- PDF Version ( 92K) - Print Friendly - Help

The legal requirements of a Food Safety Programme

The Food Act 1981 was amended in 1996 to recognise appropriate Food Safety Programmes and allow exemptions from the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974. Section 8G of the Food Act 1981 gives the definition of an appropriate food safety programme (one which is eligible for an exemption).

(a) The programme must be based on the principles of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP), as set out in the current edition of the Codex Alimentarius.

(b) The programme must be in writing.

(c) The programme must:

 (i) Systematically identify the hazards involved in the preparation of food at the premises or, as the case may be, in the vehicle concerned,

 (ii) Identify how those hazards will be monitored,

 (iii) Identify the means by which those hazards will be controlled, and provide for the systematic supervision of those controls.

(d) The programme must identify the food preparation tasks or categories of tasks that will be carried out, and identify, in relation to each such task or category of task:

 (i) The skills required to perform it,

 (ii) The persons or categories of persons who will perform it,

 (iii) The training and instruction necessary before the task can be performed, and any ongoing training and instruction that may be required.

(e) The programme must identify the regular maintenance tasks that must be carried out in relation to the premises or vehicle concerned, and in relation to any equipment used in the premises or vehicle.

(f) The programme must provide for compliance with the programme to be audited, on a regular basis, by an approved auditor.

(g) Where appropriate, the programme must provide for the recall of unsafe food.

(h) The programme must set out appropriate record keeping requirements.