‘Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice: Catering 2016’ - BHA

Following our earlier article, the British Hospitality Association (BHA) today publishes their Industry Guide to Good Hygiene Practice: Catering 2016, which is has been prepared in consultation with the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland.

This is the first update to the guidelines in 20 years and will help businesses who serve food to do so safely.

The serious consequences of poor food safety has been highlighted in numerous reports over the year and regrettably 2016 has been no different.  In May we reported the case of Mr. Zarman who owned and operated restaurants in Yorkshire, he was convicted of manslaughter following the death of a customer who suffered a fatal anaphylactic shock after eating the peanuts in his takeaway meal.  Mr Zarman was given a custodial sentence of six years for his actions which lead to the tragic death.

The new guide, which is designed to help responsible to understand their responsibilities and achieve compliance with food hygiene law includes:

• Information to be taken into account by Local Authority enforcement officers when carrying out inspections of your business
• The requirements of “How to comply with the law”
• Guidance to achieve the top score in the respective national Hygiene Ratings Scheme
• Requirements for premises and equipment
• Food hygiene and safety procedures
• Food safety management procedures and HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) systems
• Advice on training requirements for different levels of staff
• Best practice arrangements that businesses may choose to implement beyond the scope of the law
• Advice on how to comply with the allergen requirements of the Food Information for Consumers Regulation 2014

The guide will is available in hard copy (unit price £16 exc.VAT) or as a downloadable PDF (unit price £10 exc.VAT), both can be ordered through the BHA website which can be found here.