One of the most important aspects of starting any cafe or coffee shop business is ensuring you follow the necessary governmental food and drink standards.
Ensuring you comply with all the necessary rules and regulations can seem to be a daunting experience for first-time owners so we鈥檝e put together this simple guide to point you in the right direction.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA)
The FSA is the appointed governmental body responsible for all food safety standards.
The FSA will therefore provide you with all advice on food hygiene matters and has a 鈥樷�� publication which will help you in complying with the law and keep your site safe for the public. This publication covers all the key areas on serving food including cooking, chilling and cleaning.
To order this book you can contact the FSA on 0845 606 0667 or email foodstandards@ecgroup.uk.com
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
There is no law which states that you have to undertake formal training to open and run a cafe or coffee shop. It is essential however that you and your employees working with food have had the appropriate level of training to do their job to the required standard.
At the end of the day, the legal responsibility does rest with the business owner so it鈥檚 within your own interest to make sure you meet all the necessary requirements. Your business will also have to be registered with the local authorities so be aware that you can expect face to face inspections in the future.
A poor inspection can result in bad publicity for the business and very serious cases can result in the closure of your cafe. Don鈥檛 panic though, these circumstances are easily avoidable if you follow the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP).
The HACCP is an internationally recognised system for the management of food safety and its focus is identifying the 鈥榗ritical points鈥� in a process where food safety hazards could potentially arise. The HACCP, therefore, has systems in place to prevent things from going wrong.
If you visit you鈥檒l be able to find out more information on these systems.
