Why Food Hygiene Courses Are Important For The Modern Workforce

The demand for food hygiene courses have risen continuously over the years. Businesses involved in food manufacturing, catering and retailing are required by the laws to undertake health and safety certificate courses to stay complaint with the industry regulations. Food safety is therefore an important issue within the modern workforce.

You now can’t open any food outlet if you don’t comply with the food safety guidelines. Hence, catering and restaurants have made it mandatory for their employees to undertake safety training course to ensure proper food handling.

Food related illnesses are a common phenomenon but when you are running a restaurant or catering business you can’t afford the diners to fall ill because of your food. This would not only be detrimental for your image but in the worst case scenario you can even get sued or have your licensed revoked. Food hygiene training courses are, hence, essential for your business.

The members within the food industry are, therefore, required to train their workforce about proper handling of food items, whether raw or cooked. They must also ensure that all workers stay up-to-date with the changing requirements of food safety.

Why is it Important to Train Employees?

A question may, however, arise why it is so important to have employees trained in food safety for the catering or restaurant industry.

Well, to run a catering business efficiently you probably would require workers to carry out different jobs. You need to set up a supply chain, maintain cash flow and also serve great food at the same time. Hence, it becomes important that you have a competent team of workers to assist you in running the business. Food hygiene courses have been designed to help you identify areas of how you can manage your workforce better.

Further, you also need to ensure that the food served from your kitchen comply the health and safety standards. If your customers suffer illness after consuming food in your restaurant, you are likely to receive negative publicity. This can be exceedingly strenuous for you as owner of the business.

The food hygiene training also deals with training employees with proper waste management, which is another important factor for food manufacturing and restaurant businesses.

How to Find Food Safety Courses?

You are therefore required to find a comprehensive food safety course for your workers. There are now suppliers offering both offline and online food safety courses. An online food safety course is designed to cater to the needs of busy professionals where the professional can receive the required training without compromising with his earning opportunities.

An online food hygiene course is precise and hence doesnt take as much time to complete. Therefore, professionals are not required to deal with large volume of course materials. Also these are quick and you can take the examination immediately after completing the course.

It is also important to consider the accreditation and credibility of the online food hygiene course provider to avoid being scammed. If you are not careful at selecting the right food hygiene course online you may run into a great risk of getting your licensed revoked and losing your business.

Food Safety Legislation in the UK

Washing facilities

It is a legal requirement for all food businesses to have hand washing facilities. Hand washing facilities must be for hand washing only and have adequate access for staff to wash their hands. The hand wash sinks must have hot and cold running water, soap and drying facilities. It is also recommended, although not a legal requirement, to have separate food and equipment sinks with hot and cold running water.

Legislation

UK food legislation includes:

The food safety act 1990

The food hygiene, England, regulations 2006

EC 852/2004 regulation on the hygiene of foodstuffs

Since 2004 the Food Safety Act has become more concentrated on food quality rather than food safety.

If any of the laws of broken, an individual or business can be prosecuted. Food safety is covered under criminal law which involves being prosecuted in either a Magistrate or Crown court. The Magistrate court deals with less serious offences, termed summary offences, whilst the Crown Court deals with more serious offences, termed indictable offences.

Penalties in the Crown Court include an unlimited fine and/or imprisonment of up to 2 years. The penalties in a Magistrate court are 20,000 fine and/or six months imprisonment.

The enforcement officers who oversee the legislation are called Environmental Health Practitioners.

They:

provide food safety advice, and inspect food premises
enforce legislation covering food
can enter and inspect premises at any reasonable time of the day or night and can be accompanied by the uniformed police
can investigate outbreaks of foodborne disease, food poisoning and other possible offences
can instruct that food be destroyed if it is considered unsafe to eat
can issue improvement and prohibition notices
can take food businesses to court for breaking food safety laws
can initiate prosecution by gathering evidence.

If a company is prosecuted they can provide a due diligence defence. This means that the business can prove that they took all reasonable precautions to prevent contamination and food poisoning. This due diligence defence is achieved with the use of written records. The written records are called the Food Safety Management System, which is a collection of records, procedures and all information regarding running the food business safely. The information includes some of the following:

training records
suppliers audits
pest control documentation
cleaning schedules
temperature records
maintenance contracts

There are legal requirements that apply to food handlers and these include:

keeping themselves clean
ensuring the workplace remains clean
to protect food from contamination or anything that cause harm to it
following good personal hygiene practices such as hand washing and regular bathing or showering
wearing clean protective clothing
informing their employer if they are suffering from food poisoning and foodborne illness.

For further information on the UK Food Legislation go to Food Safety.

How To Keep Your Food Warm With A Food Warmer

When you work in catering you know the importance of keeping the food youve worked hard to prepare warm. However, if youve ever gone shopping for a food warmer you may have become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of machines there are on the market for keeping your food hot. If youve ever felt clueless about food warmers, what they do, and which ones will work best for you below is a list to get you started in the crowded world of food warmers.

Full Sized Warmers are the large food warmers that you often find at large events or hotel banquets. They hold large pans of food in place while hot water is placed in the bottom pan to keep the food hot and moist. Some full size warmers are quite big and designed to hold more than one full-sized pan of food. Other units are smaller. When you purchase a full sized warmer keep in mind that the warmer itself only holds hot water; you will need to buy the pans to hold the food separately.

If you plan to offer a lot of food, such as at a buffet, then you might want to invest in heated shelves which can keep food warm for long periods of time. Heated shelves are different from full size warmers since you dont have to worry about filling trays of hot water. They come in different sizes, and they are offered with different wattage points; bigger shelves need more wattage.

Another warmer type that utilizes water to heat foods is a round countertop food warmer. These types of food warmers are used for soups, gravies, and other liquid-based foods. You simply place hot water into the round countertop warmer and place a separate insert holding the food inside. Once your warmer is setup you can place a lid over the warmer to keep the warmth from escaping as fast. Lids can be hinged or unhinged. These inserts sometimes need to be bought separately so always double-check before you buy this type of warmer whether you will need to supply your own insert.

Like round countertop food warmers, soup food warmers keep liquid-based foods like soups and stews warm. Some soup food warmers are electric allowing the operator to adjust the temperature accordingly. These warmers also usually come with an insert to place the food into before placing into the warmer.

Strip Heaters are similar to trays, but they are primarily used to keep food warm until it is served out. They are not commonly used at buffets or anywhere where a customer would come into contact with it, and instead are a stopping off point between the kitchen and the table. Some strip heaters are hotter than others so you will want to research each before purchasing as the hotter a heater is the more chances there are that the food placed on top will dry out.

Benefits Of Having A Food Processor In Your Kitchen

Food processors started to make their appearance way back in the early sixties. Since then this product has steadily grown in popularity up to a point where the food processor has become an essential component for many modern cooking methods. Chefs have created countless delicious recipes through the use of this appliance. The food processor is a kitchen aid that no cook can do without.

A necessity in every kitchen

Considering how much time and labor is spent when using the traditional methods of chopping, grating and kneading, it has become very difficult indeed for the modern parent to prepare a decent home cooked meal. As most parents opt for having careers rather than staying at home, cooking time has become very limited. The repetitive action of chopping, shredding, pureeing or slicing is enough to make any working person disgruntled and run off to the nearest fast food outlet.

The food processor has virtually eliminated all the labor involved and has cut down on the preparation time. Modern chefs make extensive use of food processors. The appliance has become such a necessity that it can no longer be seen as a showpiece item that will only be used occasionally.

Virtually every single food program on television will show the chef armed with a chefs knife and a food processor. This has increased the usage of the appliance even more as most of these dishes are designed for the home cook. The creation of wholesome, nutritious and delectable dishes have become a breeze and done in no time at all. This is precisely what the home cook requires and is difficult to achieve without the use of a food processor.

How does it work?

A food processor is an electrical appliance that is made up of a mixing bowl and a range of blades and disks. The mixing bowl would ideally be able to hold 9 cups as the processing of liquids just about cuts the capacity in half. The feeding tube on the lid should wide enough for larger pieces of food. The processors are fitted with a safety feature and will only start processing once the lid and bowl is locked and sealed.

These safety features are a requirement and apply to all makes of food processors. Some of these appliances are fitted with suction pads at the base to prevent the machine from moving around during processing. There are basically two types of blades that come with the processor. The essential ones are the s-shaped stainless steel blade and the plastic blade. The stainless steel blade can be fitted at the bottom of the bowl to allow for easy chopping, shredding, mixing or blending of vegetables and meat. The plastic blade is mainly for mixing bread and pizza dough. The two disks that usually come with a food processor are designed for slicing and grating purposes.

The slicing disk has various thickness settings. Disks used for grating purposes also come in different sizes. The processor is usually fitted with more than one speed option. The pulse controls come in very handy when making bread or pizza dough, as it will help to create a perfect texture and not over mix it. A citrus press for juicing oranges, limes or grapefruit and an egg whip that can be used for baking purposes are other essential attachments. Some food processors have extra or optional features and attachments that could be useful for certain people depending on what their requirements are.

A mini processor that can be used for grinding spices like cardamom and cinnamon stick is quite a nifty attachment. It can also be used for chopping smaller quantities of vegetables, fruit or herbs. Appliances fitted with touch pad controls prevent any liquids from entering the panel and can therefore be easily cleaned. Another handy option is the chute that leads to another bowl. Large amounts of food can be processed without stopping as it simply enters into another bowl when the main one starts filling up.

Be selective when purchasing a processor

These options are useful but not always necessary as it can affect the price when purchasing a food processor. Investing in a good quality food processor can become a costly affair, but a food processor can save time and help to create healthy and delicious dishes in no time. If you do have a family and prefer home cooked meals then a food processor will be a worthwhile investment.

If you do not have a family to entertain on a regular basis, then you will be able to prepare gourmet dishes at a fraction of the cost with a good food processor. The range is wide and varied and will certainly meet all requirements for the ardent home cook.

Places to Eat London

In the greatest city on earth you are never far away from fantastic places to eat. You will find from cafes and coffee bars to bistros and mid priced restaurants.kebab shops, Indian and Chinese takeaways, pizza bars and burger joints in all parts of London, as a rule, low rent areas near transport hubs have lots of cheap food and inexpensive places to eat, whilst high rent areas have expensive low turnover eateries and bistros. In between these two extremes are a wide variety of places to eat.

If you are looking to stretch those holiday pounds you can often find deals, some bistros offer lunchtime eating deals , while other places to eat offer set menus in the evening. Child friendly eateries frequently have offers for a family. In the West End the busy theatre cafes and restaurants keep their prices low by offering pre and post theatre sittings, with a third in between which is often a quieter affair.

Many of these mid-priced bistros, especially in busy areas such as Camden, Soho, London Bridge, Covent Garden, Piccadilly, Mayfair etc…, operate a no-reservation policy. This policy of non booking is designed to streamline the whole process of feeding the maximum number of people. Seats are not left empty waiting for people who may not turn up, but you may expect to be seated within 15 minutes or so, unless the food is really good, in which case the wait may be longer. As a rule, when eating in a food court with many places to eat, always choose the longest queue, there is always a reason for the longest queue.

A fantastic British Institution is the Pub, some of the finest are reinventing themselves as Gastropubs, they already have kitchens, a full license and plenty of seating and now some are becoming renowned places to eat. Now these Gastropubs are employing some of the brightest young chefs and giving them free reign to excite the palate and produce wonderful food at reasonable prices they sometimes offer a limited menu but dont some great establishments do the same.

There are famous restaurants in London Bridge, whether holding Michelin stars or run by celebrity chefs, but there are far more hidden gems which need to be sought out. With so many to choose from look for specialist websites which are dedicated to one type of restaurant and look for their recommendations.

As one of the worlds great cities we have a multi-ethnic community offering cuisine from all over the world. both specialist restaurants and those delightful establishments which bridge the gap od cultures from French, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Lebanese, Mexican, Vegetarian Restaurants, Soho and City and London Bridge restaurants all of these are well represented in London and we provide links to many of these from our websites which are detailed below.
You will enjoy exploring the variety of bistros, coffee bars, cafes, restaurants and other eateries in London. Many Hotels also have superb kitchens, but there are always plenty more places to eat just around the corner in London.