The Food Safety Act 1990 + Food Safety (General Hygiene) Regulations 1995 Flashcards
What is ‘The Food Safety Act 1990’?
It’s an act of Parliament; it’s the statutory responsibility to treat food for human consumption in a controlled and managed way. E.g. not adding any additional substances/flavourings as it may be against a person’s religion
What are the main principles of ‘Food Safety’?
- Ensure nothing is added in the food, take anything out or treat food where it would be damaging to the health of the people eating it
- Ensure food that is served or sold is of the nature, substance or quality which consumers would expect
- Ensure food is labelled, advertised + presented in a way that isn’t false/misleading
How can ‘The Food Safety Act’ be applied to care settings?
- Safe practice is important to the promotion of dignity in care. There are a number of legislative measures + regulations to support health and safety at work; they’re intended to protect those in work, using public services + wider public
- The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), Environmental Health Officer (EHO), local authority, Trading Standards + CQC can prosecute those against the act’s standards
What’s involved in the day to day duties for an EHO?
- Regularly inspect restaurants + takeaways
- Question employers and employees
- Writing improvement notices
- Inspect systems/routines
- Inspect cross contamination
What legislation + regulations are EHOs enforcing/following?
- Food Hygiene Rating; between 0 - 5, where 5 is excellent
- COSHH, substances being thrown out in different bins (to prevent/avoid contamination)
- Food Hygiene training/course
How do EHOs maintain high standards to protect the public?
- Storage
- Preparations
- Frequent inspections
- Routines/plans/daily checks
- Systems in place e.g. stock rotations
What causes people to get ill?
- Pests
- Food left out for a long period of time at room temp
- Coughing/sneezing
- Cross contamination
What are some effects with food poisoning?
Important to note that effects aren’t always straight away, can come months later
- Vomiting violently + regularly
- Extreme weight loss
- Kidney failure (in extreme circumstances)
How does this promote health, safety and security?
- Employers have their own responsibility for all
- They inspect food, seize food, condemn it, serve notice of improvement where necessary + can close them down if not followed
- Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) can be linked in
What are some of the main features of the Food Safety (General Hygiene) Regulations 1995?
- Equipment should be checked regularly and be kept clean to avoid contamination
- Food handlers should be trained + supervised
- Raw meat and ready to eat products should be prepped on separate boards, preventing contamination
- Risk assessing + policies/procedures
- Temperature controls e.g. fridges, freezers
