Code of Practice for Cafés and Coffee Bars
(Last update February 2010)
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CODE AND ITS APPLICATION
This Code of Practice has been developed by The Café Society as a guide to the standards that member cafés and coffee bars are expected to achieve.
ABOUT THE GUIDELINES
The following Code of Practice has been produced by The Café Society as a guideline to the standards it expects of Coffee Bar/Catering Members.
The guidelines are divided into Mandatory elements (in Bold) and recommended standards (in Italic). However, these are only guidelines as it is recognised that every business differs and some flexibility has to be allowed for this. The final decision on acceptability rests with the Association’s technical manager.
The decision of the Secretariat will always be final with regard to approval into membership.
It is a principle of this Code of Practice that businesses comply with current legislation and particularly current Government food safety and hygiene regulations (including provisions in the Food Safety Act (1990), health, safety, employment and Trading Standards regulations).
1. EXTERNAL PREMISES
1.1 The external area of the premises must be clean, tidy and free from accumulations of refuse.
The external area extends to the borders of the premises, but does not include public pavements and joint areas. Where undesirable conditions occur on adjacent areas, the proprietor should make reasonable efforts to secure improvements through adjacent property owners or through the local authority.
1.2 Refuse storage areas must be clean and tidy and refuse containers must be suitably protected from pests.
1.3 The external finish of the premises must be in good repair.
1.4 The Premises must be sufficiently presentable in terms of décor and cleanliness to support the quality image associated with The Café Society logo and the image that the industry is seeking to present to the public.
2. INTERNAL PREMISES – STRUCTURE, LAYOUT AND FACILITIES
2.1 Walls, floor and ceiling surfaces must be in good condition and be capable of being easily cleaned and public areas must be presentable, comfortable and appropriate to their function.
2.2 All electrical, gas, water and waste water systems must be in a good state of repair and where necessary regularly maintained and tested in compliance with the relevant standards and regulations.
Services should be visually examined regularly as part of general auditing procedures, and there should be a fault reporting system to ensure that defects are progressed to repair quickly. Repair, testing and servicing should only be carried out by authorised and qualified personnel or contractors. Ideally, all service or repair work should be carried out during non-trading hours and details of the work maintained on record.
2.3 Water, steam or ice for use in contact with food or in food preparation areas must be supplied from a potable (drinkable) water source.
Ideally water should be drawn from the mains but if water tanks are used these should be kept covered, regularly inspected and cleaned.
2.4 Sufficient wash-hand basins must be available for hand washing in appropriate areas. Such wash-hand basins must be dedicated for this use only, and must have suitable soap and drying facilities provided.
2.5 Suitable first aid facilities, including a supply of waterproof, blue detectable dressings, must be conveniently available.
2.6 Suitable and sufficient sanitary accommodation must be available for staff use, and must be kept in good repair and condition. All sanitary accommodation must be separated from areas where open food is stored and production areas by a ventilated space.
2.7 Suitable staff facilities for keeping outdoor clothing and other personal items, must be provided. Where this is shared with sanitary accommodation there must be suitable separation of WC compartments and urinals from changing areas.
2.8 All fittings, surfaces, equipment, containers and utensils must be constructed of suitable materials, capable of being easily cleaned, maintained in good repair and condition. Food contact surfaces must be in sound smooth condition, free from holes and cracks, with minimal joints. They must be sufficiently durable to withstand the expected use.
Food contact surfaces should be made of stainless steel or plastic laminate, wherever possible. Wood surfaces may be acceptable for purposes such as shelving in low risk dry store areas if they are painted and well sealed. Paint and other surface finishes must be approved for use in food preparation areas (see also 5.2)
2.9 All equipment and appliances must be in sound and safe working order, with appropriate guards, and must be regularly maintained as appropriate. Where appropriate, equipment must conform to recognised standards such as those of the British Standards Institute (BSI), the European CE marking, or the Institute of Electrical Engineers (IEE). Regulations, such as the Gas Safety Regulations and local Water Authority requirements, must be complied with.
2.10 All parts of the premises, fittings, surfaces and equipment must be maintained to a high standard of tidiness and cleanliness. Refuse storage must be well controlled and any temporary storage of food waste overnight must be minimised and limited to one night.
Normal day-to-day accumulations and temporary storage of items can cause small instances of untidiness. A ‘clean-as-you-go’ practice should be established. The
premises should additionally be cleared of all food debris, waste and obstructions at the end of each day. All refuse should be removed from food preparation and serving areas as quickly as possible to prevent the attraction of pests.
3. CONTAMINATION PREVENTION
3.1 All foods must be stored so as to minimise the risk of contamination. Foods that are high risk must be stored, handled and processed separately from other foods that could pose contamination risks.
3.2 A stock rotation system should be in place for all perishable foods, including ingredients such as ground coffee.
4. TEMPERATURE CONTROLS
4.1 The business must comply with the appropriate food safety regulations in relation to the storage of ingredients and ready prepared foods.
4.2 Any foodstuffs which need cooking, or otherwise heat treating, before consumption must be thoroughly cooked. An appropriate core temperature must be established, and means of achieving that temperature on a consistent basis should be determined.
5. BUYING, RECEIPT, STORAGE AND STOCK ROTATION
5.1 All food, raw materials and chemicals must be purchased from bone fide/reputable suppliers.
It is recommended that all suppliers are asked to provide evidence of ‘due diligence’ in the form of independent confirmation of food safety standards.
5.2 There must be a clear procedure for the receipt of all foodstuffs. All incoming goods must be examined for damage and specification, and there must be an appropriate rejection procedure.
5.3 There must be a clear system of stock rotation for all foods. All foods must be suitable date marked or otherwise capable of being correctly identified in terms of suitability and safety for use. Foods which are past their use by or best before date must be clearly identified, marked and removed/stored for disposal.
6. CLEANING ROUTINES
6.1 There must be an effective cleaning programme, which ensures that all areas, items and surfaces are maintained in as clean a condition as is practicable. All cleaning procedures must utilise only food-safe chemicals and all cleaning materials used must be appropriate for the purpose for which they are being applied.
6.2 All cleaning chemicals must be properly stored, labelled and used in order to protect food from chemical contamination.
6.3 All coffee making equipment must be strictly cleaned in accordance with the guidelines set out by manufacturers and in relation to the good practice rules set out in section 11.
7. PERSONAL HYGIENE/DRESS
There must be an established dress code for all staff. All staff working in the outlet and dealing with customers must wear clean and tidy protective clothing . Hair must be brushed prior to putting on protective clothing and suitably controlled.
8. KNOWLEDGE AND TRAINING
8.1 A system must be in place for the training of all appropriate staff and a record maintained of both the system and those staff who have undergone training. At least one member of the staff should be a fully trained barista.
8.2 All staff must undergo a training programme covering food hygiene and handling to a standard appropriate to their functions. All food handlers must have basic food hygiene training in accordance with the law.
The British Sandwich Association has an approved on-line training course covering basic food handling. This can be found at www.fasttrain.co.uk
8.3 All staff must undergo suitable health and safety training covering dangerous machines, hazardous chemicals, manual handling, fire procedures and any other necessary hazards as appropriate. Such training must be completed within 16 weeks of commencing work.
8.4 Supervisory staff must be suitably trained in good food hygiene practice to an appropriate level for their responsibilities. They should also be trained in the relevant health and safety aspects of their area of responsibility.
The organisation should have at least one person trained to understand food safety and health and safety at a supervisory or managerial level.
Suitable courses for induction and basic level training include those co-ordinated by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) - Options scheme; the Royal Society of Health (RSH); the Royal Institute of Public Health and Hygiene (RIPHH); The Society of Food Hygiene Technology (SOFHT); and the Royal Environmental Health Institute for Scotland (REHIS). Supervisory and managerial level training can be met by the Intermediate and Advanced level courses offered by those organisations listed.
9. HYGIENE AUDITS, RISK ASSESSMENT AND HAZARD ANALYSIS
9.1 A system of regular audits of all parts of the workplace and all processes must be in place.
Internal hygiene and health & safety audits should be carried out every week or every other week. Management, or external hygiene audits, should be carried out at least every six months.
All audits should be undertaken by people who understand the principles, and practices, of risk assessment and hazard analysis. All audits should be recorded and any identified faults or deficiencies should be rectified through a continuing action plan.
9.2 All documentation for health and safety and food hygiene must be available, organised in a logical fashion, and kept up to date.
10. MANAGEMENT
The business must have management systems in place that enable it to function properly, with suitable responsibility and reporting structures. The business must also have a person in charge at each site with appropriate management experience and authority. This person should have - or have direct access to - someone on site with appropriate technical knowledge and experience.
There must be a clear allocation of responsibility and authority throughout the business. Responsibility must be allocated on the basis of knowledge and ability.
11. CUSTOMER CARE AND CONSUMER INFORMATION
There must be a customer complaints procedure in place which provides for the recording and investigation of all complaints.
All complaints should be fully investigated and the findings should be documented and any necessary improvements implemented. The customer should be kept fully informed at all stages.
12. CUSTOMER AREA, IMAGE AND PRESENTATION
12.1 Customer service areas must be clean and tidy, well arranged, and free from unnecessary obstructions.
The shop or customer area should be attractive, and all goods on display should be clearly priced with any necessary description clearly stated. The premises in general should be suitably clean, well presented and decorated to reflect the standards expected of membership.
12.2 All display units must be hygienic in design, in good repair and condition, and well managed in daily use.
12.3 Where provision is made for food and drink to be consumed on the premises, furniture provided for customer use must be clean, hygienic and in good repair.
Such furniture should be comfortable and reasonably accessible within the customer area. There should be provision for pram or pushchair, and appropriate child facilities if practical as well as facilities for the disabled.
13. QUALITY ASSURANCE
There must be a quality system in place which identifies the customer needs for quality, and specifies, manages and monitors that quality to achieve consistency.
There should be quality records, including quality audits, documented procedures and the results of testing and analysis of quality performance.
14. INSURANCE PROVISION
The premises and occupier must be suitably insured to at least £2,000,000 for public liability cover and £2,000,000 product liability cover.