Did you know that 1 in 7 takeaways in the UK fails its food hygiene inspection?

The Food Standards Agency findings make for dispiriting reading so if you own, manage or work in a takeaway it’s time to ensure that your food hygiene ratings and processes are at optimum levels.

Surely you don’t want to be one of the 7000 takeaways who fail their inspections so take advantage of food hygiene training courses and comprehensive takeaway hygiene training from specialist companies like Food Alert in London.

Cross contamination was a key contributor to food hygiene ratings scores of 0.

Cross contamination can deliver a host of food poisoning issues that can result in legal action, closure and fines. This costs much more personally and in business terms that investing in training.

Don’t assume that your establishment won’t fall prey to a food hygiene or food poisoning issue. Unless you have been attributed a score of 5/5 there is still work to be done.

It won’t surprise you to learn that takeaways with 5/5 are not in the majority.

Takeaway hygiene training and general food hygiene courses should be taken by every staff member from part time to full time, a new starter to an employee with 20 years of experience.

What was current information in 1997 could have been superseded several times so this experienced professional could be using out of date practices that pose a risk to consumers as much as the new starter who has no experience in the catering trade.

Takeaway hygiene training is tailored to specific clients and it’s available at all levels. Management benefits from food hygiene courses and food safety management system training that allows them to take the initiative, to identify risks and apply corrective actions alongside staff monitoring and management.

Food hygiene courses are delivered by industry experts and they are certified by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) and have exams upon course completion.

• CIEH level 1 Food Safety. GCSE G-D grade equivalent.
• CIEH level 2 Food Safety. GCSE C-A* grade equivalent.
• CIEH level 3 Food Safety. AS/A level equivalent.
• CIEH level 2 Food Safety for Manufacturing Online.
• CIEH Food Allergens Awareness Online.
• CIEH Legionella Awareness.

The level 2 food safety course looks at food hygiene at a practical work day task completion level. The topics covered are:

• Food safety.

• Food hygiene hazards.
• Food handling.
• Safe food storage.
• Food premises.
• Temperature control.
• Refrigeration, chilling and cold holding.
• Cooking, hot holding and reheating.
• Legislation.
• Cleaning.
• Equipment.

The CIEH Level 3 Food Safety training is the natural progression for supervisors and team leaders.

The course must be taken in person because due to its content there is not an online version. It focuses on:

• Legislation.
• Application and monitoring of good food hygiene practices.
• Temperature control.
• Workplace and equipment design.
• Waste disposal, cleaning and disinfection.
• Pest control.
• Personal hygiene.
• Contributions to staff training.
• Implementation of food safety management systems.
• The HACCP system.
• Food legislation and supervisory management.

Act now or food poison consumers later.