Food Safety - Food Hygiene & Foods Safety Law

Food Hygiene & Food Safety Law

The purpose of food hygiene and food safety legislation is to protect the consumer from food safety risks and ensure that food is stored, prepared, handled, distributed and sold in a hygienic manner.

The following provides an overview of the main food hygiene and food safety law;

The General Food Regulations 2004

These Regulations require food business operators to comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002.

Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002

Article 14 - Food Safety Requirements

Food shall not be placed on the market if it is "unsafe".  Unsafe means that food should not be injurious to health or unfit for human consumption.

In practical terms food should not be sold or offered for sale if it contains harmful substances, such as high levels of heavy metal or is contaminated so that it would be unreasonable to expect the consumer to eat it in that particular state.

Article 18 - Traceability

The traceability of food and any other substance intended to be incorporated into a food shall be established at all stages of production, processing and distribution.

This means that all food business operators should be able to demonstrate where they have purchased foods and ingredients from and who they have supplied food to. 

In practical terms this will involve keeping records from food suppliers, such as invoices, to show where food has come from.  Receipts will show what foods have been sold.  Where one food business supplies food to another business copies of receipts or invoices to show what foods have been supplied onwards should also be kept.

Article 19 - Product withdrawal & recall

Where a food business operator considers or has reason to believe that food which it has imported, produced, processed, manufactured or distributed does not comply with the food safety requirements, of Article 14 (see above), it shall immediately initiate procedures to withdraw the food in question where the food has left the immediate control of that food business operator and inform the competent authorities.  Where products may have reached the consumer the operator shall inform the consumers of the reason for the withdrawal and if necessary recall from the consumers products already supplied.

This means that if a food business takes action to either withdraw or recall food it must, by law notify the Council. 

There is also a legal requirement for food businesses to notify the Council in cases where they have placed on the market food which is regarded as "injurious to health".

You can complete our online form to request further advice on Food Safety legal issues.

The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006

These Regulations require food business operators to comply with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.

Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004

Article 4 - General and specific hygiene requirements

Food business operators shall comply with the general hygiene requirements of Annex II and any specific requirements of Regulation (EC) No. 853/2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin.

Annex II of the Regulation covers the following topics;

1.  Design/construction and layout of food premises - to allow maintenance, cleaning, avoid air-borne contamination and provide space for hygienic food operations.

2.  Structural condition and maintenance of food premises

3.  Provision of sinks, for washing food and washing equipment and hand washbasins with hot and cold running water

4.  Provision of adequate drainage

5.  Provision of ventilation

6. Provision of adequate lighting

7.  Provision of toilets and lobbies

8.  Cleanliness of food premises

9.  Training of food handlers

10.  Protecting food from a risk of contamination

11.  Pest control arrangements

12.  Personal hygiene of food handlers

13.  Condition and maintenance of equipment

14. Provision of potable water

15.  Arrangements for disposing of food wastes

You can complete our online form to request further advice on Food Safety legal issues.

Article 5 - Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP)

Food business operators shall put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on the HACCP principles.  This essentially means operating a food safety management system.

The HACCP principles are;

 1.  Identify any hazards that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels;

2.  Identify the critical control points at the steps at which control is essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard or to reduce it to acceptable levels;

3.  Establish critical limits at critical control points which separate acceptability from unacceptability for the prevention , elimination or reduction of identified hazards;

4.  Establish and implement effective monitoring procedures at critical control points;

5.  Establish corrective actions when monitoring indicates that a critical control point is not under control;

6.  Establish procedures which shall be carried out regularly to verify that the measures from 1-5 above are working effectively;

7.  Establish documents and records to demonstrate the effective application of the measures from 1-6 above.

 

You can complete our online form to request further advice on Food Safety HACCP.

Article 6 - Registration & Approval

Food business operators shall notify the competent authorities with a view to the registration of premises.

Food business operators shall ensure competent authorities always have up-to-date information on premises including notifying any significant change in activities and any closure of an existing premises.

You can complete our online form to request further advice on Food Safety registration.

 

Sources of Advice

Food Standards Agency (FSA)

You can complete our online form to request further advice on Food Safety legal issues.

 

Contact Information

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council

Regulatory Services

PO Box 602

Barnsley

S70 9FB

Telephone 01226 772468

Fax 01226 775699

E-mail Regulatoryservices@barnsley.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

 

Last modified on 15/9/2008