In the last two decades, the UK has witnessed
a number of serious food safety incidents. The media
paid particular attention to the BSE, Salmonella and
E. Coli O157 crises. The Food Safety Act 1990 (FSA 1990)
provides a robust food safety law framework, however,
as a result of high profile incidents, concerns remain
over the safety of food in the UK. For example, the
Pennington Enquiry into the E. Coli O157 outbreak in
Scotland revealed that ‘inertia, indifference
and ignorance’ led to deaths and serious injury.
Food businesses in the UK are required to apply HACCP
principles to eliminate or minimise food safety risks.
Our consultants have extensive hands-on experience in
food safety having worked in the food industry and/or
as Environmental Health practitioners. We offer our
clients the benefits of our extensive experience, including
support in the event of a serious incident such as food
poisoning or claims for compensation following alleged
contamination of food.
Consultancy
To be fully compliant with legislation, food businesses
need a documented HACCP based Food Safety Management
System. Not only is this useful in food safety management,
but it can form a crucial part of your defence in the
unfortunate event of legal action being taken against
you or your company.
"Due diligence defence" (Food Safety Act
1990, Food & Environment Protection Act 1985 and
the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006) or their
equivalent in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It is a defence for any person charged with an offence
under this legislation to prove that he took ‘all
reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence’
to avoid the commission of the offence. The burden of
proving the defence, on the balance of probability,
falls on the defendant.
A fully operational system, including trained food handlers, would enable the food business to confidently pursue new clients such as multiple retail supermarkets, local authorities and the NHS, who would expect food hygiene and management systems to be above the legal minimum standard.
We have developed food safety management systems over many
years based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points
(HACCP) for UK and international clients.
We can incorporate
- Food safety/ hygiene policy
- Hygiene procedures and cleaning programmes
- HACCP studies and associated documented procedures
- Supplier appraisal
- Pest control systems
- Temperature control
- Prevention of Food poisoning
- Food complaints Handling System
- Prevention and control of food emergencies
- Traceability
- Product withdrawal and recall systems
Auditing
In order to ensure that any food safety management system
is implemented, it is important to carry out regular
auditing of the procedures. Auditing checklists can
be developed for food businesses to suit the individual
client whilst ensuring that they are compliant with
the law.
For food business with multiple units throughout United
Kingdom, we can provide the Head Office with meaningful
feedback on the performance of each unit. We have extensive
experience of developing supplier appraisal systems
based on perceived food safety risks of the product
being sourced from the supplier. Further, we can carry
out third party supplier auditing on your behalf to
satisfy ‘due diligence’ requirements.
Documented audit systems may greatly assist a defence
of due diligence against alleged breaches of the law
and claims for compensation made against you.
Food Safety Training
Food Safety Regulations require the food business
operator to ensure that food handlers are ‘supervised
and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters
commensurate with their work’.
Sentinel is an accredited training centre with the
Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and
the Royal Institute of Public Health (RIPH). All courses
are delivered by qualified trainers with extensive experience
in industry and/or enforcement agencies. Please find
below, a range of accredited food hygiene courses we
offer:
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety for Retail
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety for Manufacturing
- Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering
- Level 3 Award in Food Safety Supervision for Manufacturing
- Level 3 Award in Food Safety Supervision for Retail
- Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety in Catering
- Level 3 Award in HACCP for Food Manufacturing
- Level 4 Award in Food Safety management for Manufacturing
- Level 4 Award in Food Safety in Catering
MTC accredited courses:
- HACCP for Butchers and Meat Plant Managers
We specialise in developing bespoke food hygiene courses to suit your particular needs. Examples of courses already developed:
- HACCP Awareness and Implementation
- Pest Control
- Auditing Techniques
- Enforcement Challenge Training for Managers
- Prevention of Contamination (for Engineers)
- Food Factory Hygiene
Enquiry form
Languages
We can also offer training in Cantonese, Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali and Urdu.
Please contact us for further details. |
