by Mary Daly www.marydaly.ie
Mary Daly
Traditionally in food businesses the assessment of the safety of the food was made after the food was eaten by the customer. The assumption was that if there were no customer complaints, if nobody got sick and business was good, then the food was safe.
It is now accepted that food safety must be managed. Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a tool for identifying what can go wrong to make food unsafe to eat and then deciding how it can be prevented.
HACCP is a food safety management system that identifies and controls any hazards that could pose a danger to the preparation of safe food. This is an accepted standard by all food operators and became part of Irish Law in 1994.
The management system involves identifying what can go wrong, planning to prevent it and making sure you are continuously doing it. While HACCP is a legal requirement, it will also have many benefits for the effective running of your business resulting in greater efficiency, better quality and reduces the risk of product liability.
Before implementing a HACCP system, butcher shops must put in place a number of basic food hygiene conditions and practices referred to as ‘prerequisites’.
For example:
1. Cleaning and sanitation – e.g., regular cleaning of premises and equipment.
2. Maintenance – e.g., repairs and routine maintenance of premises and equipment.
3. Personnel hygiene.
4. Pest Control – e.g., air intake points and opening external windows in the food preparation areas should be fitted with a fly screen.
5. Plant and equipment – e.g., use of hygienically designed equipment installed in a way that enables easy access for cleaning.
6. Premises and structure – e.g., size of the premises must be adequate for the volume of business.
7. Services – water, waste management, staff facilities etc
8. Storage, distribution and transport – e.g., storage of foods at the correct temperature in a manner that ensures separation of raw and ready-to-eat foods.
9. Zoning – e.g., physical separation of activities to prevent food contamination.
Common Hazards
Once the basic hygiene practices are in place HACCP can help to identify where food safety risks still exist and how they can be best dealt with.
There are four food safety hazards that threaten butcher shops in particular. They are:
Microbiological – harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning, e.g., ecoli, salmonella, Listeria etc
Chemical contamination – e.g., veterinary drugs, cleaning agents, aftershave, oil/grease etc.
Physical contamination or a foreign body ¬– e.g., hair, plastic, jewellery, nail, piece of metal etc.
Allergens – food which people are allergic to.
Having identified the hazards within your business it is important to set about implementing a programme to control them. When carrying out your programme it is important to remember the following:
Plan what controls need to be established;
Do what you say you are doing;
Check that you are doing it correctly;
Act when things go wrong.
Good control measures include:
• Monitor temperatures at least twice daily.
• Ensure carcass has tag with blue strip and keep for a period of a year
• Keep raw meat and cooked food, vegetables and dry goods apart
• Keep worktops/equipment and areas clean
• Keep food labelled and in date
• Avoid the use of sawdust
• Control waste and ensure pest control is in place.
In order to monitor critical areas it is important for staff to keep user friendly record sheets. These records are a legal requirement and maybe your defence tool, in case of alleged food poisoning.
Food Safety Training:
A very important step in this programme is ensuring that all staff members have received appropriate food hygiene training and understand the importance of the HACCP system. Training is a legal requirement and evidence of training must be retained.
Three levels of training are required:
1. Induction training for new staff (FSAI, level 1);
2. The Primary Course in Food Hygiene, certified by the Environmental Health Officers Association for all regular staff (FSAI level 2);
3. Management of Food Hygiene, certified by the NHP (FSAI level 3) for managers, proprietors, supervisors.
Training can be grant aided this year. Please contact mary@marydaly.ie ,for details.
Traceability:
Since January 2005, all food businesses have a legal responsibility to implement a traceability system and to recall food that is not compliant with food safety requirements. All food businesses must be able to identify their suppliers, and those supplying businesses must in turn be able to identify their customers. Any food that is placed on the market must be adequately labelled to ensure traceability throughout the food chain.
