On 18/07/2011 11:20, Owain wrote: ...
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I suspect that, for the actual temperatures to have any value in case of a problem, the thermometer would need to be calibrated and certified as accurate by an external body every so often.
Colin Bignell
AIUI neither the legislation[1] on food storage nor anything else requires that *any* record is kept. I thought it was more a matter of it being good practice to keep records in order to show in case of complaint that you took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence of not storing the food correctly. Some LAs suggest you record actual temperatures. Other LAs suggest just a checklist which records either that the temperature was OK or, if not, what action was taken to correct it.
AIUI there's also no statutory control of the accuracy of the thermometer. It just has to be accurate enough. As usual, the easiest thing is probably to look at the guidance from the LA covering your place and follow that.
[1] The Food Safety (Temperature Control) Regulations 1995
That phrase brought up lots of good results with a google search including several inspectors' reports on food premises and nurseries. It was not clear if sealed boxes of food could be stored - as the handler would be touching boxes not food.
Oh yes, Tony. You betta believe THAT ! :-)
Arfa
It came from Toolstation, and was specifically formulated for use on surfaces in kitchens, and bathrooms, so I guess that means totally waterproof ?? Maybe that it contains a long term fungicide, something like that ?? Dunno, but when I saw it in the catalogue, having had previous experience of EvH officers and their suspicions of wood, I thought aha! That's just what is needed. And so it proved last week ... I must be psychic. Or maybe that's psychiatric ... :-)
Arfa
Good input Neb. Thanks. I think that basically what everyone has said, underlines what I thought - that is that different interested parties all have different agendas / guidelines / regs / statutory requirements / recommendations, and then interpretations of all those, and no joined up thinking between them all. Interestingly, a BCO came with the builders on their final visit to sign off the conversion work that they had done, and he did a detailed inspection of the new bog block, in the full knowledge that it was a food premises that it was located in, and he did not, as you say, have any problems with it by his regulations.
When push comes to shove, I'm not that bothered about what The EvH officer had to say on the matter, as he agreed that it *could* be resolved by simply moving the freezer, so if he actually takes the trouble to put it in writing, that's what we'll do. The room is not used for any food prep, and is unlikely to be. There's not actually any prep as such to be done, anyway. Any food handling is done in the front, where it's all stainless steel and in full view of the customers anyway. That's exactly the way it was in our cafes, and the customers seemed to like it that way. Overall, he seemed a decent enough chap from what I can understand as I wasn't actually present at the time, and he gave us an immediate 4 stars, so that was ok :-) As others have said, in my experience, it's not worth getting arsey with these people. It's just nice for my own peace of mind, to know exactly where they are coming from on these matters, and with what justification.
Arfa
No you won't you idiot.
There is a statutory requirement to carry out a food safety hazard audit. IMO it would be very difficult to carry one out without the actions section including a requirement to keep such records.
The question any quality control auditor would then ask you is, in the absence of any documented calibration, how do you demonstrate it is, or, more important, that it was at the time the temperature was measured?
I am merely making the point that, if the thermometer is not calibrated, recording the actual temperatures is probably no more useful than recording that it was checked. Unless, of course, there is some other reason for taking them - checking them for trends that may indicate impending equipment failure, for example.
Colin Bignell
Best cross "building inspector" off the list of things dennise claims to be.
That's right. Years ago my grandmother was becoming less able to manage the stairs and we partitioned part of her kitchen off to fit a downstairs toilet. As long as there were handwashing facilities in the toilet "cubicle" BC had no problem.
SteveW
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