Food safety management

The Legislation

Under Article 5 of Regulation (EC) 852/2004, food businesses must put in place, implement and maintain a food safety management system based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) principles to ensure the food produced from their premises is safe to eat.

The extent and complexity of this system will depend on the nature and size of the business.

What is HACCP?

HACCP is a widely accepted food safety management system, which can be easily adapted to suit all types and size of food business. Its concept focuses on the prevention of food safety problems before they occur and is accepted by international authorities as the most effective means of controlling food-borne diseases.

There are seven principles of HACCP:

1. conduct a hazard analysis
2. determine the critical control points (CCP)
3. establish critical limits
4. establish monitoring procedure to control the CCP's
5. establish corrective action when monitoring indicates the CCP is not controlled
6. put in place procedures for verification/confirm that the HACCP is working effectively
7. retain documentation for all procedures and records

It is important to review the HACCP at regular intervals.

In order to comply with this regulation, toolkits can be downloaded directly from the Food Standards Agency Website www.food.gov.uk. Safer Food Better Business, Safe Catering and Cook Safe are examples of toolkits that can provide the necessary guidance to comply with the regulations.

Training

Under the regulations, the person responsible for developing and maintaining the food safety procedures must have received adequate training.