Food poisoning reporting processes
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Allegation of food poisoning or allergen incident
As a general rule, any kind of incident that involves an allegation of food poisoning or an allergen incident must be taken extremely seriously as the reputation and future of the business could be at stake.
All allegations of food poisoning and allergen incidents must be carefully recorded as legal action is a possibility. All written statements may be used as evidence in a legal action against the business.
Do not under any circumstances admit any liability for any incident, as this can have legal implications for the company in a legal process and the incident may not be your fault.
Contact the executive chef and head of food operations immediately and forward all details. Make a robust record of any thing said by the customer, word for word, write this down and ask them to sign and date what has been written if they are on site. If it is a telephone conversation from a customer or an EHO write everything down vigilantly.
The senior chef should make the following checks and instigate the following actions:
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Check all foods that may have been implicated for use by dates, freshness, risk of cross contamination, any suspect foods should be safely quarantined in a separated area.
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Chopping boards, knives and removable parts of complex equipment e.g. Robo-chef, mixers etc. that come into immediate contact with food, should follow the written procedure for the monthly chlorine disinfection regime for these specific items.
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Check all cold holding equipment for out of date products, check date labels as well as organoleptic checks (look, smell, feel, texture etc.)
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Check general hygiene of the kitchen and instigate a full robust clean of all high care areas, food preparation surfaces, equipment, sinks, fridges, hand wash basins, all touch points etc.
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Check all monitoring and recording documentation is up to date and all paperwork has been completed in its entirety.
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Walk the kitchen, ensuring that all systems and control measures are being adhered to.
Allegation of foreign body contamination
These allegations must be taken seriously and an investigation must take place.
Foreign bodies found in food can come from many sources including from the primary producer, the manufacturer, the distributor or possibly from the food premises. These sources of contamination could come from many things on site including people themselves, pests, off equipment and utensils and from packaging etc.
Occasionally, a customer will make a false complaint against the company to seek compensation or a free meal, this is why you should not admit anything until the allegation is proven.
The senior chef should make the following checks and instigate the following actions:
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Check maintenance reporting procedures are being used, check equipment and check that all maintenance records are completed and up to date.
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Check that all staff are adhering to the hygiene and uniform policies.
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Check the general cleanliness and physical condition of food preparation and storage areas.
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Check through any monitoring or recording documentation to ensure that systems and controls are being monitored diligently.
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Check with staff that systems and controls are being adhered to, question them to confirm understanding of the systems and controls if necessary.
Do not offer the customer any kind of compensation until a full investigation has taken place.
Suspected food poisoning and allergen incident procedure
After consulting with the executive chef or head of food operations and following all of the above procedures and checks:
Inform the local EHO that you have received an allegation, verbally pass on the details of the guest involved.
Do not give the EHO a copy of the complaint form
Do not offer the guest any kind of compensation as this is an admission of guilt or liability.
Providing that your food safety systems are in place are adhered to diligently and not compromised, then the likelihood of an incident should be small.