Food hygiene and safety frequently asked questions
Owning a food business
I want to start a food business - what do I have to
do?
Can I run a food business from my home?
Can the council close down food businesses which don't
comply with hygiene standards?
Do staff that handle food have to be trained in food
hygiene?
Food inspections
How can I make a complaint about an item of food that
I have bought?
How does the council keep a check on the food sold in
Ealing?
How often do food businesses have to be inspected by
Environmental Health officers?
What happens during food safety inspections?
The corner shop I use is not very clean or tidy - can
the council send someone round to inspect it?
What is your policy on enforcement?
Out of date food and storage
Is it illegal for a shop to have out-of-date food on
display?
What do
use by and
best before dates mean?
What temperature should you store food at?
Food poisoning
I have become ill after eating at a local restaurant -
what should I do?
What is food poisoning?
How do I avoid the spread of food poisoning?
Owning a food business
I
want to start a food business - what do I
have to do?
The
starting a food business section has guidance
on the regulations and requirements.
Can
I run a food business from my home?
You may need to obtain planning permission. You may
need to
register a food business. Your home must also
comply with the same food safety standards as any food premises,
and be inspected by food safety officers.
Can
the council close down food businesses which
don't comply with hygiene standards?
Yes, but conditions in the business have to be
very poor, eg very dirty premises or a serious pest infestation,
and we have to prove in court that there is a imminent risk to
health from the premises. In most cases we prefer to help
businesses comply with the regulations and trade successfully.
Do
staff that handle food have to be trained in
food hygiene?
In general all food handlers have to be trained. The
level of training required depends on the nature of their duties.
Staff that handle ready-to-eat foods (for example, sandwiches)
would require training equivalent to the
Foundation Certificate in Food Hygiene.
Food inspections
How
can I make a complaint about an item of food
that I have bought?
Contact the food safety team - they deal with many cases of
this kind, including foreign bodies in food, mouldy food and food
which is not what it claims to be on the label.
You will be asked to bring the food to our office and provide details to our officer. If the food is perishable please refrigerate or freeze it if you can't get it to us quickly. The defective food and details of purchase and the nature of the problem will be taken. You may be asked to write a 'Witness Statement'. Asking for a witness statement does not necessarily mean that we will prosecute, it merely helps us to collect information whilst it is fresh in your mind.
We will thoroughly and promptly investigate every complaint received in an attempt to establish the cause of the problem and to prevent a recurrence. The food may be sent to our laboratories for analysis and we may visit the premises where the food was prepared or sold.
These investigations can take several weeks. If you want to know what is happening to your complaint, please contact the food safety team quoting the complaint reference number which you will be given.
We will not seek to obtain or otherwise negotiate any compensation or redress on behalf of the complainant. If you feel a claim is appropriate, you are recommended to seek legal advice as soon as possible.
If you suffer from food poisoning as a consequence of eating contaminated food, you are advised to seek medical attention as soon as possible.
How
does the council keep a check on the food
sold in Ealing?
Officers from the Food Safety team carry out
routine sampling of food on a programmed basis from food businesses
in the borough. Samples are tested to see if the ingredients match
the label, if they contain any non-permitted additives or if they
contain dangerous bacteria. If a product is found not to comply
with standards we can insist on it being removed from
sale.
How often
do food businesses have to be inspected by
Environmental Health officers?
It depends on the risk associated with the particular
business, which in turn depends on the kind of business (eg a
restaurant poses a higher potential risk than a shop selling only
packaged food) and the condition of the business after it has been
assessed by the inspector at every visit. Inspection intervals
range from every six months (highest risk) to every five years
(lowest risk).
What
happens during food safety
inspections?
All food businesses in the borough are inspected
on a regular basis to ensure that the food sold to the public is
safe to consume. The frequency of these inspections depends upon
the potential risk posed by the type of business and its previous
record. Some premises might be inspected at least every six months,
others less often. The purpose of an inspection is:
- to ensure that food is being handled and produced hygienically
- to ensure that food is safe to eat
- to look at the potential risk for food poisoning or injury as a result of food consumed
- to ensure that the food handling staff are trained in food hygiene and handling
- to inspect the condition of equipment and the premises
- to ensure there are precautions to prevent pest infestation
- to ensure that staff are aware of the importance of personal hygiene
Inspectors will look at the operation of a food business to
identify potential hazards and to ensure they are following the
law. If problems are identified during the inspection, inspectors
can take enforcement action to protect the public. This can
include:
- taking samples and photographs of food and inspecting business records;
- writing to the proprietor informally, asking them to rectify any problems;
- serving an 'improvement notice' if the proprietor is breaking the law, which clearly states what the problem/offence is, what must be done to put it right and the time period for compliance. Failure to comply with the notice is an offence which will normally result in a prosecution;
- serving an 'emergency prohibition notice' which forbids the use of premises or equipment;
- recommending a prosecution in serious cases
If a prosecution is successful, the court may prohibit the business from using certain processes, premises or equipment, or the offender could be banned from managing a food business. It could also lead to a fine or imprisonment.
The corner
shop I use is not very clean or tidy - can
the council send someone round to inspect it?
Inspections are programmed according to risk. In order to
direct resources where they are most needed, visits outside the
inspections programme will usually only be made if there is a risk
to health. Customers themselves have power in this situation - they
can shop elsewhere.
What
is your policy on enforcement?
The environmental health unit aims to ensure that
all enforcement actions are consistent, fair and appropriate.
Out of date food and storage
Is it
illegal for a shop to have out-of-date food
on display?
Not necessarily - what matters is the condition
of the food when it is sold. Some date marking is only for guidance
(
best before) but food which is past its
use by date should not be eaten. The best advice is "if
food is out of date, don't buy it" and if a shop consistently
displays out of date food, shop elsewhere.
What
do
use by and
best before dates mean?
Best before are used on food with a long shelf life (for
example, biscuits) and are for guidance only. A
use by date is used on foods with a short shelf life (for
example, packaged sandwiches). It is illegal to sell food after its
use-by date.
What
temperature should you store food at?
Foods that need to be kept hot should be kept at
63°C or above. Foods that need to be kept cold should be kept
at 8°C or below (preferably at 5°C or below). Foods that need
to be kept frozen should be kept between –18°C to –24°C.
Food poisoning
I have
become ill after eating at a local
restaurant - what should I do?
Contact your GP as soon as possible. She or he
will assess your condition and probably ask you for a stool sample
- this can establish what kind of food poisoning you may have, and
with this information Environmental Health officers may be able to
link your illness to what you have eaten.
Remember however that most cases of food poisoning originate in the home. People often assume that the last meal they ate was the cause of their food poisoning symptoms. In fact the most common form of food poisoning can result from food eaten up to 11 days prior to symptoms becoming apparent. This obviously makes it difficult for officers to identify the cause of the illness unless a number of people (who haven't eaten any other meals together) have similar symptoms after eating food from the same source.
What
is food poisoning?
Food poisoning is an illness usually associated
with eating food that is contaminated with bacteria or viruses
(germs).
Symptoms typically include diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pains. People tend to automatically associate these symptoms with the last thing they ate out but surprisingly, most cases of food poisoning originate from within the home.
How do
I avoid the spread of food poisoning?
To prevent yourself from becoming ill avoid contact between
your mouth and those things that carry germs. To avoid passing
germs to others avoid contact between the food you have prepared
for others and those things that carry germs such as the nose,
mouth and hands.