Food Law Inspections and your business

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How do I start?

Identify hazards

You need to identify all hazards, and decide which are critical for food safety. If no major hazards exist, your analysis can simply be based on your own judgement, with no need for specialist skills or complicated techniques.

Whichever method you choose, it should be systematic and should take into account:

• all potential hazards;
• all aspects of your food business operation;
• your actual working procedures and conditions.

You may find it helpful to draw a flow diagram of your operation from purchase of ingredients through to the sale or service of the food. Food hazards can then be identified at each step and any necessary controls put in place.

The following table shows some, but not all, of the potential steps, hazards, controls and monitoring procedures a caterer may need to consider, for example.

Step	Hazard	Control	Monitoring
Purchase & Delivery.	Harmful bacteria, mould or foreign bodies present in/on food.	Use reputable suppliers Check goods on receipt.	Check delivery vehicles, date marks, temperatures and condition of food.
Storage.	Bacterial growth or further contamination by micro-organisms, chemicals etc.	Store at safe temperatures Cover/wrap foods. Separate raw/cooked foods. Stock rotation.	Check temperatures and date marks. Check storage conditions.
Preparation.	Bacterial growth or further contamination.	Limit handling times. Use clean equipment. Good personal hygiene. Hygienic premises.	Visual checks. Cleaning schedules.
Cooking.	Survival of harmful bacteria.	Adequate cooking eg. cook to a safe centre temperature.	Cooking times. Routine temperature checks.
Further Storage.	Growth of bacteria. Further contamination.	Store at safe temperatures. Cover/wrap foods. Separate raw/ cooked foods.	Check temperatures. Visual checks

Many food manufacturers and `high risk' food businesses may prefer a more structured system, using written records of hazard analysis to set up effective control. Specialists like food research and trade associations can give further advice or sources of advice on how to do this, as will your Environmental Health Services.

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