Policy Statement

BS care believes that, where care provided to service users includes help with the cooking, storing, preparing or serving of food, then the organisation has a duty to ensure that all service users are protected from food-related illness by the adoption of high standards of food hygiene and preparation. BS care has a duty of care to ensure that all staff and service users should be kept as safe as possible from poisoning and related food-associated illness by the adoption of high standards of food hygiene and food preparation.

BS carefully complies with the new outcomes Essential Standards of Quality and Safety which consists of 28 regulations and its associated outcomes. They are set out by the Health and Social Care Act 2008 for regulated activities service providers, which relates to the degree to which the registered manager must ensures that service users and staff are protected from food poisoning and that they maintain high food hygiene standards.

Aim of the Policy
This policy is intended to:
• ensure that service users benefit from having food provided for them that is of high
quality, well presented and prepared and is nutritionally sound
• ensure that those with special dietary needs are supported
• protect staff and service users from food-related illness.

Food Hygiene Policy
BS care believes that the effective management of food safety relies heavily on having effective operational policies for the safe preparation, storage and handling of food. Therefore, we operate the following procedures.
1. All food will be prepared, cooked, stored and presented in accordance with the high standards required by the Food Safety Act 1990 and the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006.

2. In all cases, where food is to be prepared in a service user’s home, a preliminary risk assessment of the available food preparation and storage facilities should be carried out. Where a home requires improvements or changes these should be discussed with the service user or their family prior to food preparation taking place. Where conditions are assessed as unacceptable then alternative methods of food provision should be sought.

3. Care staff will keep all food preparation areas, storage areas and serving areas clean while they are using them. All tools and equipment such as knives, utensils and chopping boards must also be cleaned regularly during the cooking process.

4. Adequate sanitary and hand-washing facilities should be available within the kitchen, including a supply of soap and paper towels for hand drying. All care staff must wash their hands before and after handling foodstuffs. All foodstuffs should also be washed before use.

5. Everyone in a food handling area must maintain a high level of personal cleanliness and food handlers must wear suitable clean and, where appropriate, protective clothing.

6. Staff preparing food should take all reasonable, practical steps to avoid the risk of contamination of food or ingredients.

7. Food storage areas should protect food against external sources of contamination such as pests.

8. Food handlers must receive adequate supervision, instruction and training in food hygiene.

9. When serving food, all staff should scrupulously observe appropriate hygiene standards.

10. Suspected outbreaks of food-related illness should be reported immediately to the
service user’s GP.
11. Any member of care staff who becomes ill while handling food should stop work at
once and report to their line manager/supervisor. Care staff involved in food handling
who are ill should see their GP and should only return to work when their GP states
that they are safe to do so.
In addition care staff should:
a. always wash their hands after visiting the lavatory
b. ensure that all food stored in the refrigerator is covered and adequately chilled
c. ensure the thorough cooking and reheating of all meat, especially poultry

d. ensure that deep-frozen food is thawed before cooking (especially important when
using a microwave oven)
e. be aware of the risk of Salmonella infection associated with foods containing
uncooked eggs, such as mayonnaise and certain puddings
f. wash hands after handling raw meat or eggs, particularly before handling other foods
g. never reuse utensils with which raw eggs or meat have been prepared without first
washing them with hot water and detergent
h. never allow juices from raw meat to come into contact with other foods (cooked food
and uncooked food should not be stored together)
i. avoid serving raw eggs (or uncooked foods made from them) to vulnerable people
such as the elderly and the sick (all eggs should be cooked until they are hard —
both yolk and white).
Food Waste Disposal In the BS care:
a. All food waste should be disposed of in a hygienic and environmentally friendly
way in line with the Wellbeing Residential Group’s waste disposal policy.
b. Refuse should not be allowed to accumulate should not be left overnight.

c. Food waste should be disposed of in appropriate labelled receptacles.
d. Receptacles that are usually used for the storage of food for consumption should
not be used for refuse.

e. Other kitchen waste generated may be stored in black polythene bags which
should be removed when full and at the end of each day.
f. The bags should not be overfilled and should be tied to prevent problems from
insects. · The containers for such bags should be maintained in a clean condition
and be foot operated and staff should be trained to wash their hands after using
the receptacles. ·
Refrigeration
In the BS care the following rules should be applied when
storing food in a refrigerator:
• High risk food should be stored between 0 – 4oC*
• Fresh meat, poultry and fish should be stored between 0 – 1oC

• Frozen foods to be stored at or below -18oC
• Cook-chill products to be stored at 3oC or below
Othersc
• Refrigerators should be packed in a manner which allows good air circulation.
• All food should be covered to prevent drying out, cross contamination and the
• absorption of odour.
• Higher risk foods should be stored at the rear of the refrigerator where
• possible and always above raw foods.
• Refrigerators should be cleaned on at least a weekly basis using food safe
• chemicals.
• Spillages should be cleaned as soon as they occur. After cleansing, the
• surfaces need to be completely dried.
• Refrigerator temperatures should be checked on a weekly basis and
• refrigerators should be serviced on a regular basis, at least twice a yea

Training
All BS care staff involved in the provision of food to service users should be appropriately
trained and assessed to ensure that their catering skills and infection control techniques
are of an acceptable standard.