THE FOOD SAFETY ACT 1990
[EC] REGULATION 852/2004 ON HYGIENE OF FOODSTUFFS
THE FOOD HYGIENE [SCOTLAND] REGULATIONS 2006
Premises Name
Premises Address
Date of Inspection
Type of Inspection
The Wig
55-56 Castle Street, Aberdeen
15 July 2013
Food Hygiene
Notes on Interpretation
Requirements:
1) These items relate to matters that are required in terms of the above-mentioned legislation.
In order to allow you to make informed choices each item below indicates:
a) What requirement has to be met
b) The respects in which it has not been met, and
c) Where appropriate a course of action which in my opinion would satisfy the requirement
In most cases there will be more than one course of action which could satisfy a given
requirement. In these cases it is open to you to take any such other course of action which
meets the requirements. It may be advisable to discuss alternative proposals with me so that I
can advise you whether there are other requirements which might have to be taken into
account when considering an alternative course of action.
Where the word must is used, it also indicates a requirement.
2)
This is not a Notice requiring works to be carried out, however, any breach of a requirement
could, at a future date, be the subject of an Improvement Notice. The purpose of this report is
to advise you of such matters so that you can attend to them without the need for such Notices.
3)
The items contained in the attached schedule[s] relate to matters as found at the time of
inspection and cover[s] only the areas inspected. Where a practice, etc. is not explicitly
mentioned in this report it should not be taken as an indication of compliance with any provision
of the Food Safety Act or any regulations made under it.
Overview
The purpose of a food hygiene inspection is to assess whether a business complies
with food safety requirements. My assessment was based on a physical inspection
of the premises and discussion with you about food handling practices.
You had not yet started your business when this Service issued a letter and
information leaflets on E. coli O157 guidance released by the Food Standards
Agency. This information has now been provided to you. Cross contamination
controls were discussed with XX XXXXXX in detail at the time of inspection and
assessed against the requirements of this guidance. You have extremely limited
space available within your kitchen and an extensive menu, making adequate
separation of raw and ready-to-eat storage, handling and preparation difficult to
achieve. While you are not currently serving a lot of meals, your premises can
accommodate up to 45 people at any one time. Should you be required to deal with
a number of orders at once, I am of the opinion that you will be unable to achieve the
separation required without significant amendment to your working practices and
procedures. I would therefore strongly recommend that you consider reducing your
menu and reducing the amount of raw food handling practices as far as possible.
I intend to re-visit your premises in due course to check progress made with matters
detailed in the following report. Should you wish to discuss any of the items detailed
or require any further advice before my re-visit, please do not hesitate to contact me
on 01224 XXXXXX.
Items
1
Cross Contamination Controls
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Article 5
a) Raw and Ready-to-eat Preparation
At the time of my inspection I was concerned to find that a plastic
container of raw burgers were sitting on the preparation surface next to
washed ready-to-eat lettuce that had just been prepared. I was also
concerned to note that soiled onions were in the process of being
prepared in this area. This practice puts ready-to-eat foods at risk of
contamination. You must never allow the simultaneous dual use of your
preparation surface for raw and ready-to-eat food items.
Given your space constraints it is not possible for you to provide separate
preparation areas for raw and ready-to-eat food preparation in line with
best practice guidance. XX XXXXXX informed me that you are currently
preparing and cutting raw chicken when burgers, baguettes and chicken
salads are ordered and that the preparation surface is cleaned and
disinfected using a two-stage process after your raw meat handling
process is complete. This practice is impractical should you have a
number of orders at one time.
You must ensure that all raw meat and soiled vegetable preparation is
carried out prior to food service so that your preparation area is not being
used simultaneously for raw and ready-to-eat preparation. This includes
the slicing of black pudding and haggis as these items are being treated
as, and stored with raw meats. The possibility of providing a temporary
work surface on top of the cooking hob was discussed with XX XXXXXX.
If this can be achieved, all raw preparation should be carried out in this
area prior to Service allowing physical separation to be achieved.
I would also advise you that you cannot place packets or containers of
raw meat on your preparation surface during service when it is being used
for ready-to-eat food preparation. You currently have a cooked meat
chopping board next to your griddle on a separate work surface. I would
recommend you transfer cooked meat preparation to your main
preparation surface and use this area for placing containers/packets of
raw meat on when being transferred to the griddle during service.
b) Storage
You only have the facility for one small refrigerator within the kitchen.
While the bottom shelf of this unit is being used for raw meats only, the
upper shelf of this unit was being used for washed/ready-to-eat salad and
unwashed salad items as well as soiled mushrooms. You must not store
washed ready-to-eat salad items and unwashed vegetables together as
this creates a cross contamination risk. Soiled vegetables must be stored
in your downstairs refrigerator only.
c) Designated Equipment
While you have coloured chopping boards in use within the kitchen, I was
informed that the ‘Green Board’ is used for the preparation of salad items
(ready-to-eat) and soiled vegetables (raw). Root vegetables grown in the
soil such as onions and mushrooms that are prepared on the premises
may be contaminated with E. coli O157. As such, soiled vegetables that
are to be cooked (thereby destroying this bacteria) must not be prepared
on the same board as washed salad items that will be eaten raw, such as
lettuce and tomato. You must designate a soiled vegetable and a ready-toeat vegetable chopping board.
You must also determine at what point you are considering salad and
vegetable items that will be eaten raw as a ready-to-eat food. The
preparation of onions for salads was discussed at the time of inspection. I
was advised that onions are toped and tailed and the outer skin removed
on the green chopping board. Onions are then washed to remove any
contamination before being chopped up on the same green board. Onions
are soiled vegetables that are likely to be contaminated. After onions are
washed you are treating them as a ready-to-eat product, therefore they
must not be prepared on the board that has been used to carry out the
initial preparation. The first preparation stage must be carried out on a
soiled vegetable board and a ready-to-eat board must be used for final
preparation after washing.
In addition the same knife is being used for soiled vegetable and ready-toeat salad preparation. You must provide designated and readily
identifiable knives for ready-to-eat and raw food preparation.
Designated ready-to-eat preparation equipment must be stored separately
from raw equipment in a clean area of the kitchen where they are not at
risk of becoming contaminated by any raw food handling practices.
d) Cleaning Chemicals
You are using ‘Evans Esteem’ Sanitiser for disinfecting work surfaces.
While this chemical meets BS EN 1276 as required by the guidance, it
must be used in line with manufacturer instructions to be effective in the
control of harmful bacteria. XX XXXXXX advised me that this chemical is
applied to a clean surface for a 10 second contact time. Instructions state
that a 1-minute contact time is required, this method must be adhered to at
all times.
Food equipment is currently being washed with washing up liquid. You are
required to disinfect food contact equipment with a chemical that meets
either BS EN 1276 or BS EN 13697. Washing up liquid does not meet
either of these standards and is merely a degreaser. As discussed with XX
XXXXXX, this can either be achieved by purchasing a dilutable detergent
that meets one of these standards or your spray sanitiser can be applied
to equipment after washing for the required contact time. As with your food
preparation surfaces, equipment must be washed using a two stage
cleaning process as your disinfectant will only be effective when applied to
a clean surface.
e) Equipment Washing
As equipment is not being heat disinfected, you cannot wash raw and
ready-to-eat items together. This preparation equipment must be washed
separately and after washing raw equipment, the sink and tap handles
must be cleaned and disinfected using a two stage cleaning process to
ensure any residual contamination is removed.
f) Food Storage Containers
Without applying heat disinfection, containers used to store raw meats
such as chicken cannot be used for any ready-to-eat food storage, such as
salad.
You must designate readily identifiable containers for the storage of readyto-eat foods only. These must never be used for raw meat or soiled
vegetable storage.
g) Cling Film
Cling film is used to prepare and flatten chicken breasts. As discussed, the
end of the cling film roll and the container itself are at risk of becoming
contaminated when being used during raw meat preparation. Should this
container be used for ready-to-eat storage or preparation, this
contamination may be transferred.
You must provide a separate and readily identifiable cling film
container/roll for use with ready-to-eat foods only. This must be stored in a
clean area away from raw food preparation.
h) Cotton Cloths
You are using re-usable cotton cloths for your first stage clean of
preparation surfaces. There is no separation of cloth use, for example
colour coding, for the cleaning of a surface when it has been used for the
preparation of raw meat and ready-to-eat foods. Once a cloth has been
used to clean a surface that is potentially contaminated, this cloth has then
become contaminated, therefore when this cloth is used again,
contamination will be spread.
As you are using the same preparation surface for raw and ready-to-eat
food preparation, the use of re-usable cleaning cloths is unsuitable. You
must use disposable cloths and paper towels only for all cleaning
practices. If you are able to provide a designated ‘raw’ area, you can
provide colour coded cloths.
Similarly, cloths and sponges used to wash raw food equipment must not
be used to wash ready-to-eat food equipment. Cleaning materials must
either be colour coded and stored separately between uses or disposable
cloths must be used and discarded after each use.
i) Tong Use
The use of equipment to cook raw meats such as burgers and chicken
was discussed. Currently when cooking chicken the same set of tongs are
being used throughout the cooking process. At the start of the cooking
process one side of the chicken will be cooked and the other side raw. If a
‘cooked foods’ set of tongs are used to turn meat, one side of these tongs
may become contaminated when touching the raw side of the meat. This
would facilitate the spread of bacteria on the surface of these tongs to
other cooked foods that are picked up with these tongs thereafter and
consequently to the plate or burger bun touched using this equipment. You
must designate specific tongs to be used for the transfer of cooked foods
to the plate only.
j) Hand Washing Procedures
Hand wash procedures were discussed at the time of my inspection and a
leaflet on hand washing procedures provided.
When staff have been handling raw meat and switch the tap on to wash
their hands, this tap handle has then become contaminated. Once hands
have been washed, should staff switch this tap off with their hands, they
have then re-contaminated their clean hands by touching the
contaminated tap. To prevent clean hands becoming re-contaminated,
staff must be trained to switch taps off using a paper towel as
demonstrated by the leaflet provided.
k) Protective Clothing
You currently only have one apron for all staff to wear when preparing food
that is washed daily. When staff are preparing raw meat there is a risk that
protective clothing will become contaminated with harmful bacteria. To
avoid this contamination spreading to ready-to-eat foods prepared
thereafter, staff should either change into a clean apron after carrying out
this task or put a disposable plastic apron on when preparing raw meat to
protect their otherwise clean clothing.
If you intend to wear a cotton apron when preparing raw meat, this apron
must be washed within the washing machine on a boil wash setting to
ensure any bacteria present are destroyed.
I expect compliance with these matters within 4 weeks from the date of
this letter.
2
Food Safety Management System
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Article 5
In the type of business you operate, typical food safety hazards which you
must guard against are:
(a) Temperature abuse which can allow food poisoning bacteria to grow to
dangerous levels
(b) Contamination and cross contamination of food with food poisoning
bacteria e.g. from raw meat to cooked ready-to-eat foods.
(c) Physical contamination of food e.g. from pests or dirty conditions.
Controls must be put in place to ensure that the food you are serving is safe.
These controls include the procedures for personal hygiene of food handlers,
temperature control, prevention of cross contamination, cleaning routines,
stock rotation systems etc. You are required to put in place, implement and
maintain a food safety management system based on HACCP principles,
therefore you must:
a) identify any hazards that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced to an
acceptable levels;
b) identify the critical control points at the step or steps at which control is
essential to prevent or eliminate a hazard or to reduce it to acceptable
levels;
c) establish critical limits at critical control points which separate acceptability
from unacceptability for the prevention, elimination or reduction of
identified hazards;
d) establish and implement effective monitoring procedures at critical control
points;
e) establish corrective actions when monitoring indicates that a critical control
point is not under control;
f) establish procedures, which shall be carried out regularly, to verify that the
measures outlined in subparagraphs (a) to (e) are working effectively;
g) establish documents and records commensurate with the nature and size
of the food business to demonstrate the effective application of measures
outlined in subparagraphs (a) to (f).
As discussed at the time of inspection I recommend you use the CookSafe
template to assist you in complying with this requirement. A CookSafe folder
has been provided to you. The blank templates within the blue ‘House Rules’
sections of this document must be completed, making this document specific
to your business. The section on Cross Contamination controls must include
detail on the controls you have implemented.
Part of this process also requires that you monitor and record parameters at
points that are critical to food safety, such as food temperatures. You must
implement temperature monitoring and recording at the following points:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Refrigerators
Freezers
Cooking
Cooling Time
Re-heating
As discussed at the time of inspection, your documented procedures are your
due diligence defence should your practices ever be called into question. It is
therefore extremely important that these documents are kept up-to-date at all
times and reviewed on a regular basis.
I expect temperature monitoring and recording to be started immediately and
your documented food safety management system to be completed within 8
weeks from the date of this letter.
3
Ventilation
Regulation (EC) No 852/2004, Annex II, Chapter I, para 1
The ventilation duct in the kitchen ceiling next to the kitchen door was in need
of repair. The grill was missing and the system was making a lot of noise
during operation.
You must have this equipment examined and repaired by a competent
person.
I expect compliance with this item within 8 weeks from the date of this letter.