Food hygiene

All food business operators shall ensure that all stages for which they are responsible, from primary production up to and including the offering for sale or supply of foodstuffs to the final consumer, are carried out in a hygienic way in accordance with this project.

Food business operators carrying out primary production and certain associated activities must comply with the general hygiene provisions of Annex I of the  Ordinance no. 1.940 of 06 November 2008 pertaining to hygiene for foodstuffs .

 

The associated activities are:

• The transport, handling and storage of primary products at the place of production, where their nature has not been substantially altered
• Transport, from the place of production to an establishment, of products of plant origin, fishery products and wild game, where their nature has not been substantially altered

In addition, food business operators carrying out activities other than primary production shall comply with the general hygiene provisions of Annex II of the  Ordinance no. 1.940 of 06 November 2008 pertaining to hygiene for foodstuffs .

 

This Annex sets out the hygiene requirements for:

• Food premises, including outside areas and sites
• Transport conditions
• Equipment
• Food waste
• Water supply
• Personal hygiene of persons in contact with food
• Food
• Wrapping and packaging
• Heat treatment, which may be used to process certain foodstuffs
• Training of food workers 

In addition, all food business operators shall comply with the specific rules for food of animal origin and, where appropriate, certain specific rules concerning microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, temperature control and compliance with the cold chain, sampling and analysis.

Food business operators apply the principles of the system of hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP) introduced by the Codex Alimentarius (code of international food standards drawn up by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation).

These principles prescribe a certain number of requirements to be met throughout the cycle of production, processing and distribution in order to permit, via hazard analysis, identification of the critical points which need to be kept under control in order to guarantee food safety:

• Identify any hazards that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels
• Identify the critical control points at the step or steps at which control is essential
• Establish critical limits beyond which intervention is necessary
• Establish and implement effective monitoring procedures at critical control points
• Establish corrective actions when monitoring indicates that a critical control point is not under control
• Implement own-check procedures to verify whether the measures adopted are working effectively
• Keep records to demonstrate the effective application of these measures and to facilitate official controls by the competent authority as defined by Article 29 of Loi n°1.330 du 8 janvier 2007 relative à la sécurité alimentaire.

Food businesses operators shall cooperate with the competent authorities and in particular ensure that all establishments under their control are registered and keep this authority informed of any changes.

In accordance with the  Act no. 1.330 of 08 January 2007 pertaining to food safety , food business operators shall set up traceability systems and procedures for ingredients and foodstuffs.

Similarly, where a food business operator identifies that a foodstuff presents a serious risk to health it shall immediately withdraw that foodstuff from the market and inform the Department of Health Affairs and users.

The application of HACCP principles by food business operators shall not replace the official controls carried out by the Department of Health Affairs. Operators are required to collaborate with the Department of Health Affairs.