Food Safety and Hygiene

Look Out! The Inspector Is Coming!

Have you ever dreaded getting a food hygiene or health & safety inspection?

Have you thought about starting your own business but have been put off by the thought of ploughing through the jungle of food and safety rules and regulations?

Swale Borough Council’s Environmental Health Officers are here to help.  Yes, of course they have a law enforcement role but few people realise that they can provide relevant information for your business – FREE!

Environmental Health Manager, Tracey Beattie says:

“Many businesses have contacted us for advice.  Those doing so have benefited from years of officer experience.  Many also attend our food hygiene courses.  We have also found that those seeking and implementing our advice usually perform very well when they receive a formal inspection and at the same time achieve a high score in the National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.”

Food safety advice

Advice available from Environmental Health staff includes:

• Design of new or refurbished food premises
• Facilities and equipment required
• Food safety management procedures
• Raising awareness on temperature control and reducing the risk of cross contamination
• How to strive to achieve high standards to perform well under the National Food Hygiene Rating Scheme

Food safety course

The Council also runs CIEH Level 2 Food Safety in Catering courses three or four times per year.  These are one-day courses with a multi-choice test at the end.  The course covers food hazards, temperature control, cooking, personal hygiene, safe storage, cleaning & disinfection, pest control and an overview of food law.  Successful candidates receive the CIEH certificate.

Health & safety advice

Health & safety advice can include:

• General legal obligations
• Risk assessment and accident prevention
• Manual handling
• Lifting operations
  Management & employee responsibilities

Food safety contact details

Anyone wanting food hygiene or safety advice should, in the first instance, contact the food safety team on:

01795 417230; 01622 602781

There is also further information available on the Swale Borough Council website:

Trading standards advice

Kent County Council (KCC) Trading Standards can offer advice on:

• Food labelling and compositional standards, allergens, health claims etc.
• Weights and Measures
• ‘Best practice’ and ‘reasonable precautions and due diligence’ advice.
• Consumer rights if you run a shop or restaurant
• Trading from a website for example e-commerce, Terms & Conditions, consumer rights, etc.
• Point of sale information
• Traceability of product and ingredients
• Primary Authority agreements for businesses trading across county boundaries and abroad. Primary Authority allows a business to form a legally recognised partnership with a local authority to provide a better and more consistent regulation, drive prosperity and support protection both for communities and businesses in relation to regulatory compliance

Trading standards contact details

If you are interested in accessing this support please contact KCC Trading Standards using the details below:

http://www.kent.gov.uk/business/trading-standards/trading-standards-business-advice

Alternatively, if you are looking for support and advice for starting a business don’t forget to contact the SBC Economic Development Team or access our business support programme.