UNIT-V

STRATEGIES AND POLICIES FOR FOOD HYGIENE

Introduction:

The food premises manager has three main policy objectives concerned with food hygiene.
● To get the job done hygienically
● To satisfy legal requirements; and
● To harmonize food hygiene policy with other goals.

To get the job done hygienically:

1) It means managing premises, plant/equipment, personnel, and process aspects effectively.
2) It has, however, been presented for some non-existent 'average' catering organization and must be
organized and prioritized for use in any particular, real situation. the manager of food

To satisfy legal requirements:

1) The food hygiene (general) Regulations, 1970 (Regulation 29) hold premises responsible for any breach of
the law.
2) The regulations also apply to managers who are not based on the premises.
3) Under the Food Safety Act, 1990 (Section 36) directors and managers are responsible for infringements if
consent, connivance, or negligence can be proved.
4) Management can satisfy their obligations under the law o some extent by producing a written food hygiene
policy and ensuring that employees comply. To harmonize food hygiene policy with other goals:

1) Food hygiene policies are unlikely to affect if their objectives clash with other goals of the organizations.

2) It examines several operational strategies for food production and service and identifies the advantages and
disadvantages of each from the point of view of food hygiene.

The 4 Ps approach:

1) The following 4 'p's are a commonly used basis for organizing food hygiene programs

1) Premises.
2) Plant/equipment
3) Personnel
4) Process.

2) These four aspects are mentioned in

1. Food Hygiene (General) Regulations, 1970.
2. The interest of Environmental Health Officers Inspectors
3. In every Catering establishment.

3) these regulations are designed, not to ensure excellent, hygienic catering, but merely to give a Minimum of
protection to the public.
4) They attempt to prevent bad practice by a process that is piecemeal rather than logical.
5) The premises aspect of hygiene is dealt with first and in the greatest detail by the regulations. Yet it is the
food production process, which constitutes the greatest danger in terms of contamination proliferation and
survival of bacteria.

6) In the late 1960's thinking even 4 'p's is inadequate approach the food hygiene management developed the
initials HACCP(Standards for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).

HACCP PROCESS:

Principles of HACCP:
1) It covers all the hygiene areas, like
a) Premises,
b) Plant/Equipment
c) personal

Process in a systematic way, so that no essentials are left out.

2) It emphasizes the direct relationship between hygiene and product safety.
3) The system and concept were developed in the USA by NASA, the Pillsbury Company, and the USA Army
Natick Research Laboratories.
4) It is particularly important to ensure the microbiological quality of space-flight meals. They have to be
reheated in the reduced pressure of a space capsule, where water boils at well below 100 C.
5) Bacteria may not be killed at these lowered temperatures, as they would be during normal cooking. At the
same time, preventing food poisoning is crucial. An outbreak in a space capsule might impair Astronauts'
faculties and critically endanger them.
6) Subsequently the HACCP system has been used for quality assurance in a range of industrial food
processing operations.
7) The US health inspectors encourage its use by chefs and restaurateurs. 8) The WHO (1982) recommends
the HACCP method of food hygiene management in all food processing operations.

Hazard Analysis:

1) In food safety terms a hazard is defined as: "An object or material, which has the potential ability to cause
harm, because

it contains contaminating microorganisms, toxins, chemical poisons, or foreign bodies."

2) The term Risk is defined as:

"The probability that a hazard will cause harm, combined with the

The magnitude of the harm caused" i.e. in food hygiene terms it is the likelihood that the contaminant will pass
through the process to the finished product.

Hazard analysis is the first step in a HACCP program, has the following goals:

(i)Identify hazards;
(ii) Classify hazards by considering the potential harm they might cause;
(iii) Rationalize and eliminate hazards as far as possible.
Identifying and classifying hazards:

The objective of this is to prepare an inventory of everything that could cause contamination of the final
product. Hazards are found throughout the process, so a careful and thorough study should be made, including

❖ Food ingredients, intermediates, and products.

❖ Personnel.
❖ Plant/Equipment.
❖ Premises.

Food ingredients, intermediates, and products

The most suitable system of classifying foods is that developed by the US National Academy of Science (NAS,
1969). This is based on three hazard factors, which may be present in food products:

(a) The foodstuff contains a 'sensitive' ingredient or ingredients, which can be assumed to be a potential
source of contamination under normal circumstances, i.e. the food is likely to contain pathogens, toxins, or
physical contamination.

(b) The foodstuff contains an ingredient, which has not undergone a controlled processing step that destroys
harmful bacteria, i.e. at least one component has not been heat treated.

(c) There is substantial potential for microbiological growth during abuse in distribution or handling, that could
render the product harmful when used or consumed, i.e. the food will support the growth of pathogens.

The foods can then be classified into four ingredients hazard categories, as follows:

1) A special category of non-sterile products designed for consumption by infants, the aged, or the infirm.
2) The food products which contains all three hazard factors (a,b, and c) are rated + + +
meaning: ingredient (a) *Not been pasteurized or heat-treated (b) * Able to support microbial growth (c)

3) Food products containing any two of the three factors:

These would be rated, 0 ++, +0+, or + +0, meaning, respectively:
● Is not likely to contain bacteria or a toxin (a) or
● Has been pasteurized or heat-treated (b); or
● Is not able to support microbial growth (c).

4) Food products contain only one of the three factors: These would be rated 0 0 +, 0 + 0, or + 0 0.
5) Food products that contain none of the three factors and are therefore rated: 0 0 0.

Personnel Hazards:
Personnel is a contamination hazard at all times. However, identifying and eventually eliminating any of the
following can reduce the hazard input:
1) Dirty, unwashed, contaminated hands or arms.
2) Dirty, unlaundered or contaminated outer clothing.
3) Any nose, throat, or gastro-enteric infection.
4) Any skin infection, sepsis, or allergy.
5) Individuals who persist in some unacceptable, unhygienic practice.
Plant/ Equipment Hazards:

These items can potentially contaminate any food with which they come into contact. Hazard analysis should
therefore identify the likelihood that a particular article will come into contact with food. The likely contamination
of equipment items should also be considered, by classifying them as follows:

1) Items, which can be cleaned and sterilized after use.

2) Items about which there is always some doubt as to whether they are completely clean and sterile.
3) Items that are always or nearly always dangerously contaminated.

Hazard analysis of premises:

Premises may present three main classes of an avoidable hazard:
1) Pests.
2) Dirt, dust, or contaminated water coming into contact with food.
3) Foreign matter, flaking paint, etc.

The hazard analysis should pay particular attention to these, but should also note any other hazards
associated with the operation.

Rationalization of Hazards:

Once the hazards within a process have been identified, an inventory should be drawn up. This
should list:

1) The Hazards
2) Where they are located etc.
3) Their Severity.

Rationalization of Ingredient hazards should concentrate on the most harmful categories. Menu analysis and
planning can be used as a basis for this rationalization.

Management of personnel contamination hazards is best achieved by the following:

❖ Providing handwashing and toilet facilities.
❖ Regular inspection.
❖ Benevolent staff sickness policy.
❖ Detailed hygiene and job training.
❖ Motivation.

Careful selection, regular cleaning, and maintenance can reduce Plant/Equipment contamination hazards.
Hazardous aspects of premises can be managed by effective:

❖ Kitchen design.
❖ Cleaning.
❖ Maintenance.
❖ Pest Control.
Residual Hazards:

No matter how much care is taken identifying and rationalizing hazards, some will always remain. Very few
ingredients can be produced in sterile conditions. Often it will be preferable on quality grounds not to use
sterilized ingredients. Personnel will still carry bacteria, even though properly scrubbed and dressed.
Microorganisms are in the air and even the cleanest water supply. Hazards can be restricted but never,
eliminated.

HACCP FLOW CHART, CRITICAL CONTROL POINTS AND CRITICAL CONTROL TREE.

Critical Control Points:

These are defined as:

"Subsystems within the food production/service process for which loss f control would result in an
unacceptable risk of food-borne illness."

Usually, CCPs are the points at which residual, unavoidable hazards enter the system and become risks.
The analysis of CCPs in a food production system consists of four main stages:
1) Analyzing the process to identify all the operations.
2) Identifying the critical operations within the process, and of the CCPs associated with them.
3) Setting appropriate standards for ensuring safety at the CCPs.
4) Establishing effective checking, monitoring, and documentation.

Analyzing the process to identify all the operations.

When all aspects of the process have been studied a simple sequence chart should be
This should indicate:
a) Temperatures of processing /storage.
b) Times of processing/storage;
c) Likely contamination routes; and
d) Likely bacterial growth opportunities.

Identifying the critical operations within the process, and of the CCPs associated with them.
Each process stage should be examined by asking the question 'What would be the result of losing
control of the process at this point?'

A CCP is one for which loss of control would bring unacceptable consequences. The following six aspects
should be particularly examined in the search for CCPS:

a) Time Available for microbial growth and proliferation;

b) Temperature of storage, holding, and processing;
c) Critical controls on the microbiological population.
d) Employee personal hygiene,
e) Hygiene of plant and equipment; and
f) Hygiene of premises.
Setting appropriate standards for ensuring safety at the CCPs.

A CCP can only be controlled if there are clear safety standards. The most important and easily applied
standards are usual time/temperature measurements. Cooking conditions for meat and poultry should be
adjusted so that the geometric centers of items reach at least 75 c. With most cooking methods the maximum
temperature, once reached, will be held longer than 4 minutes.

Safety standards of clothing and hygiene should be set for employees. Cleanliness standards for premises,
plants and equipment should be defined as objectively as possible. A manual should be produced which sets
out the standards and how they are to be monitored.
Checking and Monitoring:

1) Constant monitoring and control of CCPs is very important

2) Staff should be trained to use digital probe thermometers for measuring temperatures at the surfaces and
geometrical centers of food items.
3) Standards of staff dress and personal hygiene should be checked before shifts.
4) Hand hygiene should be monitored where staff is likely to carry cross-contamination to the sensitive product
5) Standards of premises/plant hygiene and pest control should also be regularly monitored.
6) For most purposes visual inspection is adequate for routine monitoring of hygiene standards.
7) For particularly sensitive products (cook-chill for invalids etc.) it may be advisable to check hygiene
standards daily.
8) There should be a reporting system so that CCP failure can be recognized in time to check, and if necessary
reject the batch of the finished product. Such systems will usually depend upon effective documentation of
CCPs.
Documentation:
The importance of documentation in operations management has been stressed throughout. Under the
HACCP system, critical control points must be adequately documented. This will generally mean;

❖ Instructions to staff (i.e. job cards) on how each operation should be carried out.
❖ Written standards for time/temperature control, hygiene, clothing, etc.
❖ Instructions to supervisors etc. requiring regular inspections temperature checks etc.
❖ A Report system for communicating failures and faults to management.

1) Besides documentation for the actual food production process, there should be carefully documented
hygiene procedures. Personnel, equipment, and premises hygiene represent important Critical Control Points
affecting most process operations.
2) In addition there should be specified procedures for checking to maintain and reporting the operation of Hot
and Cold holding equipment.
3) Pest controls are also usually a CCP and should carefully document and monitored.
4) Supervisors should be provided with manuals detailing inspection procedures for all aspects of personnel,
equipment, or premises hygiene for which they are responsible.

TRAINING:

a) To ensure that staff properly uses manuals, job cards, and other documentation; it is essential to
have an adequate training program.
b) Introduction of a HACCP program of hygiene management also means that several aspects of staff
behavior and hygiene will be identified as CCPs.
c) Training programs should include on-job, task-specific training for:
❖ Understanding and execution of job card instructions/procedures;
❖ Understanding and application of control standards (time/temperature, hygiene criteria, etc.) and
❖ Use of report systems and documentation.

d) Off-job, general hygiene training is important for:

❖ Appreciating hazards, risks, and critical control points;
❖ Understanding the need for hygiene; and
❖ Awareness of possible problems.

OTHER APPLICATIONS OF HACCP:

Large Scale production:

1) HACCP is particularly suitable for production-line work and large-scale food processing, where there are
relatively few product lines and output is high.
2) Capital outlay for controls such as automatic time/temperature recording and rapid bacteriological analysis is
justifiable.
3) Opportunities for spoilage and consumer abuse are considerable, so the product must embody a high level
of safety when it leaves the factory.
4) For such processes, computer models are available which can calculate and evaluate food safety risks.
5) Such programs are based on a technique known as fault-tree analysis. Fault trees are diagrams, which
show the relationships between effects and all their probable causes.
6) Fault tree shows the effect (food product contamination) and all possible causes: Contact with bacterial
contaminants. Contact with foreign bodies or chemical contaminants.
Time/Temperature relationships, permitting bacterial proliferation. Time/Temperature relationships permitting
bacterial survival.

Public health inspection:

1) The HACCP approach, of making the product and process the first food safety consideration can be applied
to a public health inspection.

2) The department of health specified time/temperature controls as follows: High-risk food held in the range of
7-60 C. for more than two hours must not be sold for human consumption.

All Poultry must reach an internal temperature of 74 C; Rare roast beef must reach at least 55 C at the
geometric center and

All precooked chilled foods must be heated to 74 C and held above 60 C until served.

FOOD HYGIENE POLICIES:

A food hygiene policy usually has two aims.

1) It should communicate the intentions of management to the staff.
2) It can also demonstrate management's good intentions in hygiene matters.

General policy statement:

It sets out the intentions of senior management regarding food hygiene. For Example:

" PQR Hospitality Ltd policy is to comply with the letter and spirit of the Food Safety Act, 1990, The Food
Hygiene Regulations, 1970 and other relevant legislation, and to regard these provisions as minimum
requirements. The Highest hygiene standards will be maintained, to ensure our customers are served safe,
wholesome food."

"We believe that it is essential for success that everyone accepts the personal responsibilities detailed in this
policy and that there is active cooperation between management and workforce in promoting hygiene
throughout the company"

Food hygiene policy may also contain an organization chart, showing who is responsible to whom within the
organization

Key personal involved in maintaining hygiene standards:

1) Managing Director,
2) Regional Operations Director,
3) Unit Manager, and
4) Employees.

1) Managing Director should uphold the Group Hygiene Policy by:

1) Ensuring that adequate local food Hygiene policies are set up in all areas under his control.
2) Delegating to Regional Operations Directors the responsibilities for overall control and administration of
Food Hygiene Policy throughout their designated areas of operations.
3) Regularly reviewing with Regional Operation's Directors the implementation of Food Hygiene Policies and
procedures to ensure that they are effective.

2) Regional Operations Director is responsible for:

a) Ensuring that local Food Hygiene Policies are implemented in all units under his control.
b) Ensuring that all unit managers have been given clear responsibilities must be confirmed in
writing to the individuals concerned.
c) Regularly reviewing with unit managers the operation of food hygiene policies, to ensure that they are
effective.

3) Unit Manager is responsible for:

a) Assessing all food handling activities in his unit, formulating and publishing codes of practice where
necessary.
b) Ensuring the cleaning and maintenance of premises, plant, and equipment.
c) Identifying the training needs of supervisors and employees under his control. Ensuring hygiene training is
caries out and that records are kept.

4) Supervisors and employees are responsible for:

a) Observing company policy and codes of practice relating to:
● Work practices;
● Their personal health and hygiene;
● Protective clothing; and
● Any premises, plant, or equipment used by them in the course of their work.

b) Participating in hygiene training exercises as arranged by management.

c) Bringing to management notice any way of eliminating hazards and risks to food safety.
d) Co-operating with the management and seeking hygiene information if they are uncertain.

Codes of Practice:

1) These are processes. lists of instructions, which ought, if followed, to ensure hygiene working of the

2) The more specific the code, the more effective it usually is.
3) Often several codes of practice are required, each relating to a different aspect of the operation.
4) An organization with a diverse range of outlets, for instance, large and small hotels, or theme restaurants of
different styles, can only have a generalized group code of practice.
5) However, Company Head Offices often issue generalized codes of hygiene practice which can be given to
staff at their induction.
Examples:
No Smoking...

Smoking is strictly forbidden in any room where there is open food. This also applies to snuff and chewing
tobacco!

Before you start work...

Always wash your hands, always wear clean whites, overall or apron, Keep your hair clean, tidy, and well
covered.

Coughs and sneezes...

Tell your supervisor if you are ill. Keeping coughing and sneezing well away from open food. Always use
a tissue or handkerchief. Never spit in a food area.

Hands ...

Wash hands regularly, and always after using the toilet. Keep fingernails short, clean and without varsh. Don't
wear ornaments, rings with stones, or impractical bangles, keep cuts covered with a
clean, waterproof dressing.

Food handling...
Keep raw and cooked goods apart. Only use scrupulously clean equipment and containers. Serve food as
soon as you can after cooking. Use the correct refrigerator: raw or cooked, 5C or 8 C.

If you are ill...

See your doctor at once.

QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY STRATEGIES:

Quality Strategies: Broadly speaking there are three possible quality management strategies;

1) Quality Control (QC)

2) Quality Assurance (QA)
3) Total Quality Management (TQM)

Quality Control

1) It involves checking the quality of each batch of product as it is produced.

2) Effective QC relies on an ability to stockpile goods while they are checked, before the sale.
3) It is therefore largely irrelevant to the foodservice industry but food tasting and visual
inspection are practicable.
4) But QC cannot assure hygiene of food safety.
Quality Assurance

1) It includes all activities and functions concerned with attaining quality.

2) For instance the quality of chips depends upon:
❖ The dimensions to which they are cut
❖ The style of cutting.
❖ Storage times and conditions after cutting.
❖ The temperature of cooking.
❖ Time of cooking.
❖ Average hot-holding time.

3) A QA programme must consider all these aspects. Regular checking of the product is also necessary to
ensure that the programme is working
4) Thus QA usually retains an element of quality control.

Total quality management

1) It aims at making quality the responsibility of all employees, throughout the company.

2) The original concept was that everyone should be a quality controller.

3) Statistical quality control techniques were taught to all personnel so that there was almost no chance of
quality deficiencies going unnoticed.

4) The TQM in the catering industry involves widespread quality awareness training of personnel.

Productivity strategies:
Food Hygiene management reflects the way an operation is managed as a whole. Therefore strategies, which
seek to improve operational efficiency or productivity, tend to have a profound effect on hygiene and the
microbiological quality of the food produced. There are three main strategic approaches for improving
productivity:
1) Systematization.
2) Reorganization.
3) Mechanization.

Systematization:

1) It aims at control by monitoring what is used and what is produced. 2) Amounts and quality f raw material
used, yields, portion sizes, and product quality are specified.

3) Processes are carefully analyzed and documented.

4) The aim is to minimize waste of materials and effort. 5) Well-run systems generally assure quality and
hygiene.
Reorganization:

1) It means changing the system so that operatives have less to do for a given output.
2) This reduces the labor input and increases productivity.
3) One way to do this is to change the spatial layout. (Tables and service stations in a restaurant can be
relocated so that service staff does not have so far to walk.)
4) Conveyor-belt food preparation and dish assemble reduce labor content of food production.
5) Workflow lines can be rationalized, reducing cross-contamination.
6) Sometimes customers can do the duty of the waiter. (Cafeteria etc.)
7) Another reorganization strategy is to separate food production from service. The food can be produced
centrally, chilled or frozen, and then regenerated at the service station.

Mechanization:

1) It means the increased use of equipment instead of manual labor

2) Production becomes more capital-intensive and less labor-intensive and thus labor productivity increases.
3) The trend is towards:

❖ More machines
❖ Continuous, rather than batch processes.
❖ Self-cleaning, rather than manually cleaned equipment.

4) All these tend to compromise food hygiene considerations.

5) Machines may be difficult and labor-intensive to clean unless well designed.
6) Mechanization requires increased management control, which is best achieved by systematization.
.