Safer Food Better Business

[Guest]

Hi

 

we have always had our dinners cooked and sent over to us, but now we are having a cook (when one is employed that is!) but until then staff will be cooking the lunches.

we have used safer food better business in nursery, but so far it has only really required us recording the food temperature before we serve it.

 

if we are cooking our own food what records do we need to maintain?,

 

and for those of you that know safer food better business do you know if we have to continue using their format for recording info, or would it be sufficient to devise our own table, which records info such as food made, temp cooked to, served time etc....

 

any ideas,

 

Dawn

[narnia]

haven't had this booklet, but, my guess (as a former chef!) would be that you have to be accountable for tons of stuff:

Buying from reputable food suppliers and keeping records from them (in general, not necessarily on a daily basis, unless it is a new item to your menus) of where they source the food..so, say you use fresh chicken, your butcher must be able to tell you where he buys it from, how it is stored between abbatoir and arriving at the butchers, and how he stores it himself until sold on;

you MUST keep records of temperature of delivery vans for frozen or chilled foodstuffs...and the driver MUST give you a form showing the vans temperature.It is good practice for you to go and check the van yourself when a delivery is made.........and if necessary, to measure the temperature, using a probe.NO delivery person will object to you doing this.You must reject any chilled food which arrives at anything above 5c or any frozen foods which arrive at more than -18c

Fruit and veg people should be able to tell you where they source their supplies......is it a local grower, or warehouse?

You must record your own fridge and freezer temps each day,again, 5c or less for fridges (legal temp is actually 8c, but it is considered very good practice to keep it at 5 or less) and -18c or less for freezers,

food stored in F/f's must display use by dates, or, if you have frozen items which you have cooked yourself, you must show when it was cooked (and by whom)and then frozen, and a use by date.

You must show due diligence in all your routines.............wearing appropriate, clean clothing, which is put on at the place of work and not worn at home and brought in on you!Keep chopping/prep boards for particular things..there is no legal colour for any particular job, it's up to you which you use for what job, but you should display a sign showing your particular coding system,No jewellery(except a plain wedding band if you wear one), no perfumes etc.

It would be good practice to keep a record of your daily menu for some time after it was it was served, in case

Ensure you have a colour code for cleaning cloths

ensure you have a COSHH record to hand (all your cleaning substances etc and what harm they cab cause and how to deal with emergency situations involving those substances)

you will have to be able to demonstrate good stock control and rotation(newer items stored behind older items etc )

food should never be stored at floor level (pests etc)

All food handlers and cooks must have a basic food hygiene certificate as a minimum.

 

hope this helps..................

[Guest]

Narnia,

 

that helps loads, thank you very much

[Guest]

I don't know what the procedure is called but I recall quite a few years ago when I was an Accreditation assessor a preschool which served dinners kept a sample of each food served, in a sealed container, for a period of ( I think) 3 days. This, I was told was a requirement so that in the event of a child ( or any other person) coming down with food poisoning, the samples could be tested to see whether the setting was the source or not. Don't know if this was a legal requirement. It certainly made me think that providing food for the public is full of minefields ( that's why my husband left catering, as a Master Chef).

 

He suggests that you contact your local Environmental Health Officer who will gladely & freely give you all the advice you need.

 

Good Luck,

 

Peggy