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Prototype off-the-peg Food Service trial

6 Summary

The businesses in terms of size provided a reasonable cross-section of the food service sector. However, it is not possible to say that they were representative of the sector as a whole. In particular, those that chose to participate in the trial were generally more proactive businesses. And although some participants had English as a second language all participant business operators could understand English.

The use of documented procedures and record keeping was minimal in the participating businesses prior to the trial. However, where documented procedures were in place, it was observed that practices were more likely to be satisfactory. Likewise, at the end of the trial it was noted that where businesses had fully tailored procedures and maintained records, that practices were more likely to be satisfactory.

Conformance with the whole plan amongst participants was low although conformance with individual elements was greatest when there were no record keeping requirements. The majority of participants stated that they did not like the recording requirements (noting that almost all were coming from a zero base in this area). Common reasons for this were they found them time consuming and they did not see the value records added to their business. Consistency in record keeping tended to reduce, the longer the business operated the OTP-FCP.

The majority of participants liked the format and considered the template relevant to their operations. A particular strength of the OTP-FCP was that it was seen to be a good source of food hygiene knowledge and a tool for training staff. The converse side was that many saw its value more as a static tool than an operational system.

Prior to the trial few of the businesses had a probe thermometer and the majority relied on visual indicators, with some that did nothing to check whether meat and poultry products were cooked. Post-trial findings indicated that conformance with the requirements to monitor the cook temperature of poultry and meat products was low. This requirement was also an area that was commonly mentioned as a dislike by participants.

Participants pre-trial concerns regarding the amount of time and paperwork that would be involved with the OTP-FCP appear to have been largely confirmed as these were the two most common dislikes with regard to the plan. This perhaps highlights the difficulty of introducing a documented system into an environment that has not had any ongoing documentation mandated and an environment that can be quite dynamic and artistic in nature.

Some participants noted the difficulty of producing a single template that would fit the range and size of businesses within the sector. A symptom of this was the tendency for some businesses to want to use their own records rather than those provided.

Even though participants could understand English, the need for the OTP-FCP to be available in other languages was identified, either for their own staff or for other businesses.

The use of Environmental Health Officers in a coaching capacity was positively received overall. Many of the participants considered that it would be useful to have more support visits to confirm that they were doing things correctly.