The purpose of food premises inspections
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To identify contraventions of and ensure compliance with food safety legislation.
- To identify potential risks arising from the activities carried out in the food business and to ensure that appropriate controls have been developed and are being properly implemented. This is often referred to as a 'Hazard Analysis'.
- To offer advice about good food hygiene practices.
Inspection Procedure
Authorised Officers - (Environmental Health Officers and Environmental Health Protection Officers) have the authority to enter food premises at all reasonable hours and as a general rule without prior notice.
The officer should identify him/herself upon entering the premises (all officers carry photographic identification) and the reason for the visit. They may call to carry out a routine food hygiene inspection, in response to a food complaint or to take samples.
In order to discover specific information relating to the food business, the officer will ask to see someone in authority (the manager/proprietor of the business) he will probably also want to see the person who is in charge of food preparation activities (the chef/catering manager).
Under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, it is an offence to obstruct an officer in the pursuit of his/her duties. Obstruction may be physical in nature, or it may be the refusal to disclose information or giving false information. Persons convicted of obstructing authorised officers may be subject to a fine and/or a prison sentence.
The officer will wear a clean white coat and appropriate head protection, during the course of the inspection.
In addition to carrying out a thorough inspection of the structure of the food premises (including equipment used in food preparation) and discussing practices and procedures, the officer will also expect to examine various records about: training of staff; temperature monitoring of frozen, chilled, cooked and re-heated foodstuffs; cleaning schedules and pest control, if appropriate. These records will allow the officer to make an assessment of the adequacy of the systems already in place and to offer advice on improvements required.
The Inspection Report
Following the inspection, the officer will write a report for the proprietor of the food business, detailing any matters which were apparent at the time of the inspection and which require attention.
The report will specify those statutory requirements that are not being complied with and what action must be taken to comply with the law. In addition, advice on good practice may be included.
Statutory Notices
Authorised officers can serve a number of different notices on the proprietor of a food business to ensure food safety legislation is complied with. The type of notice served will depend on the risk of injury to health, the size and nature of the business, willingness of the proprietor to comply and previous history of the business.
1 "Hygiene Improvement Notice".
An authorised officer can serve a Hygiene Improvement Notice where he/she has reasonable grounds for believing that the proprietor of a food business is failing to comply with the regulations. This Notice will specify the contravention, the appropriate remedy and a time period within which to comply. The time period is usually agreed with a representative from the business. The Notice also includes details of how the person may appeal.
Failure to comply with a Hygiene Improvement Notice is an offence that, on conviction, can lead to a fine or imprisonment.
2 Hygiene Prohibition Orders/Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notices.
If an authorised officer believes that there is an "imminent risk of injury to health" because of the condition of a piece of equipment, a handling process or the premises as whole, he/she may serve a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Notice. This has the effect of prohibiting the continued use of the equipment or premises or the process. The officer must then apply to the Magistrates’ court within three days for a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order. If the court makes an Order, this must be displayed on the premises so that the public can easily read it. The Prohibition Order can only be removed once the defects have been remedied to the satisfaction of the officer.
An Order can also be applied by the court to the manager or proprietor of a food business. This type of Order would prohibit that individual from working or participating in the management of any food business. The Order can only be lifted by the court.
Frequency of Inspections
The frequency of inspections of food premises is based upon an assessment of risk. Some food premises and businesses will present a higher risk to the consumer than others. This is dependent upon a number of factors such as the type of food business, the nature of the food, the degree of handling and the size of the business. Those premises posing a higher risk to the consumer will be inspected more frequently than those premises with a lower risk.
Food premises are inspected within the range of at least every 6 months (e.g. food manufacturers and businesses with a poor record of food hygiene compliance) to at least every 3 years. These are only minimum inspection frequencies and local authorities may carry out more frequent inspections where they consider this appropriate.
Food premises which fall into a low risk category eg sale of fruit and vegetables, village halls and small bed and breakfast premises, are currently sent a questionnaire every 3 years. The questionnaire helps officers to determine if a significant change in activities have taken place since the last inspection. Depending on the information received, an inspection may not be required.