food hygiene certificate

[VEG]

As in the title is it a legal requirement to have one to sell honey?

 

[For want of a better word]

best contact your local Trading Standards.. as it seems different from region to region!

FSA / HACCP food hygene in Honey Production .. worth googling!

 

[dpearce4]

if you produce anything that is sold as food or anything that is produced to be eaten by others then yes.

 

[Hivemaker.]

if you produce anything that is sold as food or anything that is produced to be eaten by others then yes.

So if you have a veg garden,unless you eat everything in it yourself, you need a certificate.

 

[dpearce4]

best contact your local Trading Standards.. as it seems different from region to region!

FSA / HACCP food hygene in Honey Production .. worth googling!

this has nothing to do with trading standards it is totally to do with enviromental health which is a local council dept. as you are producing a "food stuff" even if given away you are required to register with them.

 

[Rosti]

Quick answer is NO - but read on

The various levels of IEHO Food Hygiene certificates are a convenient and widely recognised form of food safety training but there is no absolute requirement for a business to seek external training support if that business employs food safety specialists that can themselves provide that training. There is a requirementfor commensurate to risk traing though (see below).
With a product such as packaged honey and it’s natural anti-microbial properties it may be sufficient for a small producer to research the requirements and construct HACCP systems that in themselves demonstrate an appropriate understanding of food safety principles. In doing so the individual must be able to demonstrate that the RA's controls employed consider physical, microbiological and chemical (now including allergen) risk assessment and control.

Source and background.
As a business owner, there is a requirement under UK and EU legislation to demonstrate that food handlers are appropriately supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters relevant to their work. Further the individual responsible for developing the processes utilised in the processing of said food must be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of HACCP principles commensurate with the complexity of the processes utilised and the relative food safety risk associated with the food
These duties are derived from provisions within European Hygiene of Foodstuffs Regulation (EC) 852/2004, the Food Safety Act 1990, Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2005 (& amends), European Food Safety Directive (EC) 178/2002 (& amends).

Your compliance managed and validated by your local council food safety team (was called environmental health), with whom you should also be registered as a food producer. Def nothing to do with Trading Standards.

 

[For want of a better word]

Quick answer is NO - but read on

The various levels of IEHO Food Hygiene certificates are a convenient and widely recognised form of food safety training but there is no absolute requirement for a business to seek external training support if that business employs food safety specialists that can themselves provide that training. There is a requirementfor commensurate to risk traing though (see below).
With a product such as packaged honey and it’s natural anti-microbial properties it may be sufficient for a small producer to research the requirements and construct HACCP systems that in themselves demonstrate an appropriate understanding of food safety principles. In doing so the individual must be able to demonstrate that the RA's controls employed consider physical, microbiological and chemical (now including allergen) risk assessment and control.

Source and background.
As a business owner, there is a requirement under UK and EU legislation to demonstrate that food handlers are appropriately supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters relevant to their work. Further the individual responsible for developing the processes utilised in the processing of said food must be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of HACCP principles commensurate with the complexity of the processes utilised and the relative food safety risk associated with the food
These duties are derived from provisions within European Hygiene of Foodstuffs Regulation (EC) 852/2004, the Food Safety Act 1990, Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2005 (& amends), European Food Safety Directive (EC) 178/2002 (& amends).

Your compliance managed and validated by your local council food safety team (was called environmental health), with whom you should also be registered as a food producer. Def nothing to do with Trading Standards.

Food for thought then dpearce4
Yet Trading Standards seem to be the first port of call when a dodgy pasty is sold!

 

[Rosti]

So if you have a veg garden,unless you eat everything in it yourself, you need a certificate.

without prejudice.

No, primary agriculture specifically excluded under EC 178/2002. If you gave away some unwashed potatoes then no. If you washed them, probably required, if you boiled them definately required! But it would be a churlish enforcement officer who pursued this unless you we actively and routinely supply prepared produce or were actively attempting to earn an income from it

 

[VEG]

Ok I have a current certificate (and am registered as a food producer) but as the only person that handles the honey from start to finish would I be required to do the certificate again when it runs out. Someone at our association has said I didnt need it in the first place.
Oh and I am only on about selling honey NOT veg or any other food items.

 

[Hivemaker.]

anything that is produced to be eaten by others then yes.

So there Doug,if i pick a strawberry, and give it to my missus to eat, i do not need a certificate,it is primary agriculture...lol

 

[susbees]

My understanding is that: “Registration of premises does not apply to the direct supply by the producer of small quantities of primary products to the final consumer or to local retail establishments directly supplying the final consumer”. If premises used for 5 days or less in a 5 week period registration is not required.

Hygiene regulations still apply & the standard expected for honey handling is as for High Standard Domestic Premises. Safety requirements state that the process must be managed to protect customers and comply with the law. Hygiene rules require a procedure to be in place showing effective food safety management.

Nowhere have I read you need a certificate, just that you need to have thought about what can go wrong and have procedures in place and keep everything clean.

 

[dpearce4]

if there is a foriegn body found inside your product, eg. chip of glass, piece of plastic or cleaning product from cleaning packaging, and this is reported to environmental health, the above by rosti will not stand in court im afraid. you have to prove due diligance that you have followed hygiene regulations. this is one reason why all honey has lot no.s on them so you can trace batches and who they have been sold to (how many record who has been sold a particular batch). you would have massive issues if you could not provide this if there had be some form of contamination, tracability and all that.

As we produce a food product (not just for personal consumption) every one of us give some away even if we dont sell. we are required to register as a food business. this says that there must be at least 1 person that has up to date food hygiene training and to prove this im afraid that does mean doing at least level 1. these are not expensive.

they are also for your own safety, god forbid anyone ever had an issue. if you did and you kept all relivent paperwork you would be 80% of the way to being let off in court, if you didnt have the paper work you cant prove anything (opps guilty).

honey is a low risk product but there still is a risk. if you have an issue and you get a visit and you havent registered with them you can be prosecuted, and some jobs worths will.

 

[Rosti]

Ok I have a current certificate (and am registered as a food producer) but as the only person that handles the honey from start to finish would I be required to do the certificate again when it runs out. Someone at our association has said I didnt need it in the first place.
Oh and I am only on about selling honey NOT veg or any other food items.

Depends what level you have Craig? The higher levels do not expire anyway.

without prejudice

My view is as follows.
The basic food hygiene certs are largely aimed at small time catering establishments restuarants etc. You don't do cooked chilled etc and repeating the course is therefore pointless since it will not extend your relevant knowledge base.

As a registered producer then the creation of an appropriate Hazard Analysis Risk Assessment (HARA) and the follow on Critical Control Points (CCP) which together constitute a HACCP is the best way to demonstrate that you have the relevant food safety awareness and knowledge to control your honey extraction and packing process to a required standard such that you can demonstrate and call upon a defence of all due diligence and all reasonable precaautions under the terms of the Food Safety Act and meet the various HACCP requirements in some other regulations listed in my original response.

I very much doubt that the usual food safety training providers run a tuned course and based on some very poor, naieve and dare I say 'jobs worth' articles on HACCP I have read in BBKA magazines I would not look to them for constructive 'economically viable' support either. Not aware that there are BBKA HACCP guidelines anyway!

 

[dpearce4]

So there Doug,if i pick a strawberry, and give it to my missus to eat, i do not need a certificate,it is primary agriculture...lol

lucky missus all the birds got mine. didnt get the chance to give her any (well thats what i told her anyway).

 

[VEG]

Thanks for that Rosti.
I did the basic one. I have all paperwork relating to HACCP.

So would you say I wouldnt need to re do the certificate again. Its not the cost of it, I just found it very boring and dont want to do it again if I dont need/have to.

 

[Rosti]

the above by rosti will not stand in court im afraid.

suggest you read it again in the context of the question asked originally and my scoping of the demonstration of knowledge associated with all 3 HACCP risk evaluation criteria. AKA physical includes e.g. foreign bodies.

No absolute requirement for external training. But there is an absolute requirement to demonstrate necessary expertise and that a HACCP is being followed.

Most certainly will stand up in court. DD&ARP defence is proportional to resource and commodity risk. Lets not start trying to apply big boy / full on food producer rules that we reference in our day jobs here, proportionate expectation as per 852 etc.

 

[susbees]

As a registered producer then the creation of an appropriate Hazard Analysis Risk Assessment (HARA) and the follow on Critical Control Points (CCP) which together constitute a HACCP is the best way to demonstrate that you have the relevant food safety awareness and knowledge to control your honey extraction and packing process to a required standard such that you can demonstrate and call upon a defence of all due diligence and all reasonable precaautions under the terms of the Food Safety Act and meet the various HACCP requirements in some other regulations listed in my original response.

Which is what I said above in simple terms. So you don't need a piece of paper if you produce the above. And you don't need to register either...unless you process loads of honey - there is a BBKA guideline on that somewhere.

If that is wrong it would be useful to know...

 

[Rosti]

Thanks for that Rosti.
I did the basic one. I have all paperwork relating to HACCP.

So would you say I wouldnt need to re do the certificate again. Its not the cost of it, I just found it very boring and dont want to do it again if I dont need/have to.

I would not bother doing it again, but I would make sure that my HACCP is robust, goes overboard at the risk assesment stage in such a way that it acts as a demonstration of your acrued knowledge and is supported by a critical flow to demonstrate inclusive understanding. Add a supplementary pre-requisites additional controls summary (and I would include legal compliance in that - such as weights and measures and traceability / indication of min durability printing - which strictly speaking are not included in a 'safety' based HACCP).

 

[VEG]

Many thanks again.

 

[dpearce4]

I will appologise openly now for a PM i have just sent to Rosti. I miss read what was said and my reply was out of order and openly appolgise for it.

Please accept my appology for the PM. i will drop out of this thread.