Food safety management systems for businesses
Overview
If you run a food business, you need to have a food safety management system to make sure your food is safe to eat.
This guide is also available in Welsh (Cymraeg).
A food safety management system is a written set of processes, checks, rules and records. It usually includes things like:
- rules for cleaning and hygiene
- safe cooking and storage procedures
- allergen controls
- staff training
- temperature checks
Your food safety management system must meet the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.
There are different rules for HACCP in meat plants.
The HACCP principles
To meet the HACCP principles, you need to:
- identify any food hazards that need to be avoided, removed or reduced
- identify the critical control points (CCPs) - the points when you need to prevent, remove or reduce a hazard in your work process
- set limits for the CCPs
- monitor the CCPs
- put checks in place to make sure your system is working
- put things right if there is a problem with a CCP
- keep records of your food safety systems, checks and how you’ve put things right
If your business is involved in a food safety incident, you will need to show your records as evidence of how you keep food safe.
Food hazards
A food hazard is anything that could make food unsafe to eat.
The 3 main types are:
- microbiological - involving harmful bacteria
- chemical - including cleaning chemicals, allergens and other contamination
- physical - involving objects getting into food