is living, it is real life and its long term

Keep learning from other industries, following best practice and again thinking of how this could be brought into a food manufacturing environment

In next week’s blog I shall highlight areas to measure how our food safety culture is performing. I always have the following in my mind when on client sites “how can I manage what cannot be measured”.

“PRIORITIES CHANGE DEPENDING ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES. VALUES DO NOT” – GELLER 2005

REMEMBER FOOD SAFETY HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE NOT ON-SITE

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Food Labelling

22/11/2017

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Food Labelling: Northern Ireland
The Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland is responsible for policy on general food labelling, food standards and nutrition labelling.
Labelling Rules
Falsely describing, advertising or presenting food is an offence, and there are a number of laws that help protect consumers against dishonest labelling and misdescription.
Consumers should be able to be confident with their choice of foods and be able to buy according to their particular requirements, be it for diet and health, personal taste and preferences, or cost. They want to be able to make comparisons with similar products, knowing the information on the label is correct.
They have a right to expect that the food bought matches the description given on the label and that they get what they pay for.
Part of the Food Standards Agency's role is to help prevent mislabelling or misdescription of foods. Mislabelling does not normally give rise to safety issues; nevertheless, when done deliberately it constitutes the crime of fraud.
In some cases, the names of foods we buy are protected by law, and must comply with certain compositional regulations.
In other cases, such as fish fingers, there may be no such standards, but the food still needs to be described accurately and should not be misleading.
Food authenticity is all about whether a food matches its description. If food is misdescribed, not only is the consumer being deceived, but it can also create unfair competition with the honest manufacturer or trader. The description of food refers to the information given as to its name, its ingredients, its origin or processes undergone.
Misdescription in itself is nothing new. Food fraud has been around for a very long time – probably as long as food itself has been sold.
In the past, basic foods such as flour, spices and beer were adulterated with cheaper ingredients. Nowadays misdescription can take many forms:

Not having the necessary composition for a legal name – in order to be called 'chocolate', for example, the food must have a certain amount of cocoa solids. Similarly, in order to be called a 'sausage', it must have certain amount of meat in it.

Substitution with cheaper ingredients – adding low cost ingredients to a more expensive product, such as diluting olive oil with vegetables oils.

Extending a food – perhaps with water or other fillers, such as adding water to orange juice, or offal to meat products and not declaring it.

Incorrect origin – incorrectly labelling the true origin of the food or ingredients.

Legally, there are a number of areas that regulate labelling, which are described below.

The Food Information Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2014
This came into operation on 19 September 2014 and enables district councils in Northern Ireland to enforce the European Food Information to Consumers Regulation No 1169/2011 (FIC). Under these regulations, a change to the existing enforcement regime has been taken forward with a move away from the across-the-board use of frontline criminal offences to a more proportionate and targeted regime using improvement notices.

These regulations also revoke the majority of the provisions of the Food Labelling Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1996, as amended for Northern Ireland. The compositional standards for cream and traditional UK cheeses will be retained until 2018 as will certain alcohol related terms including 'low alcohol' etc.

Food compositional legislation
There are more detailed compositional and labelling rules for certain foods, including:

bread and flour
cocoa and chocolate
soluble coffee
evaporated and dried milk
fruit juice
honey
infant formula
jams
meat products: sausages, burgers and pies
natural mineral waters
spreadable fats
sugars

European marketing standards
These define what can be properly described as:

canned sardines and tuna
olive oil
alcoholic spirit drinks: whisky, gin, and so on
eggs in shell
organic food
fresh fruits and vegetables
foods of designated geographic indication or origin, such as Parma ham, West Country Cheddar

Enquiries about labelling
For general labelling, food standards and nutrition labelling enquiries, please contact the FSA in Northern Ireland on 028 9041 7700 or email: infofsani@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk

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Hand Hygiene

15/11/2017

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Why should you wash your hands?
Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps anyone can take to avoid becoming ill and spreading microorganisms to others. Many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean warm running water.
People handling food have a particular responsibility to protect the health of those for whom they are providing food. They must keep their hands clean!

How to wash your hands?
Wet your hands with clean, running water (warm enough for comfort), turn off the tap, and apply soap.

Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap. Be sure to lather the tips of your fingers and thumbs, the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails.

Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. Need a timer? Hum the "Happy Birthday" song from beginning to end. Twice.

Rinse your hands well under clean, running water.

Dry your hands using a disposable paper towels.

Did you know?

Wet hands are 5000 times more likely to pick up microorganisms than dry.

Myth Busting

Water temperature directly affects hand washing efficacy

Not true. The temperature of water does not directly contribute to the removal of microorganisms. Water would need to be too hot for comfort if it was to kill organisms directly. When washing hands, water should be warm enough for comfort as a comfortable temperature encourages more thorough hand washing.

You don't have to wash your hands if you wear gloves

Not true. Gloves are not a substitute for hand hygiene. Some people handling food choose to wear gloves because they may not wish to handle a certain food type e.g. pork.

A glove is just another food contact surface. As they can become dirty and contaminated by bacteria, they must be changed frequently to prevent build-up of microorganisms or food. Gloves must not be worn for handling both food and other objects, for example money.

You must wash your hands thoroughly before putting on gloves. Tears or other damage will expose the hand which may then contaminate whatever is being handled.

If gloves are not worn correctly, they may compromise food hygiene by:

encouraging a false sense of security resulting in reduced washing frequency, leading to a build-up of contamination on gloves – by contrast, unwashed hands will feel unpleasant, encouraging more frequent washing
leading to less safe hand washing practices unless thorough handwashing regimes are enforced.

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What is food safety?

7/11/2017

Is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food borne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potential health hazards. In this way food safety often overlaps with food defence to prevent harm to consumers.
The tracks within this line of thought are safety between industry and the market and then between the market and the consumer. In considering industry to market practices, food safety considerations include the origins of food including the practices relating to food labelling, food hygiene, food additives and pesticide residues, as well as policies on biotechnology, guidelines for the management of governmental import and export inspection and certification systems for foods.
In considering market to consumer practices, the usual thought is that food ought to be safe in the market and the concern is safe delivery and preparation of the food for the consumer.
Food can transmit disease from person to person as well as serve as a growth medium for bacteria that can cause food poisoning. In developed countries there are intricate standards for food preparation.
The five key principles of food hygiene that we all should adhere to are;
1.Prevent contaminating food with pathogens spreading from people, pets, and pests.
2.Separate raw and cooked foods to prevent contaminating the cooked foods.
3.Cook foods for the appropriate length of time and at the appropriate temperature to kill pathogens.
4.Store food at the proper temperature.
5.Do use safe water and safe raw materials.

Food Hygiene Rating

Food Allergy

Food Safety Culture

Food Safety Culture

Food Labelling

Hand Hygiene

What is food safety?

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