If restaurant kitchens have processes in place to avoid food poisoning, why can't they have allergen safe kitchens?
It’s a fair question wouldn't you say?
If a restaurant inspection flags up health and safety issues where food poisoning poses a risk to customers, they will be asked to rectify the issues immediately and even shut down until they can prove safety measures have been put in place. Yet, this isn't the case for kitchen allergen safety.
Natasha’s Foundation would like to see Food Hygiene Ratings also include allergen safety management. The ratings 1-5 are given at the time of inspection as restaurants/food businesses are expected to always comply with food hygiene laws. This includes handling of food; how food is stored; how food is prepared; cleanliness of facilities and how food safety is managed.
Ratings are typically given to restaurants, pubs and cafes; takeaways, food vans and stalls; canteens and hotels; supermarkets and other food shops and schools, hospitals and care homes.
A food safety officer from the local authority inspects a food business to check that it follows food hygiene laws. At the inspection, they will check the following three elements:
how hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored.
the physical condition of the business –including cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation, pest control and other facilities.
how the business manages ways of keeping food safe, looking at processes, training, and systems to ensure good hygiene is maintained. The officer can then assess the level of confidence in standards being maintained in the future.
Because there are no mandatory allergen requirements for food businesses to comply with, we are asking that allergen management be included in Food Hygiene Ratings.
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