Food retail hygiene compliance inspections: what you need to know

Businesses selling food products must comply with essential hygiene rules to protect consumers. These businesses are regularly subject to inspections (scheduled or carried out without notice) conducted by health authorities checking compliance with applicable hygiene standards. Find out how to ensure compliance with hygiene rules in your food retail business.

Hygiene rules for premises and equipment

Premises and equipment used in food retail businesses must be maintained and handled in a way that complies with hygiene standards to protect consumer health. Here are a few points to monitor :

• Premises layout : make sure the layout of your facilities makes them easy to maintain. So-called “dirty” work areas (toilets, waste management) must be separated from “clean” areas where food is stored and displayed. Remember to store chemicals and cleaning products away from food products (in a dedicated dry storage room or area).
• Maintenance of facilities : floors and surfaces in the business (which must be made of waterproof, washable and non-toxic materials) must be cleaned regularly. All surfaces in direct contact with food, such as worktops, cutting boards, utensils, mincers, scales, etc. (particularly in bakeries, fishmongers and butcher shops), must be cleaned and disinfected daily. These types of utensils and machines must also be covered with film or protected at the end of each service. You should also carry out frequent pest control and rodent control measures.
• Equipment : a food retail business must have a ventilation system that does not mix air from clean areas with that from dirty areas. It must also have a cold room with a thermometer and temperature control. The supply of drinking water is also very important. Indeed, the business must not only have a sufficient quantity of drinking water, but ice that comes into contact with food must also be made from drinking water. Ice intended to chill whole seafood products (fishmongers) must be made from clean water and handled and stored under conditions that prevent any contamination.
• Food storage : the most important rule to follow is to never break the cold chain (storage between 0° and 3°). This is why the temperature of refrigerators and cold rooms must be monitored continuously. Please note that it is strictly forbidden to refreeze a product that has already been thawed once. If the cold chain is broken, all affected food must be discarded and may not be offered for sale under any circumstances.
• Waste management : food waste must be removed from food storage areas and must not be allowed to accumulate. It must be stored in closed containers in a room separate from the rest of the shop.

Hygiene rules for employees

It is essential to inform your employees about the good hygiene practices to follow in order to protect consumer health. It is the employee’s responsibility to wear clean, well-maintained workwear (whether or not it is provided by the employer). This applies to clothing as well as accessories (such as gloves or aprons), and footwear, whether it belongs to the employee or consists of work or safety shoes provided by the employer according to the tasks performed.

Every employee must always wash their hands before starting work, after leaving the toilets, and after handling waste or equipment. To this end, toilets with hand-washing facilities and washing and drying equipment must be made available to employees.

Some tasks require specific workwear or accessories (provided by the employer). Employees handling food directly are required to wear disposable plastic gloves, which must be changed before handling each new food item. This is particularly the case when handling fruit and vegetables or in bakeries, fishmongers and butcher shops. It is also recommended to wear a hair covering or hairnet and an apron to prevent any direct contact between food and clothing.

Documents to provide during a food retail hygiene compliance inspection

During health inspections, certain documents will be requested to demonstrate compliance with hygiene rules. For example :

• Dated and signed records for cleaning, rodent control and disinfection operations.
• Product receipt records.
• Monitoring and temperature records for facilities (refrigerators, cold rooms, etc.)
• Technical data sheets for cleaning products.
• Corrective action records for issues (if non-compliant products are recalled, for example)

The health of your employees has been at the heart of our concerns since 1984, as has that of your consumers. We invite you to contact our team of Shoes For Crews experts specialising in work and safety footwear for large-scale retail and many other sectors, who can advise you on our products that comply with hygiene rules in the food sector.