A proprietor of a food business shall identify any step in the activities of the food business which is critical to ensuring food safety and ensure that adequate safety procedures are identified, implemented, maintained and reviewed.

Use the step by step guide below. You may wish to use the 'Safer Food Better Business' package. Please click on the relevant heading in the contents list to the left of this page to access this information or click on the link at the bottom of this page.

Anything that can contaminate the food or cause harm to the consumer.

They can be bacterial hazards: the presence, growth or survival of bacteria in food.

Physical hazards can also be a problem: foreign objects in food, contaminants from people, equipment or pests.

Don't forget chemical hazards: use and storage of cleaning chemicals, old equipment, prolonged storage.

No, but you must concentrate on the CRITICAL STEPS: these are the points at which the hazard must be controlled to ensure that it is completely eliminated or reduced to a safe level.

They must be as precise as possible: specify actual times and temperatures, particular cleaning chemicals, specific storage areas and times. Staff carrying out checks must be competent and must have the appropriate equipment.

No! Your business changes and your procedures must reflect those changes. New staff, equipment, changes to the menu and changes to suppliers will dictate change. There may be other reasons .... you must consider them all.

A table giving examples of generalised analysis of critical steps, hazards, controls and monitoring in a catering business can be downloaded below.

Suggested controls on the download above are examples of good practice in an average catering premises. Other foods or drinks may involve different handling or preparation steps and these will need to be analysed accordingly. Retail shops etc will have their own particular steps and hazards but the same principles will apply. The form "Record of Identification, Control and Monitoring of Critical Food Safety Steps" may be used as the basis for analysing the critical steps in your food business if you so wish.

Correct temperature control is the single most important factor in preventing food poisoning. The common food poisoning organisms cannot multiply or produce poisons at temperatures below 5°C, and at temperatures above 63°C they begin to die off.

The 'Temperature Monitoring Record Sheet' is intended to assist you in keeping checks on the operating temperatures of fridges, freezers, and hot or cold display cabinets. It could also be used, or adapted, for other purposes such as recording a daily check on Use By dates or weekly or longer checks on Best Before dates.

A comprehensive guide to food safety management and hazard analysis can be downloaded below: