Food Hygiene & Safety
Find out more about our Food Safety & Hygiene Services
Food Safety Management
The provision of food in most organisations today is an outsourced or contracted activity, yet where are the risks most likely to be realised? Our team incorporates consultants who are appropriately qualified with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) up to Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety in Catering offering you proactive advice and support with your food safety management. We also have Environmental Health Officer experience within our team, with expert knowledge on how regulation enforcement works.
We have the flexibility to adapt quickly to any urgent situations our customers may come up against and provide them with the necessary level of information and consultancy that they require. We can also help you to make sure your decision making on your catering provision is good for you, as well as your supplier. If you are looking for a more complete review of your workplace including food safety our Workplace Environmental Assessment service might be for you too.
Benefits
Services
- Food safety audits
- Food safety management documentation
- Catering supplier food safety management review
The provision of food is a key element of looking after employees. Even if you contract out your catering, you are still ultimately responsible for food safety. At best, food can aid performance and even enhance employee loyalty; at worst, it can be a threat to your employee’s health and productivity. You need food safety management that can look at your service from all angles.
Our consultants can also advise you on the use of our online compliance management solution “Assurity Plus” to view real-time progress of your allocated actions, simplify the way you work, demonstrate greater compliance control, have useable management reporting and enhanced visibility of risks.
Read our independent guide on the legislative requirements for food safety
Specifics
Latest articles
Oil company fined £1.2m after two workers suffer multiple burn injuries
4th June 2020
Oil refinery company, Phillips 66 Ltd was sentenced for safety breaches after two workers in North Lincolnshire suffered life-changing injuries from an uncontrolled release of high pressure and high temperature steam.
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The polluting problems with plastic PPE during the pandemic
4th June 2020
Since February 2020, some 761 million pieces of PPE, largely made from plastic, have been distributed in the UK alone. Many images have emerged of plastic-based PPE equipment ending up in the natural environment, adding to the near 12 billion pieces of single-use plastic that is anticipated to seep into landfill and the natural environment by 2050.
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Rail passenger journeys see dramatic fall towards the end of March
4th June 2020
New government statistics show that rail passenger journeys in Great Britain saw a dramatic fall towards the end of the quarter ending in March of this year following the impact of the coronavirus, as people heeded government advice against all unnecessary travel.
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Huddersfield company fined £366,850 after worker crushed to death
4th June 2020
A fibre manufacturing company whose health and safety 'complacency' led to an employee being crushed to death in a Golcar factory has been fined. IFG Drake Ltd, which is based in Bradford, has been ordered to pay £366,850 - three years after the death of Javeed Ghaffar at its plant in Victoria Mills.
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Issue 5: Coronavirus - workplace support information and guidance
22nd May 2020
With a back to work message this month and the release of “Our Plan to Rebuild: The UK Government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy” there has been a host of support information and guidance produced for us to consider. So, what does it mean for your organisation?
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More flexible work after lockdown expected by almost half of workers, survey finds
7th May 2020
Research has shown productivity has been maintained for many home workers during the crisis, but experts warn staff will need support for this to be the case long term. Almost half (45 per cent) of workers expect to work more flexibly after lockdown.
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Hotel group and company director ordered to pay £220,000 for fire safety breaches
7th May 2020
The company that owns one of the largest hotel groups in Europe, and one of its operations directors, has been fined a total of £220,850 for serious breaches of fire safety regulations which put the staff and guests of a popular Milton Keynes hotel at serious risk. Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the sentencing hearing was conducted virtually via Skype.
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Case studies
Roffey Park Institute - Providing a safe learning environment for staff and visitors with Assurity Consulting
Roffey Park Institute is an international, research led learning and development organisation. They focus on personal, team and organisational learning in leadership, management, human resource development, and organisational development.
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Slaughter and May Believing in Workplace Compliance
Slaughter and May is regarded as one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. They advise on high profile and groundbreaking international transactions and have an excellent and varied client list that includes leading companies, organisations and governments.
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Food Safety FAQs
Acrylamide is a chemical substance produced from cooking (baking, frying, grilling, roasting and toasting) starchy foods at high temperatures (above 120°C). Foods which acrylamide can be found in include chips, crisps, cakes, biscuits and cereals. There are concerns that acrylamide in the diet causes cancer in humans and therefore the amount of acrylamide in our diets needs to be reduced as a precaution. The management of acrylamide needs to be documented within your food safety management system to demonstrate the risk from this substance has been considered and is being managed.
Some food businesses chose to document control measures within their Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), whilst others chose to have a separate policy – either is acceptable. You need to make sure accurate information is available on request if a customer raises an allergen query relating to any of the 14 allergens relating to your menu. With regard to practical allergen management in the kitchen, this needs to reflect the documented controls and should be practical and achievable to keep the food safe from delivery to service.
To effectively manage your food safety and catering, it needs to be considered from the supplier and facilities perspective, because even if your catering is contracted out, it is ultimately you who is responsible.
Yes, your contract caterer is performing audits of their systems and performance, but how are you satisfying yourself of their effectiveness? When the local authority visit they are going to want to know that what is in place is safe and being well managed, shouldn’t you be auditing for that too?
We have the expertise to assess these areas. Our range of services will challenge where you are, and highlight any gaps in your management. We can also support you during visits from Environmental Health Practitioners.
Where you are providing food services, high standards of hygiene in the preparation and delivery of that food is of paramount importance. A food safety audit would provide the ideal grounding to challenge your current position and provide an action plan to get on track.
Food Safety Management
If you would like expert, independent advice on food safety management within your building, please contact us for a detailed, confidential and without-obligation discussion of your requirements.
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