The importance of Food Health and Safety as a catering supervisor

When fulfilling the role of catering supervisor for a business, you need take into consideration more than just prepping the menus and liaising with the clients.

Understanding all of the relevant food health and safety principles for your day-to-day operations is essential in order to avoid accidents and keep everything safe. We’ve listed some of the most important aspects of food health and safety – which are especially relevant to the role of catering supervisor – and why you need to know about them.

Identifying the hazards and risks within the workplace

Being able to understand the types of hazard that can occur in the workplace is one of the big parts of being a supervisor; seeing potential problems before they can become incidents involving staff or anyone else. Keeping up to date with the most recent food health and safety regulations will help to keep not only your staff safe but ensure that any food produced has the lowest contamination risk possible.

Knowing how to develop and implement a HACCP plan

By having detailed knowledge of how food health and safety applies to a catering setting, you will be able to create a comprehensive HACCP plan by combining that insight with an intimate knowledge of your business. Knowing the wider scope of the catering business will perfectly position you to be able to identify all the relevant critical control points (CCPs) within your catering production process.

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Complying with European Parliament Regulations

If you’re a supervisor or business owner, you must comply with the provisions outlined in Regulation (EC) 852/2004 by the European Parliament on the Food Hygiene Regulations and the Food Safety Act 1990. Our Level 3 Food Safety and Hygiene course delivers a high calibre of training which is designed to meet those high standards so you can be confident that you’re completely compliant with European food law.

Delivering better training

As with any employee working for a business in the food industry, you need to fulfil your training requirements within food health and safety including food hygiene. If you take part in a higher level of training such as our Level 3 Food Safety and Hygiene in Catering training then you will be able to better train any other member of staff and fulfil the senior role of supervisor more sufficiently.

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Catering supervisors are trusted, senior members of the food production team, ensuring that every part of the day-to-day operations is running smoothly without any issues stemming from poor food health and safety. If you need comprehensive training which can be delivered effectively and consistently then take a look at our Level 3 Food Safety and Hygiene for Supervisors course to find out how online training with Virtual College can benefit your business.

Top Food Hygiene FAQs

What is food hygiene and what is food safety?

Food hygiene and food safety refer to the steps food handlers need to take to make sure food is processed, stored, distributed, transported and prepared without any risk to consumers' health.

Who is responsible for food safety?

Food handlers and food businesses are responsible for the safety of the food that they provide to consumers. Their responsibilities include ensuring food is safe for consumption, and that its quality meets expectations. Food also needs to be labelled and advertised in a way that is not misleading, especially where allergies and intolerances are concerned

Why is food hygiene important?

If food is not prepared in a hygienic way, it may be unsafe for consumption and could increase the risk of foodborne illnesses. Good food hygiene is important for your business and its reputation, as well as the health of your customers. It's therefore vital to ensure all staff have received food hygiene training.

Why is food safety important?

A thorough understanding of food safety is essential for food handlers to demonstrate food hygiene best practice, to prevent risk of contamination or foodborne illnesses.

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