What is different in manufacturing?
- Every food business must keep a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles, and whoever develops and maintains it needs adequate training in applying them.
- Traceability records of suppliers and of every business supplied are kept, and unsafe food is withdrawn or recalled.
- Meat plants have different HACCP rules, and England’s Schedule 4 temperature rules do not apply to businesses covered by Regulation 853/2004.
Facts and sources for this part
- Food businesses must put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure based on the HACCP principles. [S3]
- Whoever develops and maintains a business’s HACCP-based procedures must have adequate training in applying the HACCP principles. [S2]
- A food business must keep records of its suppliers and of every business it supplies (traceability records), and withdraw or recall unsafe food. [S7]
- Meat plants have different HACCP rules. [S24]
- The temperature rules in England’s Schedule 4 do not apply to businesses covered by Regulation 853/2004, which has its own rules. [S30]
Do you need a certificate to work in a factory?
No law requires one. Your employer must be able to show that you have the right skills and up-to-date training for your role, and keeps a record of the training you complete. A certificate of completion is one entry on that record.
Facts and sources for this part
- Food handlers do not have to hold a food hygiene certificate. [S1]
- A food business must be able to show that its staff have the right skills and up-to-date training for their role. [S1]
- Businesses are told to keep a record of the training staff have completed, so they can show it during an inspection. [S1]
What this course gives you, and what it does not
It gives you the shared basics: the 3 types of hazard, cross-contamination, temperature control, cleaning, the 14 allergens and what HACCP means in plain words.
It does not cover your line, your products or your site’s critical control points. Your employer trains you on those.
Facts and sources for this part
- A food hazard is anything that could make food unsafe to eat. The 3 main types are microbiological (harmful bacteria), chemical (including cleaning chemicals and allergens) and physical (objects getting into food). [S24]
- Food law names 14 allergens: celery, cereals containing gluten, crustaceans, eggs, fish, lupin, milk, molluscs, mustard, peanuts, sesame, soybeans, sulphur dioxide and sulphites (above ten parts per million), and tree nuts. [S15] [S33]
Questions to ask in your first week
- Which critical control points are in my area, and what are their limits?
- Which checks do I record, and where?
- What do I do when a check fails?
- Who do I tell if I am ill, and how early?
Facts and sources for this part
- HACCP means: identify hazards, identify critical control points, set limits, monitor them, check the system works, put things right when there is a problem, and keep records. [S24]
Where to start
Start with hazards and cross-contamination, then cleaning and HACCP. Temperatures and allergens follow, and the free test at the end draws its questions from all six lessons.