Purpose: The purpose of the policy is to provide information and guidance to staff on how to handle food safely. Global Domiciliary Care Ltd is committed to keeping service users safe from food-borne infection when providing food services to them.It expects employees to follow the procedures contained within this policy to make sure staff keep food free from infection and cross contamination when shopping, storing, preparing and cooking food on behalf of the service user.

Scope: This policy contains information and guidance from legislation and from relevant bodies that includes:

• Food Safety Act (1990)

• Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 (as amended) and Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004

• Guidance about compliance: Essential standards of quality and safety (2010) - Outcome 5: Meeting nutritional needs

The [Registered Manager / Other Manager] is responsible for implementing and reviewing this policy and will check guidance from relevant bodies on a regular basis to ensure that GDCis up-to-date with the latest food safety legislation. [Registered Manager / Other Manager] will amend this policy and its procedures accordingly. Staff are expected to adhere to this legislation through implementation of the policy and procedures and report any concerns to this person as soon as possible after the event.

Food Safety Procedures

1. Food hygiene requirements

Global Domiciliary Care Ltd expects staff to wash their hands in handhot water and soap, rinse them thoroughly and dry them on paper towels or a clean hand towel:

• Before and after handling food.

• In between touching raw and cooked food.

• After handling food waste.

• After cleaning.

• After blowing their nose, going to the toilet, touching pets, touching their hair, etc.

• Any staff handling food should avoid wearing:

• False nails.

• Nail varnish.

• Jewellery when preparing food.

If staff cut themselves, they should cover the wound with a blue plaster.

Global Domiciliary Care Ltd expects staff to wear gloves and an apron over their work clothes when preparing food. Long hair should be tied back.

2. Managing Staff Sickness

If staff have an infected wound, skin infection or sores they must not handle food. If staff have vomited or have diarrhoea, they must stay away from the service for 48 hours after the last bout of sickness. Follow the Sickness Absence Policy when reporting sickness.

On returning to work, staff must inform their manager of this condition or illness.

3. Shopping requirements

If shopping for the service user, Global Domiciliary Care Ltd expects staff to adhere to the following when shopping:

• Buy frozen or refrigerated food at the end of the shop.

• Take note of ‘use-by’ dates on food to make sure it will last long enough to be eaten.

• Try to keep raw and cooked foods separate in the trolley and when packing these into bags.

• Pack food that can be damaged easily at the top of your bags.

• Keep food away from car heaters when transporting it to the service user.

• Put frozen food or that which needs to be refrigerated away as soon as possible, particularly if the weather is hot and certainly within two hours of purchase.

4. Storage arrangements

When putting any shopping away for the service user, Global Domiciliary Care Ltd expects staff to adhere to the following arrangements:

• Label food by entering the date of purchase onto sticky labels provided and attaching this too the foodstuff.

• Take account of ‘use-by’ dates when storing food.

• Store raw foods away from other foods in the fridge and in sealed containers e.g. store raw meats (even packaged) on the bottom shelves of the fridge or freezer with other products on the shelves above.

5. Prepare food safely, including cleaning of equipment and surfaces

When preparing food for the service user, Global Domiciliary Care Ltdexpects staff to adhere to the following arrangements:

• Adhere to the above food hygiene arrangements.

• Wear PPE such as single-use, disposable gloves, have long hair tied back and wear a material apron.

• Wash worktops before and after preparing food, particularly after they have been in contact with raw meat, including poultry, raw eggs, fish and vegetables using the following regime:

• Pre-clean – to remove crumbs or old food debris.

• Clean – wash with hot soapy (detergent)water.

• Rinse – to remove the detergent.

• [Disinfect – with an anti-bacterial spray. Leave on the surface for a short time to let it kill bacteria.]

• Wash off – disinfectant with clear, hot water.

• Dry thoroughly.

• You must keep all tools and equipment used to prepare food clean.

• During preparation, keep food covered, wherever possible.

• Wash fruit, vegetables and salads in clean water to remove soil, chemicals and insects.

• Defrost frozen food thoroughly prior to cooking (as instructed).

6. Cooking food safely

When cooking food for the service user, Global Domiciliary Care Ltdexpects staff to adhere to the following arrangements:

• Cooked foods (especially meat, such as poultry) should be cooked correctly. See appendix 1 for ideal cooking temperatures. Check temperatures of meat with a food probe and visually, ensuring that there is no pink meat in foods such as burgers, chicken or sausages and meat joints.

• If food is chilled and then reheated, the food should be piping hot all the way through. Stir them if possible, to ensure there are no cool spots (this goes for microwaved food too).

• Never re-heat cooked food more than once.

• Do not leave food on the heat for longer than 2 hours at a constant temperature of 63°C or above. After 2 hours, if the service user is not going to eat the food, you must cool the food as quickly as possible to 5°C or below and store in the refrigerator, or discard.

• For food that needs heating in a microwave, make sure the right containers are used. Follow the manufacturer’s cooking instructions.

• Food waste should be disposed of quickly and hygienically.

7. Dealing with Food Poisoning Outbreaks

If there are two or more cases of the same symptoms within a few days of each other the [Registered Manager / Other Manager] will report this to the environmental health department at your local council.

8. Review

Annual review of this policy will make sure it is up-to-date with current legislation.

Appendix 1 – Food cooking temperatures

Food

Temperature*

Lamb and beef

Rare 63°C (145°F)

Medium 71°C (160°F)

Well-done 77°C (170°F)

Pork

71°C (160°F)

Offal

71°C (160°F)

Bacon, burgers and sausages

71°C (160°F)

Poultry

74°C (165°F)

Fish

63°C (145°F)

Shellfish

63°C (145°F)

* The Food Standards Agency does not specify internal meat/fish temperatures but use these as a general guide. If in doubt, use both the temperature and the look of the food to decide whether it is cooked sufficiently. If in doubt, cook for longer.

QUALITY ASSURANCE POLICY