Home > Food Industry Guide to implement GMP/GHP requirements in Catering

Overview of Catering Industry in India:

The catering industry could be referred to as a hospitality industry which makes provision of food, drinks and in some cases accommodation for people in school, hospital industry etc. However, it is possible to make a number of distinctions between the many different types of food and beverages outlets in the catering industry.

Types of Food products

Catering industries offer a wide variety of food products based on consumer preferences. A catering outlet may vary from Quick service restaurants (QSRs) to cafes to fine dining restaurants. Thus, the food offered is prepared food that can vary from regional street foods to multi-continental cuisines.

Establishment Design and Facilities:

The selection of the right location for the food facility is important to minimize any food safety risk and to ensure that neighbouring industries and activities do not become a contamination source due to transferring hazards by air or water or increasing the risk of pest infestation.

Ideally, the catering establishment shall be located away from any environmental pollution such as polluting industry emitting pollutants like smoke, dust and fumes, near dump yards, open grounds etc. Garbage dumps, industry pollutants and stagnant water in the vicinity encourage the breeding of rodents, flies and mosquitoes. Also, these conditions may lead to proliferation of microbes. Hence, it is important to keep area around catering establishment must be kept clean.

In case the catering establishment is located in area prone to environmental contamination then adequate measures shall be taken to enclose and protect the premises from any possible environmental hazards. Few examples of protective measures are installation of rodent traps, air curtains, exhausts, etc.

Generally, a minimum distance of 30 metres is recommended from potential sources of contamination. However, a greater or lesser distance could be accepted depending on specific site conditions.

Roadways area within or around the premise should have a hard surface suitable for wheeled traffic to minimize dust contamination of foods.

If the building is used for residential purpose also, then there should not be any direct access to the food premises. The activities should be compartmentalized if feasible to prevent cross contamination.

The catering establishment shall be located away from flood prone area. Where the premises are located in areas prone to flooding, it is recommended that height of the establishment should be suitably elevated to prevent the risks due to flooding. 

Establishment – Control of Operations:

All food establishments should implement and maintain an approved food safety programme that is documented and that identifies and controls food safety hazards.

A food establishment should:

• Systematically examine all of its food handling operations in order to identify the potential hazards that may reasonably be expected to occur.
• Develop and implement a food safety programme to control the hazard or hazards if one or more hazards are identified in accordance with paragraph (a).
• Set out the food safety programme in a written document and retain that document at the food establishment.
• Comply with the food safety programme; and conduct a review of the food safety programme at least annually to ensure its adequacy.

Review the system and make necessary changes to it when any significant modification is made to the product, process, or any step, or in the event of a justified food complaint or food related incident.

Establishment – Cleaning, Sanitation & Maintenance:

Cleaning & sanitation

Food premises & equipment should be of hygienic design and shall be maintained in an appropriate state of repair (such as no flaking paint or plaster, no broken tiles) & cleanliness.

Ensure all equipment, utensils and food contact surfaces should be cleaned and sanitized thoroughly before start of operation. For e.g., Proper sanitation of fermentation chamber or premise will help to eliminate microbes in the product.

Cleaning and sanitizing equipment should be designed for its intended use and should be properly maintained.

Cleaning program shall remove food residues and dirt which are source of contamination. Cleaning can be carried out by the separate or the combined use of physical methods, such as heat, scrubbing, turbulent flow, vacuum cleaning or other methods that avoid the use of water, and chemical methods using detergents, alkalis or acids.

A cleaning and disinfection program shall be drawn up, observed and records of the same shall be maintained. The programme should ensure that all parts of the establishment are appropriately clean, and should include the cleaning of cleaning equipment. The operator shall implement a written cleaning program which specifies:

• areas, items of equipment and utensil to be cleaned;
• the person or people responsible for particular tasks;
• the frequency of cleaning;
• the procedures for cleaning and sanitizing, including disassembly and assembly instructions; and
• monitoring arrangements for checking effectiveness of cleaning (e.g., Through audits or microbiological sampling and testing of the environment and food contact surfaces)

Cleaning procedures should involve, where appropriate:

• removing gross debris from surfaces;
• applying a detergent solution to loosen soil and bacterial film and hold them in solution or suspension;
• rinsing with water which complies with section 4, to remove loosened soil and residues of detergent;
• dry cleaning or other appropriate methods for removing and collecting residues and debris. For E.g., Dusters/cleaning clothes should not have loose threads & preferably be double stitched from all sides. Also, to remove crumbs and burnt product blow drying is a suitable process;
• where necessary, disinfection with subsequent rinsing unless the manufacturers’ instructions indicate on scientific basis that rinsing is not required.

Cleaning chemicals shall be food grade, handled and used carefully, in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions. It should be ensured that cleaning & sanitizing chemicals do not contaminate food or packaging material during or after cleaning and sanitizing. Ensure clear identification of containers containing cleaning chemicals.

Special sanitation and housekeeping procedures required during manufacturing, storage, distribution and handling should be specified within the document (for example, removal of product residues during breaks, glass breakage procedures).

Maintenance

Preventive maintenance of equipment & machinery shall be carried out regularly as per the instructions of the manufacturers.

Preventive maintenance (including calibration) programme must include all devices used to monitor &/or control food safety hazards & cover the maintenance procedure, frequency &identification of the person (&/or external agency) responsible activity.

Corrective maintenance shall be carried out in such a way that production on adjoining lines or equipment is not a risk of contamination.

Temporary fixes when used shall not put product safety at risk & should be removed/permanently fixed in a timely manner.

Lubricants, heat transfer fluids or any other similar material used shall be of food grade where there is risk of direct or indirect contact with the product.

Conduct regular inspections and maintenance of equipment’s. Promptly repair or replace damaged equipment to prevent contamination, such as sieves for sieve integrity.

Establishment – Personal Hygiene:

Food handlers shall maintain high degree of personal hygiene.

They shall wear work clothing, head covering & footwear that is fit for the purpose, clean & in good condition (free from tears, rips or fraying material).

Work wear shall provide adequate coverage to ensure that hair, beard, perspiration etc. cannot contaminate the product. Work wear should be free from buttons, with outside pockets above waist level. Zips or press stud fastenings are acceptable. They should be laundered to standards and at intervals suitable for the intended use of the garments. Head cover should be worn first & footwear at the last, followed by sanitization.

Protective clothing mandated for the food production areas shall not be used for any other purpose. Protective clothing includes – hair net, moustache net, glasses, ear plugs, gloves, aprons, foot wear. The aprons & dresses of food handlers kept in an ozonized cabinet or UV induced cabinets when handling sensitive products like pies, cakes.

Where gloves are used for product contact, they shall be clean & in good condition. Working without gloves can be done provided there are necessary controls on periodic usage of disinfectants at work section & nature of the product being handled.

Hair shall be kept neatly tied & finger nails shall be kept trimmed. The food handlers shall prohibit the use of nail polish, false nails and false eyelashes; carrying of writing implements behind the ears. No strong perfume/lotion should be applied.

Shoes worn outside food handling area shall not be allowed to enter food handling area. Shoes for use in processing areas shall be fully enclosed and made from non-absorbent materials. Street shoes either shall be changed or covered using foot cover.

All people entering the food handling area shall wash their hands. Hand-washing notices should be posted in appropriate areas. Hands shall also be washed after –

• handling non
• food chemicals.
• handling incompatible food products (such as raw versus cooked food) or contaminated material.
• breaks
• coughing or sneezing or blowing their nose.
• using toilet facilities.
• using cell phones
• smoking

As a good practice, cell phones should be used as minimum as possible (especially in high risk areas) as they are also a source of contamination. Food handler should not handle soiled currency notes/cards to avoid contamination.

Food handlers shall pass through air curtain to remove any lint or hair while leaving the changing room.

Product Information and Consumer Awareness:

Product information & Labelling:

All packaged food products shall carry a label and requisite information as per provisions of Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and regulations made there under so as to ensure that adequate and accessible information is available to each person in the food chain to enable them to handle, store, process, prepare and display the food products safely and correctly and that the lot or batch can be easily traced and recalled if necessary.

This should also include information that identifies food allergens in the product as ingredients or where cross contamination cannot be excluded as per Food Safety Standards (Packaging & Labelling) Regulations, 2011.

Lot identification is essential in product recall and also helps effective stock rotation. Each container of food should be permanently marked to identify the producer and the lot.

Consumer awareness and Complaint handling:

Information shall be presented to consumers in such a way as to enable them to understand its importance and make informed choices. Information may be provided by labelling or other means, such as company websites and advertisements, and may include storage, preparation and serving instructions applicable to the product.

Product complaints are an important indicator of possible deficiencies of the preventive food safety control systems and/or pre-requisite programs. The operator should develop and implement written procedures to handle product complaints. These should identify the person or people responsible for receiving, evaluating, categorizing, investigating and addressing complaints.

Consumer awareness program should include general food hygiene. Such program should enable consumers to understand the importance of any product information & to follow any instructions accompanying product & make informed choices. In particular consumers should be informed of relationship between time/ temperature control & food borne illness.

The information received from the complainant should be documented and should include:

• the date;
• the name of complainant, and their address and phone numbers;
• the nature and details of the complaint (for example, illness, allergic reaction, quality issue, labelling issue);
• the product affected (including name, description, size, date of manufacture, code, lot number or UPC); and
• where the product was obtained.

Complaints should be accurately categorized according to safety concerns and other regulatory concerns, such as labelling. Complaints related to food safety shall be investigated by appropriately-trained technical personnel.

The step – wise preferable practices on complaint handling are:

• Policy and complaints handling procedure
• Examining the complaint to identify the food safety risk
• Investigation and root cause analysis (RCA) – Corrective action
• Resolving the complaint with complainant
• Complaint trending and analysis
• Preventive action

Establishment-Training & Management:

All personnel should be aware of their role & responsibility in protecting food from contamination or deterioration. Training need identification to be done for all food handlers and accordingly training to be organized.

Training should be given to personnel responsible for monitoring and measurements and corrective actions in the food safety management system, supervisors whose activities have an impact on food safety and internal auditors. Periodic assessments of the effectiveness of training should be done.

Annual training calendar should be prepared covering all relevant topics pertaining to the food business (both behavioural and functional) with an objective to cover all food handlers in phased manner.

All food handlers shall be instructed &trained in food hygiene & food safety aspects along with personal hygiene requirements commensurate with their work activities, the nature of food, its handling, processing, packaging, storage, service & distribution. Induction trainings (for new employees) and refresher trainings (for existing employees) should be conducted.

Training programs shall be routinely reviewed & updated wherever necessary. Systems shall be in place to ensure that food handlers remain aware of all procedures necessary to maintain the safety & suitability of food. Records of training shall be maintained.

The Food Business shall ensure that technical managers and supervisors have appropriate qualifications, knowledge and skills on food hygiene principles and practices to be able to ensure food safety and quality of its products, judge food hazards, take appropriate preventive and corrective action, and to ensure effective monitoring and supervision.

The FBO management shall provide and maintain documented standard operating procedure for FSMS systems compliance and its supervision at site through records/ checklists on routine basis to control any possible hazards throughout supply chain.

Commitment from management is essential to communicate the importance of producing safe food, both for the consumer and the business. Managers should continually improve the effectiveness of the food hygiene systems in place by:

• ensuring that roles and responsibilities are clearly communicated in the food business;
• ensuring the availability of resources;
• maintaining the integrity of the food hygiene system when changes are planned and implemented; – verifying that controls are working and documentation is up to date;
• ensuring the appropriate training and supervision is in place for personnel;
• ensuring compliance with relevant statutory and regulatory requirements; and
• enable a strong food safety culture by demonstrating commitment to providing safe and suitable food and encouraging appropriate food safety behaviours.

Establishment – Audit, Documentation and Record Keeping:

Self-Evaluation and Review

FBO shall conduct a self-evaluation through internal and external audits or other mechanisms at periodic intervals, but at least once in a year to verify the effectiveness of the implemented food safety systems. For continual improvement, FBO should undertake a complete review of the systems including self-evaluation results, customer feedback, complaints, new technologies and regulatory updates at periodic intervals, but at least once in a year.

Necessary corrective actions based on self-evaluation results shall be taken.

Documentation & Records

Appropriate documentation & records including incoming material checks, inspection and testing, calibration of food safety equipments, water testing, operational controls (such as temperature, pressure, time etc.), product recall and traceability, storage, cleaning and sanitation, pest control, medical examination and health status of food handlers, training etc. shall be maintained in a legible manner, retained in good condition for a period of one year or the shelf life of the product whichever is more.

Any changes to records should be traceable (for example, errors are identified by a strike out and followed by initials). Each entry on a record should be signed and dated by the responsible person at the time the specific event occurred.

Record-keeping requirements and responsibilities should be communicated to staff.

Records should be kept in a secure location, maintained and readily available for a period of one year or shelf life, whichever is more.

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