Food Safety & Handling Policy and Procedure

Purpose of policy

Base Camp is committed to ensuring that safe and healthy practices around the storage, preparation and service of food are maintained throughout the setting.

Who is responsible?

It is the responsibility of the manager (Hannah Secouet) to ensure staff members understand and implement the policy. It is the responsibility of all staff members to ensure that safe practices are maintained in the preparation and storage of food, and that all food hygiene practices comply with relevant legislation, training and policy.

How will this policy be implemented?

Detailed procedures exist to ensure that there are high standards of health and safety in all aspects of food handling. The policy, and the methods of implementation, will be continuously monitored, and the policy will be reviewed annually.

Personal hygiene

Even though Base Camp is an outdoor setting, high standards of personal hygiene for all staff and participants will be expected. Handwashing facilities are available on site, along with access to hand sanitisers. Participants will be selecting and creating their own lunch from a selection of choices, so staff will ensure that they follow strict hygiene procedures before doing so. Hot water to wash hands will be available before lunch commences. In addition, any person showing signs of ill health will not be permitted to handle food.

Hygiene procedures

• All staff and visitors must adhere to a no smoking or vaping policy.
• Food handlers, including children and young people, should wash their hands regularly followed by hand sanitiser, especially:
  • after visiting the toilet
  • before handling food
  • between handling raw and cooked food
  • after eating, coughing, sneezing or blowing their nose
  • after handling waste food or refuse
  • after handling cleaning materials
  • after activities.
• Fingernails should be kept short and clean and free from varnish.
• Any cuts or sores on the hands and arms must be covered completely with a waterproof plaster.
• When preparing food to be served, staff should wear clean, protective clothing and prepare all food surfaces with commercial grade cleaning products (sanitiser that cleans and disinfects).
• Staff should tie long hair back and avoid touching their hair and face — if they do so, they must wash their hands before continuing.

Identification and handling of high-risk foods

Due to the outdoor setting, high-risk foods will be kept to a minimum. However, when they are used, staff responsible for their handling and preparation will identify the potential hazards associated with them and document how they are to be handled and prepared safely, in order to prevent ill health and cross-contamination.

Staff involved with food handling will undergo appropriate training in accordance with the Food Safety Regulations 1995, and this will be documented in their training record.

A hazard analysis should be carried out for each of the following high-risk foods:

• all cooked meat and poultry
• milk, cream, butter and dairy products
• cooked eggs and products made from eggs
• cooked rice.

Once the hazards have been identified, the steps needed to control and minimise any risk associated with these foods should be recorded and filed in a food safety file.

Allergen procedure

Prior to attending Base Camp activities, participants will be asked if they have any dietary requirements, intolerances or allergies. They will be asked to confirm these details again on arrival at the site. Where possible, menus will be designed to avoid the allergen completely (e.g. nuts). If that is not possible, strict food preparation procedures will be adhered to, to ensure no cross-contamination will occur, such as storing the allergen separately.

Where food has been prepared for serving from a number of ingredients, a list of allergens will be available for all to see. These will be stored in the food safety file, and all staff will be aware of where it is kept and the information it holds.

Temperature control

Base Camp staff will ensure that any, and all, foods are stored according to safe food handling practices and at the correct temperature, to prevent the growth and multiplication of pathogenic bacteria, to reduce the rate of food spoilage, and to ensure food quality is maintained. Food temperature probes and digital thermometers will be used in the monitoring of fridge and cool box temperatures and the serving of any hot food.

• Fridges storing ingredients and produce for lunches will be checked prior to purchasing and will continue to be monitored daily thereafter, to ensure any food that requires refrigeration is being stored out of the danger zone of 5–63°C.
• Refrigerated food to be taken to site will be stored in clean cool boxes for no longer than 2 hours and will contain a digital thermometer, checked hourly to ensure food is stored out of the danger zone.

Other food safety procedures

• Drinking water containers will be clearly labelled and sterilised before every activity day.
• Along with good hygiene practices, food preparation areas will be kept clean and tidy, and commercial grade cleaning products will be used after every food activity (e.g. preparing raw food and then ready-to-eat food) to reduce cross-contamination and pests.
• Waste food will be scraped off plates, and dirty crockery and cutlery will be collected and stored away from food in a dedicated plastic crate to be washed in a dishwasher off site.
• Waste food will be disposed of securely and appropriately at the end of each activity day, off site, to reduce the attraction of pests.