Did you know, that one in ten people fall ill from contaminated food each year worldwide, and that over 200 diseases are caused by eating unsafe and contaminated food? In the UK, it is estimated that there are around 2.4 million cases of foodborne illnesses every year. These cases globally and nationally are entirely preventable; no one should be made ill by the food they eat.
Rob Easton, Head of Environmental Health at Shield Safety shares his expert insight on how your business can promote food safety.
On June 7th the World Health Organisation asked people around the globe to celebrate World Food Safety Day. Now in its fifth year, World Food Safety Day provides an opportunity to focus on how important a safe global food supply chain is, and that everyone has a role to play when it comes to safe food. The focus for this year’s event was ‘Food Standards Save Lives’, and as the first certification partner for Safe to Trade ®, the food safety standard for hospitality businesses in the UK, we at Shield Safety couldn’t agree more.
World Food Safety Day is a great opportunity to remind people how important safe food is and how everyone impacts food safety. So, how can you help promote food safety following on from World Food Safety Day? Here are some ideas for your business.
Celebrate Success
Is there somebody, or a team, within your organisation who makes a huge difference to food safety? It might be that they have the highest personal standards or run a location which consistently performs well on audits. Find a way to say thank you and share with others how much you value their high standards.
This is also a great occasion to look at how everyone contributes to the safety of food in your business. Use World Food Safety Day to recognise their input, ranging from those who work with suppliers, through to developing the menu, preparing and cooking the food, and those serving the guest and making sure your premises are clean and hygienic. The production of safe food is completely reliant on everyone doing their part to the standard required.
Food Safety Training
Focus on a food safety topic important in your business. There might be a number of things you want to improve, and you ’ll find it hard to just choose one. Looking back at past audit results, customer feedback and your internal daily, weekly and monthly checks can help you decide on a focus topic, learn more about it and upskill your team where needed.
We know that effective handwashing is one of the most critical areas to ensure the safety of food and this could be a focus area for your business. If you want an impactful way of illustrating the importance of hand washing, then a specialist UV lotion and light works brilliantly for practical demonstrations.
If you need to upskill your own knowledge, or that of your team members, we offer a range of online and classroom-based food safety training. View our range of courses here.
Allergen management
Prosecutions of businesses as a result of failing to protect consumers from the risk of allergens is on the rise, with the rate of prosecution increasing almost tenfold over a five-year period and fines rising at an even faster rate. World Food Safety Day is the perfect time to focus your team on the importance of controlling allergens. To learn more about the latest insights on allergen, read our latest blog here and rewatch our webinar here.
Fly the Flag for Food Safety
If you are a food safety professional, you can use your network to promote the importance of food safety and celebrate World Food Safety Day. It would also be beneficial to showcase your support as a business and that you take food safety seriously. There are some useful images here that can be used to update your profile on social media.
Help when you need it
We understand that keeping up to date with all the requirements and standards relating to food safety can be overwhelming. That’s why Shield Safety are here, to make safety simple for you and your business.
The Safety Advice Line is one of the most highly valued services Shield Safety provides to its customers. It gives immediate access to best-in-class safety advice from a professional team of Environmental Health Practitioners. Get expert support when things go wrong, alongside the tools to plan, implement, monitor and document the progress of any incidents. Giving you peace of mind and helping to minimize stressful situations. From accidents and emergencies to key environmental health incidents and expertise.
Find out more about how the Safety Advice Line can help your business better understand and navigate food safety here.
To find out more about World Food Safety day visit the WHO website here.
To discover more about how Shield Safety, visit: www.shieldsafety.co.uk
