Why not just invite the whole community to share your food? It’s a wonderful ice-breaker to get people talking but make sure you read through this section first to find out what is expected health and safety wise and then use the links for the finer details.
Health & Safety
It’s your duty to take the right precautions to reduce any risks to health and safety to yourselves and the public. Make sure that food handlers have completed a level 2 food hygiene certificate; this can be carried out at a local education facility or can be completed online at a fairly reasonable price:
The Golden Rules
The 6 food safety golden rules for food handling that must be followed
- Wash hands before handling food
- Wear protective clothing
- Do not handle food of you have been vomiting or had diarrhoea in the last 48hrs
- Tie your hair back and protect
- Remove jewellery before starting
- No smoking or eating in the food preparation ar
If you do any sort of preparation and/or cooking of food which you share you need to use this process from the Food Standards Agency It’s quite a big document and not all of it will be relevant to your situation, but it has simple to follow guidance so have a look through and follow what’s relevant to you.
Risk Assessments
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Check our risk assessment page and sample risk assessment template. If you are cooking using gas or electrical equipment, you must have a fire safety risk assessment in place. This practice allows you to think through what you need and what you need to do in the event of a fire at your cooking pitch.
When writing your assessment think about:
Extinguishers – make sure it is the right type of extinguisher – dry powder works on flammable gases and electrical equipment but not deep fat fryers. A wet chemical extinguisher is required for a fat fryer. Check this link for a clear diagram about fire extinguishers and their respective uses.
The bigger the event the more detailed your risk assessment will need to be, this link takes you to the government advice on fire safety risk assessments for outdoors. Although the document is large there is a nice clear diagram on page 13 of the points you need to consider when producing a fire safety risk assessment
PAT Testing
Make sure any electrical/gas equipment you use is PAT tested (portable appliance testing) unless of course it’s new equipment in which case testing is not necessary until it’s 12 months old. Or if you are hiring the equipment it should already be tested.
Food Safety
The food safety regulations are set in place to minimise any health and safety risks. Here is a basic list of the 3 stages that food hazards may occur.
Transportation
You must ensure:
- raw and cooked food is kept separated
- adequately wrapped and sealed in containers
- kept at max of 8⁰C to protect food and prevent bacterial growth
Preparation
You must have:
- an adequate supply of potable water for hand washing, drinking and cleaning equipment
- separate areas for washing equipment and hands
- sufficient work surface areas for raw and cooked foods
- equipment must be in good condition – no rust or splinters
Display & service
- keep food on display to a minimum
- food that has been cooked must be kept at or above 63⁰ C for a single period of up to 2 hours only
- bring a thermometer to make checks – disinfect before and after use
- do not handle unwrapped food – use kitchen utensils
Allergies
There are 14 types of allergens and you must list them on display by law – make sure it’s accurate (this poster should help). For more information on the allergens see here
Get the Professionals to help!
That’s an awful lot of information to digest however there is an easier way around it. Do some research around local restaurants and cafes and find out if they would like to improve their links with the community. They may be happy to assist with catering at a specific event. They will already have the necessary health and safety certificates; know about correct food storage and cooking procedures, which means taking all the regulatory stuff away from your preparation leaving your group to concentrate on doing the socializing, handing out food and generally enjoying yourselves.
