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Food Hygiene Policy

1. Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to ensure that food hygiene standards within {{org_field_name}} meet the highest levels of safety, cleanliness, and compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. This policy is designed to:

• Protect residents, staff, and visitors from foodborne illnesses and contamination.
• Ensure compliance with the Food Safety Act 1990; the Food Hygiene (Wales) Regulations 2006, as amended; assimilated Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs, as amended; the Food Information (Wales) Regulations 2014, as amended; the Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 and associated regulations; and the Regulation and Inspection of Social Care (Wales) Act 2016 together with the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017, as amended, including Regulations 56 and 57.
• Provide clear procedures for food storage, preparation, handling, and serving.
• Support residents’ dietary and nutritional needs, ensuring meals are prepared in a safe and hygienic environment.
• Meet Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) inspection requirements, ensuring the care home is well-prepared for audits and inspections.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all aspects of food hygiene within the care home, ensuring that every staff member, supplier, and external contractor follows the correct procedures. Specifically, it applies to:

• Kitchen and catering staff responsible for food preparation and cooking.
• Care assistants and nursing staff who assist residents with meals and feeding.
• Management staff, who oversee compliance and conduct audits.
• Residents and visitors, ensuring their dietary needs, allergies, and safety are considered.
• External food suppliers, ensuring that all deliveries meet food safety standards.

3. Related Policies

This policy is aligned with several key policies to ensure a holistic approach to food hygiene and resident well-being. These include:

• Meeting Nutritional and Hydration Needs Policy (CHW12)​ – Ensures residents receive adequate nutrition and hydration.
• Safe Care and Treatment Policy (CHW11)​ – Addresses infection prevention and proper care during food handling.
• Infection Prevention and Control Policy (CHW17)​ – Covers sanitation, hand hygiene, and kitchen cleaning protocols.
• Risk Management and Assessment Policy (CHW18)​ – Identifies and mitigates risks related to food handling and storage.

4. Food Safety Management System (HACCP)

To maintain the highest standards of food safety, we implement a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, which involves:

1. Identifying potential hazards (e.g., bacterial contamination, allergens, temperature control).
2. Determining critical control points (e.g., food storage, cooking temperatures, hygiene protocols).
3. Establishing critical limits (e.g., minimum cooking temperatures, cooling times).
4. Monitoring and recording all food safety practices.
5. Taking corrective actions when necessary.
6. Conducting regular audits to ensure compliance with HACCP principles.
7. Reviewing the food safety management system whenever there is a change to a product, ingredient, menu, process, equipment or any stage of food preparation or service, and making any necessary amendments. HACCP documentation and monitoring records must be kept up to date and retained for an appropriate period to demonstrate effective implementation of the food safety management system.

4.1. Personal Hygiene Standards

• All staff must wash hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap before and after handling food.
• Staff must wear protective clothing, including aprons, hair nets, and gloves.
• Cuts and wounds must be covered with waterproof dressings.
• Any person suffering from, or carrying, an illness that is likely to be transmitted through food, or who has diarrhoea, vomiting, infected wounds, skin infections, sores or another condition which may contaminate food, must immediately report the illness or symptoms to the manager. Where there is any likelihood of direct or indirect contamination, the person must not handle food or enter a food-handling area. Staff with diarrhoea and/or vomiting must normally remain excluded from food-handling duties and food-handling areas until they have been free from symptoms for at least 48 hours, unless specific medical or public health advice requires a different exclusion period.
• Staff must undertake mandatory training in personal hygiene as part of their food safety education.

4.2. Food Storage and Handling

• Refrigerators are maintained at 0-5°C, and freezers at -18°C or lower.
• Food is stored in sealed containers, and raw food is kept separate from cooked food.
• Perishable foods must be labelled with use-by dates and used accordingly.
• Deliveries are checked upon arrival, ensuring correct temperatures and freshness.

4.3. Cleaning and Disinfection

• The kitchen is cleaned after every meal preparation session.
• Food contact surfaces, chopping boards, and utensils are sanitised before and after use.
• We use CIW-compliant cleaning agents, ensuring the correct dilution and safe application.
• A cleaning schedule is followed, with records maintained by the Kitchen Manager.

4.4. Allergen Management

• Accurate allergen information must be available for all food and drink provided to residents, visitors or staff where required by food information law. Information about the 14 regulated allergens must be provided in accordance with the Food Information (Wales) Regulations 2014 and applicable food information legislation. For non-prepacked food, allergen information may be provided in writing or, where permitted, verbally provided that a clearly visible notice explains how the information may be obtained. Food prepacked for direct sale must meet the applicable ingredient-list and allergen-emphasis requirements.
• A dedicated allergen-free preparation area is used when preparing meals for residents with allergies.
• Staff are trained to identify and prevent cross-contamination with allergens.
• Resident dietary needs are assessed regularly and recorded in their care plans.

4.5. Food Preparation and Cooking

Foods requiring thorough cooking must be cooked using a validated time-and-temperature combination sufficient to make the food safe. Where a temperature probe is used, the temperature must be checked at the centre or thickest part of the food. Examples of recognised equivalent combinations include:

• 70°C for at least 2 minutes;
• 75°C for at least 30 seconds;
• 80°C for at least 6 seconds; or
• another validated equivalent time-and-temperature combination contained within the service’s food safety management system.

Poultry, minced or processed meat, rolled joints, liver and offal, fish and other foods requiring thorough cooking must be cooked in accordance with the relevant validated safe method contained within the HACCP-based food safety management system.

• Defrosting: Frozen foods must be thawed in the refrigerator or under cold running water, never at room temperature.
• Cooling procedures: Cooked food must be cooled to below 8°C within 90 minutes.

4.6. Temperature Monitoring

• Fridge and freezer temperatures are checked and recorded daily.
• Food temperatures are taken at three key stages: cooking, cooling, and serving.
• Any deviations from safe temperature ranges must be reported immediately, and corrective action taken.

5. Training and Competency of Staff

• All staff who handle food must receive supervision, instruction and/or food hygiene training appropriate to the work they undertake and must be competent to perform their food-handling duties safely. Training and competency must be reviewed and refreshed whenever necessary, including following changes in duties, procedures or legislation, where deficiencies in practice are identified, or where the food safety management system indicates that further training is required. Staff responsible for developing, maintaining or operating HACCP-based procedures must receive adequate training in the application of HACCP principles.
• Kitchen staff must undergo induction training in HACCP and food safety regulations.
• Regular refresher courses are held to keep staff up to date with new regulations.

6. Managing Food Safety Incidents

• If a resident or staff member reports symptoms of food poisoning, this must be immediately reported to management.
• Affected individuals must receive medical attention, and food samples may be sent for testing.
• If a food recall is issued, the affected items must be removed immediately, and all residents and staff must be informed.
• Suspected or confirmed foodborne illness, food poisoning or an outbreak of infectious disease must be escalated immediately to the Registered Manager. The service must notify the relevant local authority Environmental Health/Food Safety service and any other public health authority where required. An outbreak of any infectious disease is a notifiable event to Care Inspectorate Wales under Regulation 60 and Schedule 3 of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017. The service provider must notify CIW without delay, in writing and in the form or manner required by CIW.

7. Resident Nutrition and Meal Planning

• All meals are designed to meet the dietary and nutritional needs of residents.
• Alternative meal options are available for those with cultural, religious, or medical dietary restrictions.
• Residents with dysphagia or difficulty swallowing receive modified texture meals, prepared according to specialist guidance.
• Menus are reviewed every three months and updated based on resident feedback and dietary assessments.

8. Compliance and Monitoring

• Internal audits are conducted monthly to review food hygiene practices.
• The service will co-operate fully with inspections, interventions and other official controls undertaken by the local authority Environmental Health/Food Safety service at the frequency determined by the relevant statutory food-law enforcement and risk-rating arrangements. Any actions, requirements or recommendations arising from an official inspection must be recorded, allocated to a responsible person and addressed within the required timescale.
• Any non-compliance issues are recorded and addressed through a corrective action plan.

8.1 Food Hygiene Rating

Where the service is subject to the statutory Food Hygiene Rating Scheme and has been issued with a valid food hygiene rating, the current rating sticker must be displayed at or near each relevant entrance to the premises in a location where it can be readily seen by members of the public, in accordance with the Food Hygiene Rating (Wales) Act 2013 and associated requirements. The service must ensure that an expired or superseded rating is not displayed and must comply with the statutory requirements for providing information about the current rating when requested.

9. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed annually or earlier if:

• New legislation or CIW regulations require changes.
• Best practices in food hygiene evolve.
• Staff training or audits indicate a need for policy revision.

All staff members will be notified of any changes, and additional training will be provided as needed.

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Responsible Person: {{org_field_registered_manager_first_name}} {{org_field_registered_manager_last_name}}
Reviewed on: {{last_update_date}}
Next Review Date: {{next_review_date}}
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