Students get guide to safer catering

Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland (FSANI) has been working with further education colleges to include its Safe Catering guide in the teaching content of catering and hospitality courses, so that students are trained in the food safety management principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).

The guide is a resource designed to make food safety a top priority in business, and FSANI is aiming to integrate it into catering students' education before they enter the industry.

Safe Catering helps food business operators develop a food safety management system based on HACCP principles. It's recognised that students would benefit from having a working knowledge of Safe Catering during their student course and before starting their work within the catering sector.

Since the beginning of this year, FSANI staff, in partnership with environmental health officers at district councils, have been delivering a programme of workshop sessions at 14 campuses that deliver level 2 and level 3 catering qualifications across Northern Ireland. The session lasts for about three hours and covers the seven principles of HACCP and the application of the Safe Catering pack.

This year alone 180 students completed the training and, with the programme now established as an annual event in the year of the colleges, it is anticipated that young graduates will enter the workplace with a good understanding of HACCP and Safe Catering.

Words: Maria Bracken

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