Food hygiene is a set of processes that a food business can incorporate into their operations in order to ensure the food that prepare, serve and sell is safe for their customers to eat. It is an important part of food safety, which starts right at the beginning of the food supply chain. Food hygiene training is an important part of creating a good food safety culture in any food business. The quality of a team's food hygiene training is an important measure for EHO checks; see further info on the Food Standards Agency website.
Food hygiene training (sometimes referred to as food safety training) is the process that teaches food handlers how to produce safe food. Good food hygiene training covers the following topics:
Reputable food hygiene training courses will offer a food hygiene certificate on successful completion of the course and exam. Beware food training courses that appear to be free - they often spring unexpected and inflated charges on you to secure the certificate after you've finished the course!
Whether you are an established cook or looking for your first role in catering, a food hygiene certificate is an important part of your toolkit. We look at the top 5 reasons for passing your food safety course before you apply for that dream job.
This one should go without saying. The fundamental reason for taking a Level 2 Food hygiene course is to learn the principles of preparing safe food – it’s that simple! Understanding food safety challenges such as cross-contamination and knowing the difference between a Best-Before and a Use-By date are really important skills in a kitchen. Having an up-to-date certificate to show you have already mastered these skills gives an employer confidence before you even arrive for an interview and helps you hit the ground running.
This one is especially important when you are starting out in the food industry, perhaps looking for your very first food industry job. A food hygiene certificate demonstrates that you are genuinely interested enough in the sector to invest in your own training. For an entry level job, you won’t need to break the bank – Level 2 Food Safety (previously known as Basic Food Hygiene) is usually sufficient, and you can buy a single online course for £12+ VAT. BUT – there are lots of courses out there, and they vary in quality – make sure you look for a course that is accredited by a reputable body, such as Qualifi or CPD
Roles in catering and hospitality are generally busy and at some point you may be working without supervision. You need to be able to make the right decisions when working alone, and taking food related training courses, such as Food Safety, HACCP and Allergy Awareness, will help you to do that.
This is the scary one. As a food handler, you have a legal responsibility to do everything you reasonably can to make sure the food you serve is safe to eat. A good food hygiene course will explain your legal responsibilities and those of your employers and supervisors.
The food industry is becoming increasingly focussed on the environmental impact of food waste. Having a good understanding of food safety practices – especially fridge and freezer temperatures, food labelling and hot-holding, cooling and reheating methods – will enable you to do your bit in the war on waste. And for your employer, that means cost savings too – a big win-win!
Food Safety courses are readily available online, and can generally be taken in your own time, at your own pace. Good training providers will allow you to sample course content before you buy to check it is right for you – so perhaps a better question would be: ‘Why wouldn’t I need a Food Hygiene certificate?’
According to EU and UK law, all food business operators MUST ensure that their staff who handle food are appropriately trained and / or supervised to do so safely. This is part of the food business operator's legal requirement to prepare and serve food that is safe for consumers to eat. As well as potential damage to their reputation, the business faces significant fines if it puts customers' health at risk. The mains UK laws that cover food hygiene and training are the Food Safety Act 1990 and the amendments to this law made in 2006
In most food businesses, workers will be expected to perform some tasks without supervision. Good food safety training is therefore important as it teaches them the importance of principles. These include:
A food handler with a good understanding of food safety principles will be able to relate and apply these to the processes and systems in place in the kitchen. They will also be likely to recognise and deal with potential issues.
Your EHO will be keen to understand how safely your team handle food. Food hygiene certificates can be an important part of that process, but make sure that the courses you choose are credible. Use a reputable, well established training provider, ideally independently accredited (e.g. CPD or Qualifi). But food hygiene certificates do not tell the whole story. The EHO is likely to ask questions of your team, to establish whether their food safety knowledge is genuinely put into practice. This is where you get return on your investment into good quality, engaging training.
Food hygiene training can take several different formats - the appropriate type and level of training is dependent on a number of factors, including specific job role being performed, complexity of the food preparation, the number of staff to be trained and learning preferences of the team.
In a small operation, training may take the form of a supervisor teaching face to face on the job. An example could be a charity setting serving a very limited menu with little requirement for preparation and cooking. This can be an efficient method but does rely on the supervisor having both accurate food safety knowledge and effective teaching skills.
Formal food hygiene training has the advantage of a consistent syllabus. Each learner who undertakes a formal training course should cover the same, comprehensive material at the correct level. Training courses typically are available in two formats - face to face and online - each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
There's no legal requirement to display your team's certificates to the public. But it is a great way to show your customers that you take their safety seriously. With a free Safer Food Group business account, you can access your team's certificates at any time, and also check to make sure that everyone is up to date with their training.
Both online and face-to-face training have their own advantages and disadvantages. It's important to think about what suits your business and your team before making a decision. Click for our Knowledge posts that compares the different options.
Whilst a food hygiene certificate is not a specific legal requirement, ensuring your team have the skills and knowledge to operate safely is. Taking time to consider your training needs and find the most appropriate methods for your team is a sensible investment and can protect your customers, your reputation and your business.
Like Natasha's Law that precedes it, Owen's Law is a proposed new legislation that has come about following a severe allergic reaction suffered by a young person. Owen Carey was an 18-year-old boy with multiple severe allergies, including dairy. In 2017, while celebrating his birthday in London, Owen ordered a chicken burger at a restaurant. Assured by staff that the dish was safe for him to eat, Owen was unaware that the chicken had been marinated in buttermilk - a detail not disclosed on the menu or by the server. Following Owen Carey's tragic death, his parents have campaigned for better written communications of allergens on restaurant menus. At the time of writing, Owen's Law is still in development.
The Owen’s Law campaign calls for a series of changes, most significantly that allergy information must be included on menus in all food outlets, including restaurants and cafes, in the UK. As it currently stands, food outlets do not have to include written allergy information on their menus, although this is advised.
The other changes proposed by the campaign include:
Owen's parents have also suggested the development of several easy-to-use tech solutions, including accessible online allergen matrices, a smartphone app, and a personal QR code for allergy sufferers that allows quick and easy access to their allergy information.
This legislation should make dining out a less fraught and hazardous experience for the UK’s approximately two million food allergy sufferers.
Owen's Law has not yet been passed - below is a timeline of the campaign's progress so far:
| January 2020 | Joint response to coroner's report issued by FSA, DEFRA and DHSC |
| April 2021 | The Owen's Law campaign is launched |
| May 2023 | Petition debated in Parliament |
| December 2023 | Formal support received from the FSA, followed later by recommendation that the government adopts legislative changes proposed by the campaign* |
| October 2024 | The FSA launches a consultation to food businesses, consumers and local authorities to share their views on the proposed changes |
| November 2024 | Consultation closed |
| Next steps | We await the FSA's publication of findings from the public consultation, and subsequent steps to define and pass into statute |
In food outlets where menu items and ingredients remain the same for a period of time (e.g. chain restaurants), Owen's Law may not be too difficult to implement. However, in more dynamic operations where the menu may change from day-to-day, and ingredients are dependent on available supply, this law represents a potential challenge which will need to be embraced and solved.
Communication with suppliers will become increasingly important, as menus will need to reflect ingredients with 100% accuracy, even if a last-minute substitution has been made.
Potential options include the use of mobile devices and integration of QR codes in menus to provide customers with the latest allergy information, or alternatively, going entirely to QR-based menu systems and discontinuing physical menus. While this option would enable the latest menu information to be updated without the need for reprints, it may be a complex system to implement, depending on the size of the establishments.
However, the Republic of Ireland already has similar laws to those that have been proposed, and adherence in ROI has shown that these measures can be achieved and work effectively. With good support, sharing of best practice and dedication, the UK food industry can improve safety for allergy sufferers.
A petition for passing Owen’s Law was made available to the British public, which received significant backing at over 12,000 signatures and was eventually nominated for the Award by the Petition’s Committee. The petition's success resulted in a debate in Parliament that occurred in May 2023, which was a pivotal moment for the campaign as it highlighted the public's concern about food allergy issues. Following this, there were various personal stories that captured the attention of the public, such as Max, a 17-year-old with a severe peanut allergy, who advocated for Owen's Law, stating it would make people with allergies feel safer when dining out.
In anticipation of the new legislation, it is recommended that food businesses review their allergen policies and procedures. The Safer Food Group offers two options for food allergy training courses.
Level 2 Allergy Awareness: Suitable for all food handlers, and explains the fundamentals of food allergies and the key steps to creating safe food for allergy sufferers.
Level 3 Allergy Supervisor course: Explains your legal responsibilities as a food business, and details how to undertake an allergens risk assessment and put the correct processes, procedures and communications in place.
For any questions you may have, about Owen’s Law or any other food safety related queries, get in touch with an expert from our team at The Safer Food Group.
In the UK, by law:
'food business operators must ensure that food handlers receive the appropriate supervision and training in food hygiene, which is in-line with the area they work in and will enable them to handle food in the safest way' (Food Standards Agency, www.food.gov.uk)
This can mean that food handlers acquire the skills and knowledge they need through supervision, self-study, or using prior knowledge - but in practical terms, most employers and self-employed food business operators rely on formal training to ensure their staff operate safely. The standard level of training expected for a food handler in the UK is the Level 2 Food Hygiene certificate (also known as Basic Food Hygiene or Food Safety), however there are also Levels 1 and 3 to consider as well. As with any certificate, you may be wondering how long these last for, and whether you’ll need to renew
This is the entry-level course designed for individuals who do not directly handle food but may work in food-related environments, such as cleaners or waiting staff.
To summarise, because food safety training is currently advised rather than mandatory, there is no specified validity for Food Hygiene certificates. However, in order to keep up with the latest changes in legislation and best practice, it is generally advised by Environmental Health Officers and Practitioners (EHO/EHPs) that these types of courses are renewed every three years.
No, there aren’t direct legal consequences for not renewing a food hygiene certificate in the UK. Food hygiene certificates do not officially expire, and there is no legal requirement to renew them at any specific interval- however, this doesn’t mean that failing to renew is without potential risks.
If a food safety issue occurs, having outdated certificates could negatively impact an employer's reputation and potentially increase liability. Food handlers with outdated certificates may face challenges when seeking employment, as employers often prefer candidates with current certifications. During inspections, Environmental Health Officers will likely look favourably upon regular refresher training. An outdated certificate might raise concerns about a business's commitment to food safety standards.
We’ve discussed the risks that can occur when not renewing, but the actual benefits of renewing certificates are also important to acknowledge. Renewing makes sure that food handlers and managers:
Renewing your certificate is straightforward with The Safer Food Group. We offer online training options that are flexible and cost-effective, a business admin dashboard to monitor team training and renewal dates, as well as automated reminders for certificates nearing expiration.
Renew today: Click here to renew your Food Hygiene Certificate
One of the key questions we're asked in our roles as education specialists, is 'Which is better - online or face to face training?'. You may expect us to say online, every time - but that's not necessarily the case.
There's no doubt that an employer's training budget is one of the first to be squeezed in tough economic times, so it's crucial to spend that budget wisely. We've broken down some of the key considerations when deciding between training opportunities.
Break it down; a great way to retain more information is to study in chapters or chunks, allow the information to process, return and review before moving on. Online training allows the learner to progress at their own pace. This is especially important with conditions such as ADHD, which can mean a learner struggles to concentrate for longer periods of time.
Online training is flexible, and allows both night owls and morning larks to study when at their best.
Timing can fit around your work and home schedule. Kids settled in bed? Grab a cup of tea and a focused hour of training in the quiet of the evening. Post Christmas slump? Make the most of rota hours and fit training into quiet times.
Well built online training can suit a broad range of different learning styles, with audio, visual and interactive sections
Some online training offers recap quizzes throughout the course. These are a great way to monitor your own progress and spend more time on areas of weakness.
Online training is generally more cost effective than face to face, both in terms of price and travel expenses so your training budget can potentially stretch further and offer employees a broader range of opportunities.
Face to face training is great for highly technical subjects and more advanced levels as it offers the opportunity to ask questions and discuss complicated concepts with fellow students
Live training is also really useful for 'soft skills', where role play, feedback and mentorship play an important role in the learning process. Good examples of this are customer service and leadership training.
During face to face training, the trainer can check on learners progress. This is especially helpful when making sure the struggling learner doesn't get left behind.
Learners don't need access to any equipment such as a computer or smartphone - a pen and notepad will do.
Before you purchase training, there are some really crucial questions to ask....
What are your team like? Are they smartphone addicts, adept at scrolling and searching for the information they need online? Or are they more nervous learners, and more comfortable with the guiding hand of a real life trainer?
Is the training engaging, accessible and fun? Avoid training courses which offer death by PowerPoint, or reams of text - face to face AND online trainers can be guilty of this! So much progress has been made in updating teaching techniques, all trainers should take advantage of new methods and technologies to make their courses as rich and engaging as possible.
Do your team have accessibility requirements - for instance, sight or hearing challenges or learning difficulties? What training courses are available that meet these needs?
What quality assurance is available? All courses should have some kind of accreditation, issued by an awarding body such as CPD or Qualifi. This proves they've undergone external checks for academic rigour.
There are a number of factors employers must weigh up when choosing the right training for their team. Key considerations are - the type and level of subject matter, how your team learn and your budget. It's likely that a blend of both online and face to face courses, if chosen carefully, will meet your needs most effectively. Don't be afraid to try out different options and see which work best for you. If you'd like to check out The Safer Food Group's training courses, visit our website: www.thesaferfoodgroup.com
A team that is well trained in food safety and hygiene is recognised as a key indicator of quality in a UK food business. The benefits of well trained staff speak for themselves - including reduced food poisoning and allergy incidents and a greater likelihood of a 5-star rating. And these benefits can lead to a better reputation and more customers. But we know that increasing pressures on food businesses mean owners and operators continually look for cost reductions. Perhaps a free food hygiene certificate could help?
At the time of writing, we could not find any genuinely free Level 2 Food Hygiene certificates for UK operators. Some training providers give free access to learning material, but then request payment for the resulting certificate. This seems like quite a dishonest offer. Once you've committed time to the learning material and passed the course, you are more likely to pay for a certificate, even if the quality of learning content is not up to standard. Having undertaken one of these courses, we can confirm that many vital areas of food safety were missed. These included:
There is often an easy way to spot these courses as they are usually advertised as 'Free Level 2 Food Hygiene course plus certificate'. Always read the details!
We did find some free courses offered by the Food Standards Agency (FSA), including a food allergy and a root cause analysis course. These courses are genuinely free - the food allergy course has some interesting information for food manufacturers, especially those in supervisory roles. Worth a look and no paid for certificate at the end! And some learning providers do provide free courses that supplement their course portfolio and offer extra help to their customers. An example of this is The Safer Food Group's free 5-star rating course which assists a food operator to undertake their own safety audit in preparation for an EHO visit.
And speaking of EHO visits... The FSA do not endorse any one food hygiene course - but you can be fairly sure that your EHO will spot a certificate issued by a less scrupulous provider. They will be keen to test that your team genuinely understand their roles and responsibility when it comes to keeping food safe. So, if you are going to invest staff time in training courses, don't waste it on poor quality versions.
Typically, online Level 2 Food Hygiene training in the UK costs around £10 - £25. A higher price is not necessarily a guarantee of better quality; good indicators of a quality learning course include:
So perhaps a more sensible question should be:
A good quality, EHO approved Level 2 Food Hygiene training course is available for £12 + VAT from The Safer Food Group. Prices reduce even further for groups of 5 or more. The training takes approximately 3-4 hours for a new learner (experienced staff are likely to refresh their knowledge slightly quicker). Courses include video, fresh graphics, learner interactions and recap quizzes to allow the learner to test their knowledge. The Safer Food Group only delivers courses for the food industry so you can rely on their experience and expertise to train your team.
It's a small investment for the reassurance of having a team who understand and employ safe working practices, and the investment is rewarded by minimising the risks of food poisoning and allergy incidences.
With the ever rising costs of energy bills, ingredients and wages, running a profitable food business can seem like an impossible task. Rationalising costs becomes a necessity, and can make good business sense - but don't cut corners when it comes to food safety!
Food safety is everyone's business - creating a culture when every member of your team takes responsibility for creating and delivering safe food to your customers will enhance your reputation, and hopefully your profits. It can be tempting to cut back on team training when times are tough. But training is a vital business requirement, so instead of cutting back, look for options that offer you the best value, without reducing quality and effectiveness.
Online safety training can be both effective and great value - if you find the right provider for you. It's important to think about your team; how they operate, how they learn, what style of training is best for them? Are they mobile phone addicts who love to tap on screens and interact with content? Or are they more traditional learners who would prefer printed words and plenty of time to review and digest material?
The Safer Food Group online training has been designed to suit the needs of many different learners. Our new Level 2 Food Hygiene course is full of engaging graphics and interactive content. It can be studied at the learner's pace, and is accompanied by a course booklet to download and keep, as a helpful reminder of the course. To ensure no-one is excluded, our online safety training also features full accessibility features, to suit students with hearing, visual and learning challenges.
The benefits of great training can be seen when your EHO visits. Feeling confident that any member of your team has the right answers to hand and can demonstrate how they put them into practice is priceless. It demonstrates to the EHO that food safety is an integral part of your business, not just a folder full of forms that is completed the day before inspection.
Knowing that they have the skills and knowledge to get food safety right every time helps reduce your stress about food poisoning or allergy incidents, giving you more time to concentrate on running a great food business - positives all round.
HACCP training is often a requirement of staff in the hospitality, catering and food manufacturing industries. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, and is a method of creating and maintaining a food management system, based on a safety process originally designed by NASA. By using the HACCP process, a kitchen operator is able to identify any risks to food safety that may occur, put in place controls to monitor those risks and corrective actions when they do occur.
According to Article 5 of Regulation (EC) 852/2004, all UK food businesses must create, implement and maintain a food safety management system based on HACCP principles, so it is vital that there is knowledge of how to introduce and maintain a HACCP system in every food business. It is likely that many team members will be involved in some elements of HACCP - for instance, temperature monitoring, cleaning, auditing suppliers or ensuring that allergen systems are in place and adhered to. Therefore, HACCP training is a great investment, and a course that breaks down the process into simple steps, suitable for all levels of employee, is ideal. The Safer Food group HACCP training uses video and written content, alongside engaging graphics and strong accessibility features, to meet the training needs of your whole team, from supervisor to front of house, cleaner to chef.
As with most food safety training, HACCP training is currently advised rather than mandatory; as such there is no specified validity for HACCP certificates. However, in order to keep up with the latest changes in legislation and best practice, it is advised that these type of courses are renewed every three years. To renew your HACCP training with The Safer Food Group, click here and follow the link to our website.
UPFs are Ultra Processed Foods - you may have heard of them, as they've received a lot of press recently, but do you really understand what they are?
Many foods and ingredients we consume are processed to some extent. After all, most people don't use un-milled wheat, unbutchered meat or non-pasteurised milk. We may grow our own vegetables, fruit and herbs, forage the occasional blackberry, or even keep our own bees for honey. But, as most of us buy foods from producers or retailers, the majority of the foods we eat are processed in some way.
But some foods are processed to such a degree that they do not offer the health benefits of others, and can in fact present a risk to health. These are known as UPFs; a loose definition of UPFs is:
'products that typically contain large numbers of ingredients produced commercially, rather than domestically, and involving production methods that are not achievable during home preparation.'*
This is a really helpful definition if you need to make a quick analysis of a food. Let's break it down into three steps:
Other key signs that it might be a UPF are health claims on the packaging (e.g. 'low fat, 'source of protein'), products where the main ingredient has been turned into something very different (e.g. Corn chips), and the use of palm oil.
However, scientific sounding ingredients or unfamiliar processes are not always a red flag - for instance, calcium, iron, thiamine and niacin are micronutrients often added to flour, and using cornflour as a thickening agent is a standard process in a domestic setting. So taking some time to really understand ingredients lists is a great way to know what you're eating.
The NOVA classification system, created by Professor Carlos Monteiro and colleagues, has been designed to help us navigate UPFs. The four levels of processing described by the system are:
1. Unprocessed and minimally processed foods
These are foods that can be eaten or used in a domestic kitchen in their raw states, or after minor processing that doesn't change the food's major composition and properties. These process would include drying, chilling and freezing, crushing and grinding, pasteurisation, non-alcoholic fermentation and packaging. Such foods include raw, frozen and dried vegetables and fruit, fresh meat and fish, grains, legumes and rice, milk, plain yoghurt and raw eggs, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices. Nutritionally, this group of foods is a rich source of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals.
2. Processed culinary ingredients
These are foods that are often used as added ingredients in recipes used in domestic cooking. They typically originate from ingredients in category 1 but undergo process such as pressing, grinding, milling and refining to enhance certain properties or flavours. As such, these ingredients individually don't offer broad nutritional benefits, and are often used to increase the appeal of category 1 foods (e.g. improving mouth feel, sweetness or acidity).. Examples include plant oils, animal fats, sugar, syrup, honey, salt and vinegar.
3. Processed foods
Typically, these are foods where two or more foods from categories 1 and 2 are combined and further processed, for example cooked, smoked, fermented or packaged, or category 1 foods that have been modified, for instance cheese, ham, tinned vegetables. Examples of category 3 foods are salted crisps, nuts, seeds, freshly made bread (not intensively processed e.g. Chorleywood process), tinned foods, prepared fruits and smoked fish. Nutritionally, some of these foods can retain their benefits, especially minimally processed foods originally from category 1. However, others can be nutritionally unbalanced, especially those with significant levels of added salt, sugar and fats.
4. Ultra-processed foods
Despite this category's title, these foods are not just those that have undergone a number of processes to reach their final form. They can be foods that have been subject to several industrial processes, but this category also encompasses foods that have several ingredients, often including those that are only available in commercial settings, such as hydrolysed proteins, inverted sugars, emulsifiers and gelling agents. As examples - chocolate made on an industrial scale can have few ingredients but will have undergone at least 7 processes, whereas a cheap supermarket sausage ingredients list can look like this:
Some examples of foods which may fit into the UPF category are: fizzy drinks, packaged snacks, sweets, ice cream, cereals, cakes, pastries, fruit flavoured yoghurts, pies and pizzas, nuggets, and burgers - but of course, this depends on the production methods and number of ingredients. Nutritionally, UPFs are often energy dense and lacking in micronutrients.
We've touched on the nutritional concerns of UPF foods above. Typically, UPFs are high in energy dense macro nutrients (fats and carbohydrates). These easily absorbed calories can encourage overeating, and potentially lead to obesity and related serious health issues.
Some ingredients found in UPFs have been linked to other serious health conditions such as cancers, and consumers of diets high in UPFs can have a greater tendency to suffer from tooth decay, type 2 diabetes, depression and dementia.
Eating a diet that is high in UPFs and therefore lower in whole foods is likely to lead to a lack of key micronutrients essential for good health and a well functioning body. The Safer Food Group's Level 2 Nutritional Awareness course covers micronutrients and their vital role in our diet in more detail.
Unfortunately, consumption of UPF foods in the UK is at record levels, and the health of the nation is suffering as a result. UPFs are generally cheaper, more readily available and more convenient than their whole food alternatives, and therefore their prevalence is not surprising.
UPFs are not always easy to identify and are often presented as healthy options. Many mueslis for instance have a number of added industrial ingredients, despite their healthy basis of oats, nuts, seeds and fruits. Multi-seed breads may present some health benefits over their white alternatives, but mass produced versions will still consist of emulsifiers, added enzymes and oxidising agents, and will have undergone a high-speed mixing process to make it cheaper and more consistent to produce. Those looking to reduce meat consumption are often steered towards 'plant-based' foods - but often, the popular alternatives are far more processed than their meats counterparts.
What can food industry professionals do to help the increasing threat of UPFs? Learning about UPFs and their impact on nutrition is a great start; The Safer Food Group's Level 2 course is a solid starting place which explains how foods are composed and the impact of various macro and micronutrients on our health.
Those in menu planning roles can ensure that meals are based wherever possible on whole, minimally processed foods, and those with caring and teaching responsibilities can pass on basic knowledge about UPFs, and hopefully increase awareness to help to reverse the UPF trend.
And ultimately, like most things nutrition, it's all about balance. A diet that is largely based on whole foods, plenty of plants, a good balance of macro-nutrients and lots of variety can usually handle the odd packaged snack or pizza.
When deciding where to eat consumers consider many things, but perhaps the most important thing they will consider is your business’s food hygiene rating. The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme is run in conjunction with local authorities and will rate a business’s hygiene standards between 1 and 5 stars. During an assessment, you will be scored on three areas of hygiene: premises, food handling processes, and confidence in management. In order to achieve a 5 star food hygiene rating, you must score highly in all three areas. The following guide will walk you through what the Environmental Health Officer (EHO) will be looking to see in each of these areas, and how to attain the maximum score in all criteria so that you can earn a 5 star food hygiene rating for your business.
All three categories are scored via the imposition of intervention points. You are aiming to receive 0 intervention points in all 3 categories. The possible intervention points range from 0 to 25 in multiples of 5, and scores will be assigned based upon severity of faults as well as volume. To achieve a 5 star food hygiene rating, your total number of intervention points across the 3 categories cannot be greater than 15, and no specific category can incur more than 5 points. This means that, whilst there is a margin for error, it is a narrow one. As such, you cannot rely on this buffer to help you to achieve your 5 star food hygiene rating; you must aim for perfection.
First impressions are vital when it comes to your premises. The assessment begins as soon as the EHO arrives, and as a result, the hygiene standard of the premises can really set the tone for the whole inspection. To start, it is vital to ensure that the premises are fit for purpose. There should be dedicated handwashing facilities, a mains water connection and hot water access, drainage, and lights to spot hazards. The kitchen’s construction and surfaces should be adequately suitable for food preparation. Physical separation should exist to limit the risk of cross-contamination, ideally allowing the journey from preparation to service to flow logically. Equipment must be in working condition, operated as per the manufacturer’s instruction, and moveable in order to be cleaned and inspected. Lack of necessary equipment can be in and of itself the difference between a 5 star and a 4 star rating, even if replacements are on their way; regular maintenance and replacement in good time can combat this.
As with much of ensuring hygiene throughout, much of this section comes down to processes. Whilst the absence of pests is clearly important, it is a legal requirement to have systems in place to prevent access to pests and control any who may get in. Similarly, a waste system should be in place, with regularly cleaned and emptied bins with lids, adequate storage in a hygienic area, and a provision for the removal of waste. Finally, there need to be systems in place, such as a rota, for the regular cleaning and disinfecting of your premises, ensuring that the right chemicals are used safely to maintain good hygiene throughout. With adequate, evidenced systems in place, receiving no intervention points for your premises should be comfortably attainable.
The range of food you serve, the methods used for storing, preparing and serving it, and the prevention of food hazards are vital pieces in succeeding in this category. This section is primarily focused on ensuring you do not serve contaminated food, due to the risks it could pose to the customer. Food contamination comes in 4 different forms - bacterial hazards, physical hazards, chemical hazards, and allergenic ingredients - with the avoidance of contamination from all of these being crucial. In order to do so, you must take steps when storing and preparing the food, and have systems in place to ensure this too. When storing food, chilled and frozen food must be kept at the FSA recommended temperatures, and fridges and freezers regularly checked to ensure they are at the right levels. High-risk, raw, and ready-to-eat foods should be separated to avoid cross-contamination. Fresh ingredients should be labelled to indicate age, checked before use to ensure freshness, and all ingredients should be thrown out when reaching their best before or use-by dates. When preparing food, there should be a continued separation of high-risk, raw, and ready-to-eat foods, often signified by chopping board colours. There is no existing set colour scheme for chopping boards (for example, meat does not have to be red), but having a set scheme that all your staff know and follow is a straightforward way to demonstrate your effort to limit cross-contamination. If possible, it would be sensible to divide your food areas between dirty tasks, such as washing up, and clean tasks, such as plating up, to further reduce the risk of cross=contamination
In the previous category, the results largely depend on your actions, setting up your premises correctly and ensuring systems are in place to maintain these. This section, however, relies on any staff you employ to maintain good practices too. The EHO is entitled to, and will, ask your staff about their knowledge of the food safety aspects of their roles. It is your responsibility to ensure that they understand what is required of them from a food safety standpoint, the processes in place to prevent contamination of food, and why those processes exist. Perhaps the most important of these areas is handwashing; if hand hygiene standards are not being met, you are likely to receive at least 10 intervention points, automatically preventing you from being able to achieve a 5 star food hygiene rating. As a result, it is important to ensure all staff who handle food know how to adequately wash their hands, and that this is something they actually do, particularly following situations that could lead to contamination.
Confidence in management is the broadest of categories and overlaps somewhat with some of the tasks which are already covered by the first two categories. It is effectively a category which addresses the food hygiene culture which you have created. The EHO knows that a visit is just a snapshot of the day-to-day business, and thus will want to ensure that the processes they see demonstrated are always being followed. Every business is required by law to have and use its own Food Safety Management System. This is a system based upon the principles of HACCP, specifically tailored to the unique nature of your business, with acknowledgements of the types of food you prepare, the space you prepare it in, and any other specific challenges you may face. The evidence that the systems mentioned in the previous sections are being followed correctly will also be checked by your EHO, and absence of such evidence can constitute a significant issue.
The final element of confidence in management, and indeed in achieving a 5 star food hygiene rating, is how well the culture of food hygiene is maintained. All staff handling food should be trained in food hygiene, with evidence supplied to show this. Supervisors should be particularly knowledgeable, so as to ensure standards are maintained and processes are followed by all staff. Staff should be provided with suitable PPE for any task that may require it, and a uniform policy should be in place to limit the risks of cross-contamination. Visual cues, whilst not necessary, can also contribute to an overall sense of attentiveness to food hygiene. Finally, staff should be given sufficient time to complete any set task. Rushed tasks can lead to cut corners, which reduces the efficacy of the task, limiting its usefulness.
Ultimately, as the EHO can come for an inspection at any time, with no warning, you should be doing everything possible to ensure that regardless of when an inspection takes place, you are prepared, you have effective systems in place to maintain hygiene standards, and that these systems are being followed by all staff, who know their roles and responsibilities. Despite how it may feel, the EHO is not seeking to fail you; as long as you are taking every precaution to maintain hygiene, you stand in good stead to achieve your 5 star food hygiene rating.
The Safer Food Group
Unit 2, Integrity House,
Lower Lumsdale, Matlock
DE4 5EX
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