Takeaway Food Safety: 5 Essential Tips for Food Businesses This Summer
With the recent spell of fine weather, more customers are choosing to enjoy their food at home, on the beach, in the park or at a BBQ. As takeaway and ready-to-eat food sales increase, clear labelling, allergen information, safe storage and effective traceability all become an important in ensuring products are safe, and compliant with food safety legislation.
Here are some of the key points to consider:
Make sure your food is Clearly Labelled:
Ensure all takeaway foods are clearly labelled with the product name and any other required information. Clear labelling helps customers identify products correctly and provides important information that supports safe storage and consumption.
Provide Clear Allergen Information:
Customers must be provided with accurate allergen information to help them make safe food choices. This should be clear, accessible and kept up to date. Having strong allergen management procedures not only help customers with food allergens, but also boost your teams confidence when having to respond to customer inquiries.
Review Shelf Life and Use By Date:
Regularly reviewing shelf life of your chilled ready-to-eat foods helps ensure the food remains safe throughout its intended life and can help reduce unnecessary waste. For chilled ready-to-eat foods produced on-site, a common approach is to apply a use by date of the day of production plus two additional days, provided this is supported by your food safety management system and shelf-life assessment.
Include Clear Storage Instructions:
Include clear storage guidance such as “Keep Refrigerated at 5°C or below” and any instructions for use after opening, where applicable. This will help reduce the risk of food becoming unsafe before it is consumed once it has been purchased.
Why Food Traceability Matters:
Maintain records of ingredients and suppliers so products can be traced quickly if required. Reviewing and Keeping accurate records also enables you to respond quickly should an issue arise, helping to minimise disruption and demonstrate effective food safety management.
Summer Food Safety Tips Checklist
- Check fridge temperatures
- Review labels
- Verify allergens
- Monitor shelf life
- Review suppliers
As demand for takeaway foods grows during the summer months, taking a few extra steps to ensure food is correctly labelled and safely handled helps protect your customers and your business. If you’d like support reviewing your takeaway food safety procedures, our food safety consultants are here to help. For any further information please contact a member of our team on 01 2091904 or [email protected]
