This week the Food Standards Agency (FSA) launched their national food hygiene rating scheme nationwide.  Finally, there’s no need to be concerned about the standard of food from that dodgy burger van in town, your local Chinese takeaway or that grotty-looking greasy cafe in your village!   Instead, you’ll be able to see the ‘scores on the doors’ for all food establishments, from shopping centers to high street pubs and restaurants.

The FSA, in partnership with local authorities, will assign stickers to restaurants, takeaways, cafes and supermarket for display on their shop front.  The stickers are bright green and black, and show a rating of 0 – 5 in the new national food hygiene rating scheme.

Early adopters of the food hygiene rating scheme published their ratings on line at food.gov.uk/ratings earlier this year.   The outstanding authorities are expected to join and post their scores over the coming months.

How it works:

After an inspection by the local council’s food safety officers, food establishments will receive their stickers for display, which will tell visiting consumers if the inspection found that ‘urgent improvement’ is necessary or if standards are ‘very good’.

The stickers feature five circled numbers, with that particular establishment’s rating clearly highlighted (see picture: right).

Food safety officers will check how hygienically food is handled, how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored. They’ll also look at the condition of the building, its facilities and how it manages food safety (for example, fridge temperatures and staff training).

The aim of this exercise, according to the FSA, is to cut reported one million food poisoning cases, which are reported every year.

The food hygiene rating system will help to reduce food poisoning cases by letting potential customers view establishments’ rating.  This should encourage owners to be more vigilant with their food hygiene practices and allow people the opportunity to reward highly rated establishments with their custom.

The roll out of this scheme replaces the many ‘local’ schemes many authorities operated across the UK, as many of the grading schemes were inconsistent (different methods and symbols).  The new scheme will help to avoid confusion and provide clarity and consistency for customers.

A high proportion of surveyed members of the public  (86%) believe that food hygiene standards are very important when they’re eating out.

In addition, 23% of people indicated that they’ve sent back undercooked poultry when eating out.

This week an EU-survey found that Britons are more worried about animal welfare than food safety.

The survey was conducted for the European Food Safety Authority and it polled the opinions of nearly 26,700 people from Europe. This included 1,300 individuals from Great Britain.

In the study, more Britons announced concerns for the poor treatment of animals, such as cattle, than with the prospect of being poisoned by salmonella.

The Guardian has reported that high profile campaigns by famous chefs have contributed to the Britons’ concern with animal welfare. This is largely down to the success of TV shows like Jamie Oliver’s program ‘Fowl Dinners’, which set out to discourage people from eating battery-farmed chickens.

British and European statistics:

Only 7% of Brits were scored highly when asked if they were worried about food damaging their health. This is in comparison to 14% of Brits voting they were highly concerned that the economic crisis would negatively impact their lives.

67% of Britons were concerned about the welfare of farmed animals, compared to the EU average of 64%.

Britons are also typically less worried about pesticides, hormones in meat, additives, GM foods, food poisoning and salmonella, bird flu and BSE than our European counterparts.

Additional questions looked into public confidence and asked:

“How did you react to the last information you heard, saw or read
about a type of food being unsafe?“

Like our EU counterparts, around 35% of Brits avoided the food in the story for a while, whereas more European participants got worried but eventually ignored the problem, and a higher proportion of Brits simply ignored the concerns and didn’t change their eating habits.

Additionally, an alarming 53% (which is 24% higher than the European average) declared that even when they were told particular types of food were bad for their health, they ignored the warnings and didn’t change their eating habits.

It appears that the British public also distrusts messages on food safety from the media, with only 31% confident that newspapers, TV and radio would give accurate information about the risk. Almost 50% of European participants (on average) said they were totally confident in the information provided by their media.

You can view the reports here.

This week the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) assessed 808 “general function health claims”, including opinions on probiotic yoghurts, such as Yakult.

To date, the EFSA has assessed over 1,700 claims from a list of 4,637 that have been sent to the European Commission and Member States, which are responsible for authorising such claims..

The panel assessing the claims considers all available scientific data before reaching a conclusion.  If there is insufficient evidence to support the health claims, the review is unfavourable.

Reviews carried out usually investigate claims around vitamins, minerals, weight management, fatty acids, vision, heart health, probiotic yoghurts and digestion.

The EFSA will rule the investigation unfavourably if the general health claim does not specifiy which particular ingredient is actively improving health.  An example of this is cereal that makes a claim about ‘dietary fibre’ but does not specify a particular fibre.

Additionally, some company’s’ investigations lacked evidence that supported the claim they’re beneficial to help maintain or improve bodily functions, while others weren’t precise when specifiying how claims are being carried out (e.g. a health food claiming it gives you vitality – where does that vitality come from, how does it work?)

Yakult

Probiotic drinks, such as Yacult were criticised in the panel’s review.  They examined a dossier detailing 12 studies, which were submitted by Yakult.  The studies aimed to support the claim that the proprietary strain of probiotic bacteria helped maintain immune defenses against the common cold.  The panel decided all 12 studies were in adequate there is in fact no evidence to support this claim.

Danone

Danone is currently the market leader in probiotic products.  They’ve recently had to withdraw claims from their products, and no longer state that Actimel and Activia boost the immune system and aid digestion.

With the “mmm Danone” and “Bifidus Digestivum” adverts ingrained in the public’s mind, it is likely that many will carry on buying the products (which all have high margins and make big profits), blissfully unaware that they’re drinking something that ISN’T healthy and WON’T do them any good.  (I highly doubt Danone will spend thousands on a marketing campaign to correct their misinformation!)

According to the Guardian, nearly 60% of UK households regularly buy probiotic drinks from the UK food industry, which is worth over £200m a year.

Food Safety Training

Do you (or your team) need food safety training? If so, head on over to our site and learn how you can get a recognised qualification in as little as two hours!

Dead cockroaches, mouse droppings and filthy kitchen equipment lead to a failed inspection for T.G.I Friday’s flagship branch in Covent Garden.

The Covent Garden branch was closed down for six days last year, and in August the branch was ordered to pay a £30,000 fine after Environmental Health Officers found mouse droppings in a bag of sugar, declared the bar area unhygienic and found that that the restaurant wasn’t providing hot water for customers in hand basins.

Mouse infestation:

The council sent Environmental Health Officers to the Covent Garden branch of T.G.I Friday’s after receiving six separate complaints from the restaurant’s customers, after they’d spotted mice outside the establishment.  When the case was taken to court, it emerged that staff had known about the mouse infestation for over one year before the Environmental Health Officers visited.

The prosecutor, Felicia Davy said:

“The floors and the kitchen were filthy and a pile of cockroaches was found in a drawer.  It was clearly a breeding ground for rodents.”

The company admitted to six charges of breaching food hygiene laws.

Councillor Daniel Astaire, cabinet member for Community Safety, said:

“These were appalling hygiene breaches, particularly for such a renowned restaurant chain which frankly, should have known better. We hope this serves as a lesson to all food businesses that such poor standards are not acceptable and that we will always push for the strongest possible punishment against offenders.

“The restaurant industry is a vital part of our economy, and we will not tolerate any behaviour which could jeopardise it or the safety of our millions of visitors.”

Clean up:

The restaurant was allowed to reopen after the six-day closure period, only after spending £66,000 on a clean up of the kitchens.  It’s been reported that inspectors caught 65 mice from the American-themed restaurant last July during the clean up.

The Covent Garden restaurant seems to have got its reputation back on track, as last week the branch held the ‘ T.G.I Friday’s UK Bartender Championship’, which saw Manchester local Adam Friend win the final.  He’ll now go on to take part in the European Championships, representing the UK.

Don’t risk having to pay £96,000!

£66,000 for the clean up + £30,000 fine = a very expensive mistake.  Ensure your staff are properly trained in food hygiene, train them online and receive a certificate the next working day!  Click here to learn more about our food hygiene certificates.

Study shows that ‘bags for life’ could pose a threat to shoppers’ health.

Earlier this year a joint study by the University of Arizona and Limo Loma University found that although reusable shopping bags were better for the environment, they’re not better for shoppers’ health.

Random shoppers’ bags were tested in Tuscon, LA and San Francisco, where researchers found that the reusable grocery bags harbored harmful bacteria, including E.coli.

Consumers were unaware of the risks, with a staggering 97% of shoppers admitting that they have never washed or bleached out their reusable bags between shopping trips.

Harmful bacteria on produce is usually killed when items are cooked before eating, but the nature of the reusable bags means that one week the bag may be used for meat and the next, fruit.  Anybody who ingests the bacteria could suffer from unpleasant side effects, but young children, elderly people and pregnant women are most at risk.

E.coli was detected in half the bags sampled during the research.

E.coli is found in the intestines of humans and animals, and it is passed on through faeces.  It can survive in the environment.  It is usually transferred to humans by ingesting it through contaminated water or through contaminated food, such as uncooked meat.

The Government’s anti-waste watchdog, ‘Wrap’ estimates that there are hundreds of millions of bags for life in use in the UK.  A spokesman said: “Recently there have been concerns in the press that there are health risks from reusing shopping bags in relation to poor hygiene. WRAP recommends that only clean bags in a good state of repair are used and that bags contaminated with food should be cleaned before reusing. Bags that are in poor state of repair should be recycled at carrier bag recycling points.”

Unsafe levels of harmful bacteria were found in over half the clothes tested in a recent study by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

Dirty dishcloths can lead to severe cases of food poisoning if they’re not regularly changed or disinfected. High levels of bacteria on dishcloths can indicate poor food hygiene practices.

The HPA tested 133 cloths from 120 fast-food kitchens and restaurants in the North East of England and found that a staggering 56% of cloths contained unacceptable levels of bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae, E. colo, Staphylococcus aureus and Listeria.

Listeria, in particular, is dangerous as even low levels can cause serious illnesses to vulnerable groups, such as pregnant women, the elderly and those with an impaired immune system.

Recommended advice

It’s recommended that restaurants should use disposable cloths and change them regularly, though the study found that only a third of restaurants and take-away kitchens were adhering to this advice.  The remaining 60% of establishments used re-usable dishcloths, with 15% unsure as to how often these cloths should be replaced.

Cross-contamination

Almost a quarter of cloths sampled had been used in both ready-to-eat and raw food preparation areas, leading to cross-contamination and the spread of harmful bacteria.

Disinfection of cloths

A high amount of establishments only disinfected their clothes every 10-24 hours and a number of participants admitted to leaving it longer than 24 hours.

Anything that comes into contact with dirty dishcloths will serve as a breeding ground for bacteria.  This could include employee’s hands, work surfaces and any equipment wiped by the cloths.

Dr John Piggott, the lead author from the HPA’s Food, Water and Environmental Microbiology laboratory in Leeds said:

“Although many [restaurants and takeaway kitchens] disinfected their cloths using bleach or other disinfectants, soaking does not remove the food on which the bacteria grow.  The disinfectant qualities of bleach do wear off after a period of time so soaking large amounts of cloths together can result in bacteria contaminating more cloths and creating more potential problems.”

“All of the premises in our study were given advice on how to practice better hygiene and they will be revisited to make sure that procedures have improved.”

This week Starbucks has revealed plans to offer a range of NVQs to baristas working in their outlets in the UK.  The training scheme, which will cost the company several million pounds, will improve customer experience, boost morale and help ease high levels of staff turn over, plus give staff a range of transferable skills to use in the future.

Staff will be able to earn NVQ qualifications in areas related to their roles, such as food hygiene or they can apply for funding from the ‘Starbucks pot’ to gain new skills in different areas, such as learning a language.

The NVQ in food hygiene training scheme will begin next summer, but will only be open to supervisors for the first two years.  Then the scheme will open up to junior staff too.

Following in the footsteps of companies like McDonalds, Starbucks hopes to do the training in house and award it’s own nationally recognised NVQ qualifications.

There will also be a course for senior managers at the Ashridge Business School, which will be an MBA-style course.

‘Best Barista’

In addition to the NVQ in food hygiene programme and the MBA-style qualification for managers, Starbucks is also introducing the ‘Best Barista’ recruitment-training scheme.  This will teach store managers how to spot potential employees that share the Starbucks set of ‘values’.  They want to recruit staff that are committed to community work, volunteering and of course, have a real passion for coffee.

Talking about the new schemes, Darcy Wilson-Rymer, Managing Director for the UK and Ireland Starbucks coffee shops says:  “When we were devising our new strategy, we asked our partners what mattered to them and they told us loud and clear that they wanted the opportunity to build a career at Starbucks and gain transferable skills.  It’s good news for our customers who want to see familiar faces, but it’s also the right thing to do at a time when coffee shops are providing so many jobs.”

Starbucks employs over 9,000 members of staff in the UK but had to cut roughly 150 roles in Britain during the recession.

Don’t work for Starbucks but want a food hygiene qualification?  You can get a food hygiene certificate in as little as two hours by visiting our website: click here.

Food production giants, Premier Foods have been fined nearly 17,000 after a mouse was found baked into a loaf of its Hovis ‘Best of Both’ bread.

Stephen Forse, a father of three young children, found the mouse crushed into the loaf while buttering bread to make sandwiches for his children.  The animal’s tail was missing, raising fears that it may have already been eaten.

Mr Forse thought, initially, that the dark colour he spotted on the crust was just some dough that hadn’t mixed properly, but on closer inspection he noticed the mouse’s fur.  Quietly, he put the loaf to one side and made his children a new sandwich from a different loaf of bread, this time cautiously checking each slice thoroughly before using it.

Not hungry

Mr Forse said that he was ‘quite shaken’ from the incident.  Understandably, Forse couldn’t eat after spotting the mouse and told his daughter he ‘wasn’t feeling hungry’ as they sat around the table to eat lunch.

Mr Forse then gave the contaminated loaf to environmental heath officers who took it away for forensic analysis.  Later, Premier Foods pleaded guilty to failing to ensure all stages of food production were protected against contamination and for failing to maintain a robust pest management system at its bakery in London.

99% of British households buy Premier Foods

This news has come as a shock to many people, as it’s estimated that 99% of British households buy products produced by Premier Foods.  Though we can take comfort in the fact that Premier Foods maintain that there was no evidence of mice within the bakery and there isn’t a history of similar issues.  Production ceased on the line until a thorough investigation was conducted.  Premier Foods maintain this was an ‘isolated incident.’

Vermin

Mice are vermin, which carry diseases including salmonella.  If contracted, salmonella can lead to severe diarrhoea, sickness and fever.  This can be fatal to children, the elderly and those with a compromised immune system.

Thankfully, neither Mr Forse nor his family suffered ill health from eating contaminated bread from the loaf.

Mouse’s tail

It’s still not known what happened to the mouse’s tail, Mr Forse commented:

”Had it fallen off prior to the bread being wrapped or had any of my family eaten it with another slice of bread on a previous day?”

You can read the original story here, at the Small World News Service and see a photograph of the mouse-contaminated loaf.

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If you’re just starting out, the idea of ‘food hygiene’ can be a little daunting, perhaps even off-putting! There’s a shed load of laws, rules and regulations that you (and your staff) need to know.

Get things right, and your business could be very successful – but get it wrong and you could face legal implications such as fines and imprisonment.

Hopefully, this little guide will ease some of the stress and teach you some of the basics.

It’s all about making sure your food is safe to eat:

You need to make sure that any food your business serves is safe to eat – this is a legal requirement, and good food hygiene practices will help with this!

The 4 Cs:

So, there are four things to remember, these are called the 4 Cs:

• Cleaning,
• Chilling,
• Cooking,
• Cross-Contamination.

Cleaning:

Good cleaning practices will stop harmful bacteria spreading around your kitchen and onto the food you’ll be serving.

Here are some good cleaning tips.

Ensure that:

• You and your staff wash hands thoroughly when handling food
• All food areas are cleaned between food preparation tasks
• All equipment is cleaned between food preparation tasks
• Create a cleaning schedule for your kitchen
• Show staff how items should be cleaned properly
• You and your team are cleaning as you go along
• All products are suitable for the job
• Food waste is taken out regularly

Did you know: most food businesses are prosecuted due to a lack of basic cleanliness… ?

Cooking:

Cook raw food thoroughly and it’ll kill all the harmful bacteria, but undercooking will cause food poisoning!

Did you know: It’s a legal requirement to keep hot food to the temperature of 63oC or above.

Chilling:

Keep food cold enough and it’ll stop harmful bacteria from growing.  In England, Wales and Northern Ireland it’s a legal requirement to keep cold food below 8oC.

Top tip: Set your fridge to 5oC to ensure it’s constantly cold enough.  Check fridge temperatures regularly every day and train your staff to do the same.

Cross-contamination:

If raw food comes into contact with cooked food, bacteria can spread and your customers may become ill.

Raw food may come into contact with cooked food if:

• You fail to wash your hands properly after handling raw food
• You don’t clean equipment correctly between preparations
• You position raw food on the top shelf of the fridge, above cooked food & juices drip down.

Top tip: Lower the risk of cross-contamination by keeping raw foods in separate fridges to cooked foods, by thoroughly cleaning work surfaces/equipment and by washing your hands regularly.

And lastly, food hygiene certificates:

You AND your staff will all need a  food hygiene certificate before starting work.  If you need one, we can help you! Find out more: click here.

The Chinese government is cracking down on food safety crimes and the worse offenders will face the death penalty.

This news comes from the official Xinhua news agency, which has cited a joint notice from the Public Security Bureau, The Supreme Court, the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate.

All have agreed that large-scale cases violating food safety laws must be punished aggressively. This comes after several high profile incidents over the last couple of years.  It’s reported that the Chinese government are deeply embarrassed by the various food safety cases, and are taking a ‘no nonsense’ approach by dishing out harsh punishments in the future.

Xinhua quoted the notice as saying:

“Those deserving death penalties should be resolutely sentenced to death.”

The notice didn’t announce changes to the food safety law, but courts were instructed to order the highest penalties allowed.

Using the death penalty to punish food safety violators isn’t new:  after a series of scandals involving milk formula two years ago, which killed two babies and left over 300,000 ill, two people were executed and others were jailed for a substantial number of years.

Because food safety problems have continued, the Chinese government is intent to enforce capital punishment for those who continue to violate the laws.

The notice also promised severe punishments for officials who accept bribes and who knowingly ignore food safety offenders.   The notice says the government officials “should not be given a reprieve or be exempt from criminal punishment.”

This notice hasn’t been received without criticism: China currently holds the record for the most executions per year out of any country and critics argue that here the death penalty is applied too often.

Additionally, Wang Di of the Global Times observes that enforcing the death penalty will not guarantee food safety in the future.  Wang Di argues that pursuing other avenues would be more productive:

“However, past experience in China suggests that the death penalty does not halt food safety-related crimes. More comprehensive food safety surveillance, adequate supervision over local governments’ law enforcement, and a focus on crime prevention rather than on punishment may be more workable solutions.”

What do you think? Is the death penalty too harsh, or is it acceptable to use capital punishment in cases such as the baby/milk scandal?

Are your team violating food safety laws?  Make sure they’re equipped with a  food hygiene certificate.  It takes just two hours online!

Our food hygiene certificates meet UK/EU regs, are CPD accredited (level 2) and take just two hours to complete:  Find out more: click here.