The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) reported a 13% increase in food safety complaints received through their helpline in 2011 compared to 2010. A total of 2,415 calls the Authority's helpline received in 2011 were related to food safety complaints: 966 callers complained about unfit food, 497 callers complained about suspected food poisoning, 446 callers complained about unsatisfactory hygiene standards and 509 callers complained about labelling and advertising or had other complaints to make.
Overall, the data published shows an increasing awareness of the public about food safety issues. Edel Conway, FSAI Information Manager: "The increase in complaints is a positive indication of people's heightened awareness of their right to expect high standards of hygiene and food safety in relation to food."
Food businesses that want to stay in business or even increase their business must deal with this heightened awareness pro-actively by making sure, hygiene standards follow best practice and all employees are sufficiently trained to deliver food safety at the highest standard.
There are a number of food safety training options available to food businesses. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has published guidelines for food safety training at three different levels of experience: Induction (level 1), Advanced (Level 2) and Management (Level 3).
Training at Level 1 and level 2 is available from MKRMS Food Safety, who deliver monthly Level 2 Food Safety Training (EHOA certified) and hold in-house inductions for employees as the need arises. In partnership with the Institute of Online Services, MKRMS Food Safety have developed a short and easy-to-use online training programme that meets the requirements of Level 1 (Induction) training. It is called Food Safety Essentials and can be accessed here: http://elearning.trainingios.com. The online course is certified by MKRMS, a certificate can be downloaded after successfully completing a short certification test.
A Level 2 food safety course will start on the 20th March 2012 in Westpoint, Clonard, Wexford. The course will run over four nights (6pm to 9 pm) on the 20th, 22nd, 27th and 29th March 2012. Places are still available. To book or for Information contact Matthias on 086-8355546 or email training@mkrms.com.
Avoiding Closure - Tip 3: Independent Audits
In 2011, 66 food businesses from all sectors of the food and hospitality industry were closed by the authorities. For approximately 10 percent, this official closure was final - until this day, they haven't re-opened. Avoiding closure is easy. All it takes is to maintain good food hygiene and to keep up-to-date with food safety management and HACCP. To ensure ongoing compliance, it is helpful to employ a third party assessor: a professional who approaches the business with a pair of fresh eyes and completely un-biased.
Being issued with a closure order is a desaster for every food business. Once the order is issued by an Environmental Health Officer it has to be complied with immediately: Patrons or customers have to be sent home, the business has to lock its doors and must remain closed until the authorities give the all-clear. The order is published on the Internet, including details like the business address and the name of the proprietor. Local and national newspapers usually publish the list of offenders as soon as the Food Safety Authority has published its monthly press release. Especially in small communities, word travels like wildfire, adding rumor and false information along its way.
All it takes to avoid closure is to have all hygiene and food safety affairs in order and up-to date records and documentation readily available when an inspector arrives at your premises.
An increasing number of food business owners realise that it takes more than goodwill and a head square on the shoulders to be successful in the fight against complacency and selective blindness. They occasionally employ a food safety professional to assess their business, its operations and paperwork for compliance with all legal requirements. This helps them to get an outsider's view (just like the Inspector's) without the nasty consequences. A food safety professional will issue a detailed audit report, which makes it easy to rectify anything that might have been missed or that has slipped the attention of staff and management - before the Inspector arrives.
MKRMS Food Safety can help your business remain compliant by independently examining your food business, its operations and all required documentation. Before the assessment, we will take the time to establish what to assess, when to assess and how to carry out the assessment to maximise the benefit for your restaurant, pub, takeaway, deli or supermarket. After the assessment, we will make our audit report accessible to you together with a detailed to-do-list that makes it easy to address all shortfalls with minimum effort and cost.
Contact us for more information: 086-835 55 46 or info@mkrms.com.
Being issued with a closure order is a desaster for every food business. Once the order is issued by an Environmental Health Officer it has to be complied with immediately: Patrons or customers have to be sent home, the business has to lock its doors and must remain closed until the authorities give the all-clear. The order is published on the Internet, including details like the business address and the name of the proprietor. Local and national newspapers usually publish the list of offenders as soon as the Food Safety Authority has published its monthly press release. Especially in small communities, word travels like wildfire, adding rumor and false information along its way.
All it takes to avoid closure is to have all hygiene and food safety affairs in order and up-to date records and documentation readily available when an inspector arrives at your premises.
An increasing number of food business owners realise that it takes more than goodwill and a head square on the shoulders to be successful in the fight against complacency and selective blindness. They occasionally employ a food safety professional to assess their business, its operations and paperwork for compliance with all legal requirements. This helps them to get an outsider's view (just like the Inspector's) without the nasty consequences. A food safety professional will issue a detailed audit report, which makes it easy to rectify anything that might have been missed or that has slipped the attention of staff and management - before the Inspector arrives.
MKRMS Food Safety can help your business remain compliant by independently examining your food business, its operations and all required documentation. Before the assessment, we will take the time to establish what to assess, when to assess and how to carry out the assessment to maximise the benefit for your restaurant, pub, takeaway, deli or supermarket. After the assessment, we will make our audit report accessible to you together with a detailed to-do-list that makes it easy to address all shortfalls with minimum effort and cost.
Contact us for more information: 086-835 55 46 or info@mkrms.com.
Pro-active Food Safety Management - Another Way of Avoiding Closure
66 food business closure orders were served on Irish Restaurants, Shops, Takeaways, Hotels, Food Processors... no industry sector was spared. 88 enforcement orders were served in total during 2011. Reports indicate that this represents an increase of 12% on 2010. In absolute numbers: closure orders were at an all-time high with an increase by 9 (from 57 in 2010 - which in itself was a record). There are a number of reasons for the ever increasing numbers of businesses that get under pressure, with the economic climate being cited most frequently. Blaming the economy and pressure on individual businesses for this disastrous situation stays short of the real problem: qualification and knowledgeability of food business owners. In reality, the cost to maintain hygienic operations is small - all it takes is regular cleaning and pro-actively managing food safety with a working HACCP system.
HACCP, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points is a system in which potential food safety hazards are identified prior to a problem occurring. Ideally, a HACCP food safety management system is established before a food business starts its operations. The system has a number of benefits: It is cost-effective, because it does not depend on expensive equipment or infrastructure. It is time-effective, because it focuses attention on areas with identified risks. It is easy to implement, because it does not require extensive training or specialist knowledge - it is not rocket science.
For most food businesses, the HACCP system works with the investment of a little time and money. Implementing a HACCP system follows a set series of steps. It starts with assembling a team of operational experts, the Food Safety Team, which use their combined expertise to develop and implement a tailored food safety system that meets the exact needs of the business. In a next step, the Food Safety Team identifies the nature of products that are used and the processes these products are exposed to in the business.
After all basic information has been compiled and verified, it is time to apply the seven principles of HACCP to the operations of the (future) business: 1.) Perform a Hazard Analysis, 2.) Identify Critical Control Points, 3.) Set Critical Limits for Food Safety Control, 4.) Establish a monitoring system for each CCP, 5.) Define Corrective Action in case a limit is exceeded, 6.) Decide on Verification activities and 7.) Document the whole system.
The HACCP system contains all strategies that are necessary to ensure that all food is kept safe at all times and at all processing steps. This is predominantly time and temperature control to control potential growth of bacteria, but can also comprise foreign body control or control of chemical hazards, where these are not controlled by a Pre-Requisite Programme or by good hygiene practices like cleaning, controlled storage or the prevention of cross-contamination.
Once the HACCP system is implemented to the necessary standards, all it takes to maintain the system is the provision of records and the time to record and evaluate the results that are generated by the HACCP system.
The biggest advantage of the system, however is that food business operators become very clear of what is required in their business to ensure no customer can ever contract a food borne illness from a product that originated in the business. To tie this back to the threat of closure: a food business operator who is clear about the potential problems in the business and what to do to avoid them can easily and with little effort maintain the premises in a hygienically acceptable condition.
MKRMS Food Safety provide help with designing and implementing bespoke HACCP systems. If you need help or want information, contact Matthias on 086-835 55 46 or email mkausch@mkrms.com.
HACCP, Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points is a system in which potential food safety hazards are identified prior to a problem occurring. Ideally, a HACCP food safety management system is established before a food business starts its operations. The system has a number of benefits: It is cost-effective, because it does not depend on expensive equipment or infrastructure. It is time-effective, because it focuses attention on areas with identified risks. It is easy to implement, because it does not require extensive training or specialist knowledge - it is not rocket science.
For most food businesses, the HACCP system works with the investment of a little time and money. Implementing a HACCP system follows a set series of steps. It starts with assembling a team of operational experts, the Food Safety Team, which use their combined expertise to develop and implement a tailored food safety system that meets the exact needs of the business. In a next step, the Food Safety Team identifies the nature of products that are used and the processes these products are exposed to in the business.
After all basic information has been compiled and verified, it is time to apply the seven principles of HACCP to the operations of the (future) business: 1.) Perform a Hazard Analysis, 2.) Identify Critical Control Points, 3.) Set Critical Limits for Food Safety Control, 4.) Establish a monitoring system for each CCP, 5.) Define Corrective Action in case a limit is exceeded, 6.) Decide on Verification activities and 7.) Document the whole system.
The HACCP system contains all strategies that are necessary to ensure that all food is kept safe at all times and at all processing steps. This is predominantly time and temperature control to control potential growth of bacteria, but can also comprise foreign body control or control of chemical hazards, where these are not controlled by a Pre-Requisite Programme or by good hygiene practices like cleaning, controlled storage or the prevention of cross-contamination.
Once the HACCP system is implemented to the necessary standards, all it takes to maintain the system is the provision of records and the time to record and evaluate the results that are generated by the HACCP system.
The biggest advantage of the system, however is that food business operators become very clear of what is required in their business to ensure no customer can ever contract a food borne illness from a product that originated in the business. To tie this back to the threat of closure: a food business operator who is clear about the potential problems in the business and what to do to avoid them can easily and with little effort maintain the premises in a hygienically acceptable condition.
MKRMS Food Safety provide help with designing and implementing bespoke HACCP systems. If you need help or want information, contact Matthias on 086-835 55 46 or email mkausch@mkrms.com.
Food Safety Training - One Way to Reduce the Risk of Getting Closed
66 food businesses were served with closure orders by the authorities in 2011. That is a sad record and hopefully the end of a sad and depressing development that has started when things turned sour in 2008. Interestingly, no food sector was spared: restaurants, pubs, hotels, processing... businesses in all sectors were found not to be fit for trading by Environmental Health Officers or inspectors from other authorities.
Regular and qualified food safety training helps employees and business owners to keep the business afloat and to avoid closure.
Avoiding closure is not difficult: food business must ensure hygienic conditions in their food storage and processing/preparation facilities at all times. Interestingly enough, closure orders were served on businesses that blatantly disregarded simple food hygiene rules: staff were allowed to sleep in food storage areas, food was allowed to rot on the shelves, on occasions, pest control was poor. None of these closure orders was unavoidable, unpredictable or issued by overzealous, unjust inspectors.
One lesson can be learned from this: don't do anything in a professional kitchen that you wouldn't do at home. Basic and simple things like regular and thorough cleaning or safe storing of food and utensil greatly help to maintain a hygienic food preparation environment. Obviously, some things happen regularly in private homes that must never happen in a professional kitchen: use of out-of-date foods, disregarding of cross-contamination risks, poor hand-washing. All these poor hygiene practices are offences and can trigger the serving of a closure order or even prosecution.
If you feel you need help with your hygiene procedures, if things are starting to get out of hand or if you feel you have lost control over your food preparation: Get professional help! Employing a qualified food safety consultant is much cheaper than having to suffer through the hell of food safety law enforcement: annoyed inspectors, annoyed customers, bad press, the loss of business for a number of days, weeks or months...
MKRMS Food Safety provides assistance: We train, inspect, analyse and provide support to food businesses. We like to be called before things get out of hand, but we are very good at putting things right again as well.
A first step on the path to good food safety is training: MKRMS Food Safety offers EHOA-certified food safety training. Courses are held monthly. The next course will take place on the 24th/25th January in Westpoint Business Park, Wexford. Contact Matthias on 086 - 8355546.
Regular and qualified food safety training helps employees and business owners to keep the business afloat and to avoid closure.
Avoiding closure is not difficult: food business must ensure hygienic conditions in their food storage and processing/preparation facilities at all times. Interestingly enough, closure orders were served on businesses that blatantly disregarded simple food hygiene rules: staff were allowed to sleep in food storage areas, food was allowed to rot on the shelves, on occasions, pest control was poor. None of these closure orders was unavoidable, unpredictable or issued by overzealous, unjust inspectors.
One lesson can be learned from this: don't do anything in a professional kitchen that you wouldn't do at home. Basic and simple things like regular and thorough cleaning or safe storing of food and utensil greatly help to maintain a hygienic food preparation environment. Obviously, some things happen regularly in private homes that must never happen in a professional kitchen: use of out-of-date foods, disregarding of cross-contamination risks, poor hand-washing. All these poor hygiene practices are offences and can trigger the serving of a closure order or even prosecution.
If you feel you need help with your hygiene procedures, if things are starting to get out of hand or if you feel you have lost control over your food preparation: Get professional help! Employing a qualified food safety consultant is much cheaper than having to suffer through the hell of food safety law enforcement: annoyed inspectors, annoyed customers, bad press, the loss of business for a number of days, weeks or months...
MKRMS Food Safety provides assistance: We train, inspect, analyse and provide support to food businesses. We like to be called before things get out of hand, but we are very good at putting things right again as well.
A first step on the path to good food safety is training: MKRMS Food Safety offers EHOA-certified food safety training. Courses are held monthly. The next course will take place on the 24th/25th January in Westpoint Business Park, Wexford. Contact Matthias on 086 - 8355546.
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