Health and Safety - HACCP energy control systems in a restaurant in the UK - Coursework Example

I. Introduction A. Background of the study Eating is a common human experience. Aside from the fact that food is a basic necessity, families, communities, and organizations usually gather and mingle over meals. However, households at times do not have the capacity to prepare meals on their own, probably because of time constraints, lack of cooking utensils or inadequate cooking skills. Restaurants are thus depended upon not only to provide sumptuous meals, but also dishes and facilities that do not pose health risks for the customers. To ensure that customers are not exposed to health risks when eating at restaurants, a series of facilities management systems must be employed both by the restaurant owners and designated regulatory boards. The first system that must be in place comprises of a set of guidelines that would allow each restaurant to regularly assess their food production lines and facilities for safety and sanitation. Currently, this is provided for by internationally recognized Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points or HACCP. Secondly, an independent system must be present to overlook the restaurant’s compliancy to these guidelines. For this a regulatory board may be necessary. This board is not only tasked to ensure that every restaurant regularly checks if their food production lines are risk-free for the consumers, but also if the means set by the restaurants to check the safety of their food do not allow doubt against the results of the checks, no matter how frequent these checks are performed. Currently, environmental issues have taken the centre stage as severe calamities and climate changes are being documented from around the world. These environmental changes are being blamed upon global warming, which in turn is a direct effect of the carbon dioxide emitted to the atmosphere during the burning of fossil fuels for electricity. The worsening of current environmental conditions are being prevented by, among others, a concerted call to cut down energy consumption to judicious levels. With the growing concern over the adverse effects of the fossil fuel overuse, a facilities management system should also be set to regulate energy consumption of establishments. B. Objectives This paper looks into the facilities management systems of restaurants as enforced in England. As example of how these systems are enforced in the country, the essay uses The Royal Oak Dining Pub located at Barrington, Cambridge. The objective of this writing is to identify and describe feasible and adequate facilities management systems that can be used by any restaurant in the United Kingdom. To do this, this paper specifically recommends appropriate systems by which consumer safety is prioritized such as food safety evaluation guidelines and regulatory board, evaluates the current facilities management systems and compares them with the recommended systems. In addition to the abovementioned specific objectives, this paper aims to investigate the systems that exist for monitoring and reducing energy consumption. Like systems for food safety, systems assessing energy consumption is discussed by identifying an ideal system and comparing it to the energy consumption assessment system currently in place. II. Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points or HACCP is an internationally recognized set of guidelines that was introduced as a system to control safety as the product is manufactured, rather than trying to detect problems by testing the finished product. These guidelines are meant for a self-assessment of a food production facility’s processes to ensure food safety. HACCP introduces the concept of Critical Control Points or CCPs, which are points in the food production process that may become windows through which food may be of risk to the consumer. In this regard, CCPs are also points that can be monitored and safeguarded by the food producers so that health hazards can be prevented, eliminated, or reduced to acceptable levels. HACCP consists of seven principles meant to be followed by every food producing enterprise to provide hazard-free goods for their customers (Rushing and Ward, 2010; Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, 2009, p. 2). A. Principles The first principle of HACCP is Hazard Analysis. This principle suggests that possible hazards detected from every step of the production are listed. Also listed are the parameters that can be used to determine whether hazards are present or not. Temperature, pH, and microbe levels are possible parameters through which the presence of hazards may be determined. For these purposes, hazards are defined as any conditions that pose an unacceptable health risk to the consumer. Inadvertently, this part of HACCP entails knowing each process involved in the production. The process listed should start from the delivery of ingredients up to the time the dish is served. The second principle is Identifying CCPs. After identifying the possible hazards during food production and the parameters that can be used to detect them, the steps that can be taken to prevent or eliminate hazards must be determined. This allows the establishment to be well-prepared once a breach of food safety occurs. However, to detect hazards, the parameters earlier identified in the first principle should have a predetermined range of values which is acceptable for human consumption. The boundaries of these ranges are called critical limits. The provision of the third principle is Establishing Critical Limits. This is essential for identifying hazards because, once food safety tests are performed and the measurements are determined to be beyond critical limits and not within the range of values acceptable for human consumption, then the output of the process that is the subject of assessment puts its potential consumer at risk. After the hazards, CCPs, and critical limits are set in place, the fourth principle suggests Monitoring the CCPs in regular and adequate intervals. The next HACCP principle is Establishing Corrective Action. In case regular observations proved that CCP measures can present a possibility of a hazardous produce, a corrective action must be in place to put the measurements back within its critical limits. Lastly, the sixth and seventh principles are Records Keeping and Verification, respectively. The adequacy of set CCPs in preventing the produce from becoming hazardous must also be regularly assessed. In this regard, an independent audit must be employed to assess the set CCPs (Rushing and Ward, 2010). B. HACCP at Royal Oak Royal Oak Pub serves traditional English and ala Carte food. One of the items in their menu is char-grilled Oriental style chicken skewers with peanut satay sauce and homemade focaccia bread. Applying the first HCCP principle and listing down the steps of making this dish, they restaurant has 1) delivery of ingredients, i.e., chicken, 2) chilled storage of chicken, 3) preparation of the chicken, 4) cooking the chicken, and 5) preparing and serving the dish. The main hazard in this case is contamination of the chicken with pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella that causes severe gastrointestinal illness, even after cooking has been done. The CCP and critical limit identified by the restaurant, and as advises by the Food Hygiene Standards of Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (2009), is cooking the chicken to an internal temperature of 75°C, and maintaining that temperature for at least 30 seconds. This will ensure that any pathogenic bacteria present before the cooking process are already killed. In monitoring this CCP, the colour of the meat is made sure not to be pink to ensure that the chicken is thoroughly cooked, and the temperature is also checked using a probe. Continued cooking is the corrective action of their choice in cases that the limits are breached. The data is always recorded whenever monitoring or verification by Food Safety Agency is performed. III. Food Hygiene Regulations in United Kingdom United Kingdom basically follows the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, which is written by the European Parliament, and currently implemented by The Food Safety Agency and local authorities. The Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 is meant to assure food safety protocols imposed by all levels of establishments from farmers, manufacturers and distributors to caterers and restaurants. The first presumption identified by this law is that any item used in the preparation of food is meant for human consumption. This is an important declaration because it demands that an assessment of the food preparation process instead of the final produce be done to ensure that the potential consumers will not be put into risk (Food Hygiene (England) Regulations, 2006). Food establishments should first register their businesses to the local authority before they open for business. In turn, the authorities should first ensure that establishments have HACCP-based procedures ready to be enforced. This includes training all personnel involved in food processing regarding hygiene and food safety. Although no law is passed regarding what kind or how much training is needed, business owners can choose from on-the-job training, self-study, or formal classes for his employees (Food Hygiene (England) Regulations, 2006). Regular checks are then conducted within the premises of establishments, and food samples will be taken for analysis. If an authorised officer of the agency has reasonable grounds to believe that an establishment does not have satisfactory food safety measurements, the agency informs the business operator about it and orders him to take certain actions to fix the problem within 14 days. Failure to comply adequately will result to a prohibition of operation. Upon compliance, the prohibition will not be lifted unless an officer finds the operation to be free of health risk for consumers (Food Hygiene (England) Regulations, 2006). IV. System for Energy Consumption Regulation Establishments in UK have been advised to promote energy conservation. One of the laws enacted is the use of Energy Performance Certificates. With a cost, a personnel will survey the premises, specifically the high-energy consuming appliances such as refrigerators and loft insulation. The energy efficiency of the establishment is then calculated using a computer programme that gives out a single number (1-100) and corresponding letter (A-G). The programme gives out a lower number and a higher ranked letter if the establishment consumes energy inefficiently and emits carbon dioxide more than needed. In addition, it gives out a number which the establishment can aim to attain so that it uses energy more efficiently, consumes less energy, have less electricity costs, and emit less carbon dioxide gas. The Energy Performance Certificate comes with a list of ways by which a better grade can be attained by the establishment. Like the facilities management system that regulates and oversees food safety as provided for by establishments, the subject should be constantly improving its energy performance certificate grading with time. If not, it can face penalties as grave as the suspension of its activities and operations. V. Conclusion Laws regarding food safety and energy consumption are enacted in United Kingdom. This is as expected because health and judicious energy utilization are at the forefront of issues embattling people around the world. This writer believes that the facilities management systems regarding food safety such as HACCP and Food Safety Agency put to law by the European Parliament are sufficient and enforced, as seen in Royal Oak Pub, which is remains in business because of its satisfactory health safety and hygiene precautions. As for energy consumption, this writer believes that Energy Performance Certificates can prevent energy overuse, but does not think that such law can effectively reduce the energy usage of UK drastically, and help reduce the energy crisis because even if the consumption of restaurants is only reduced to just how much they need, they are still using fossil fuels and still emitting carbon dioxide. What the government can do in addition to Energy Performance Certificates is to focus its efforts more in the development and promotion of renewable energy sources such as solar energy. For example, they can provide incentives for establishments who use solar panels to power some of their equipment. Similarly, they can also subsidize solar panels, making renewable energy cheaper and more accessible to businesses. Aside from solar energy, other renewable energy sources may also be discovered, providing variety for its consumers. Research regarding renewable energy must also be a priority for the government. In this manner, use of fossil fuels can be reduced to as much as making it play a minor part in providing energy for UK. References European Parliament 2006, Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology 2009, Food Hygiene Standards, Houses of Parliament, London. Royal Oak Pub Main Menu, Royal Oak Pub, Barrington, Cambridge Rushing, JE and Ward, DR 2010, HACCP Principles, 22 December 2010, http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/foodsci/ext/pubs/haccpprinciples.html Secretary of State for Energy, Department of Trade and Industry 2004, The Energy Act 2004, Houses of Parliament, London. Read More