this documents give information to regulators who conduct compliance check s on food premises

1. Inspection of Food Premises
FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND PROCESSING
BY: J M MUYENGA
Mrs J M Muyenga
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2. Objectives
At the end of this section students should be able to;
i. Show knowledge and understanding on physical
inspection of food premises
ii. Understand the risk based approach to inspection of food
business establishments
Mrs J M Muyenga
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3. What is an inspection
• An inspection is a process of thoroughly examining and assessing
“something” it is an organised evaluation exercise
• The act of viewing carefully and critically.
• Inspections take place in establishments where food is produced, shipped,
processed, or sold to check compliance with food safety and labelling laws.
The potential hazard of the food or the process determines how many
inspections are done periodically.
• These establishments include grocery stores, supermarkets,
manufacturing/processing plants, beverage plants, food warehouses,
wholesale bakeries, food salvage dealers, convenience stores, deli stores,
corner stores, chain stores, etc.
Mrs J M Muyenga
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4. Purpose of inspections
1. To determine conformity with specific requirements
2. To find out if food is being handled and produced hygienically
3. Identify factors which have the potential to cause food poisoning or
injury.
4. To promote positive change in terms of business growth
5. Are part of foodborne disease surveillance programs established by food
safety regulatory agencies
6. To prevent the possibility of a foodborne illness outbreak by addressing
food safety concerns.
7. The check effectiveness of your food safety management system.
8. Collect samples where applicable
Mrs J M Muyenga
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5. Mrs J M Muyenga
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Some food premises and businesses present a higher risk to the
consumer depending on;
• the nature of the food prepared
• the food safety measures in place.
We will often deal with any minor breaches in an informal
manner. If contraventions are more serious, or there is an
immediate health risk, then there is a range of formal
procedures that can be used if necessary.
Premises inspections can be rated according to the priority
scheme. This is used to determine the relative extent of risk
presented by food businesses and from this a minimum
frequency of inspection is established.

6. Types of inspections
1. Food Standards Inspections
• Food standards inspections establish whether legal requirements covering
quality, composition, labelling, presentation, coding and advertising of
food are being met. Materials or articles in contact with food are also
covered.
Mrs J M Muyenga
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7. 2. Licensing visits
• Premises, food vehicles and events requiring licences are assessed for
compliance with food safety legislation. Although a licence is issued upon
certification by this visit. It usually valid subject to continued compliance
with the legal guidelines Examples include:
• Late hours catering licence
• Mobile catering
• Street Traders licence
• Food service restaurant
• Liquor business
• Occasional licence special permit
Mrs J M Muyenga
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8. 3. Sampling
• The sampling of foods for chemical analysis and microbiological
examination will be used as a monitoring and investigative tool in food law
enforcement.
4. Combined Inspections
• Wherever practicable programmed inspections will be combined. For
example food hygiene inspections will be combined with:
• a food standards inspection;
• another visit for food hygiene purpose (e.g. to investigate a complaint)
• Licensing visits.
• sampling
Mrs J M Muyenga
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9. 5. Follow Up Visits
• In any programmed inspection if significant contraventions are found a
further visit to check on compliance will be carried out.
6. Inspection following court order (formal inspections)
• This kind of inspection is usually specific to the matter before court where
an order was made to carryout a certain instruction.
• The outcome of this inspection is purposed for assisting the court to pass
judgement
Mrs J M Muyenga
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10. The factors that should be considered before scheduling a food
premise inspection
• Site and time of inspection
• Type of inspection
• Type of business
• Legal guidelines related to the business or establishment
• Past records to do with inspections of the business
Mrs J M Muyenga
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11. Before inspection, the officer should;
• Introduce himself/herself and provide proper identification (i.e., Public
Health I.D. Card or a driver’s license and business card)
• State the purpose of the visit
• Obtain consent to enter non-public areas (e.g., kitchen, processing area, or
storage areas). The restaurant operator can deny or delay entry into food
facility
• Verify the food facility ownership
• Verify the operator’s email address
• Verify the current Public Health Permit/License (PHP/L) with the Person in
Charge (PIC) against the information in our database. If a change of
ownership has occurred, we will proceed to the Public Health
Permit/License Issuance process
• Verify number of staff
• Wash their hands prior to commencing the inspection
Mrs J M Muyenga
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12. • The inspector should visit the area of the food facility with the highest risk
operations (food preparation area) and conduct a visual overview of the area. The
inspector assesses whether any Major Critical Risk Factor violations requiring
immediate corrective action are present and address them immediately (e.g.,
overflowing sewage).
• Clean and sanitize the probe thermometer prior to taking any food temperatures
• Determine if the facility is using HACCP/ROP/TPHC. If so, review written
procedures for viability of HACCP/ROP/TPHC and confirm compliance
• Verify the facility food handler cards for food employees
• Intervene to prevent service of food which has been contaminated through poor
employee hygiene, contaminated equipment or utensils, or vermin
• Provide counsel to employees and the Person In Charge for any critical violations
observed
• Verify the last inspection report is available upon request (can also be done before
hand)
Mrs J M Muyenga
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13. • After inspection, the inspector is expected to issue a report on
the outcome whether satisfactory or not.
• Compliance dates specified where non conformances have
been observed.
• Compliance dates vary depending on the following situations:
• Type of violations observed at the time
• Inspection and violation history of the facility
• A Major Critical Risk Factor that is not corrected by the end of
the inspection shall result in suspension of the Public Health
Permit/License due to an Imminent Health Hazard using legal
guidelines
Mrs J M Muyenga
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14. • Food inspections of warehouses or food storage facilities is
undertaken by visual inspections of the physical plant to
establish that it is in good condition, clean, dry, and free of
animal or insect infestation. They check refrigeration
equipment, take air temperature readings, look for evidence of
spoilage, and collect food samples for physical, chemical, and
microbiological analyses. When violations occur, enforcement
action is taken, including food seizures
Mrs J M Muyenga
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15. Mrs J M Muyenga
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Inspection of food processing plants and mass kitchens is
intended to be more detailed since fresh food is undergoing change at
these processing facilities, the process and equipment used are under
close scrutiny. Violations can result in immediate plant closure through
summary license suspensions (refer to checklist provided)
Grocery Store or retail outlet inspections are conducted to generally
check sanitary conditions, personnel food preparation procedures, and
storage conditions, as well as compliance with licensing, labelling, and
point-of-purchase advertising regulations.
Food inspectors collect samples of fresh, in-store packaged and
processed food and send them to the Department's Food Laboratory for
analysis. Inspectors may also make investigatory visits, many of which are
prompted by consumer complaints.

16. • Regardless of the initial purpose of the inspection, if the
inspector’s eyes or nose detects anything out of order during
the visit, the inspection will broaden. Any infractions of the
law will trigger enforcement action. Food inspectors are quick
to spot insanitary meat grinders, meat or milk cases which are
too warm, unsafe soup or salad handling procedures, and
soggy "frozen" vegetables.
• When warranted, inspectors can place entire food shipments
under seizure until diagnostic testing is complete and the
inspector either clears the food for sale, puts some condition
on its sale, or orders it held for destruction
Mrs J M Muyenga
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17. Inspection of food articles at ports of entry
Port health authorities carry out checks on food and feed consignments in
order to:
• ensure that only products that are safe to eat enter the food chain
• safeguard animal and public health
• check compliance with local and international trading standards
Port health authorities are responsible for monitoring all food imports but will
not physically check all food imports. It’s your responsibility to ensure that
your products are safe to eat.
Some actual checks carried out are determined on a risk basis. For products
that have been declared as high risk regionally or internationally, special
health controls are put in place, and checks must be sanctioned at import
stage. Port health authorities must be notified in advance of the arrival of such
goods.
Mrs J M Muyenga
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18. • One of the groups of products that are subject to special
checks are products of animal origin (POAO). Checks on
these products are referred to as veterinary checks and are
carried out to protect both public and animal health. POAO
include products such as:
• meat
• dairy products
• fish
• honey
• gelatine
• hay and straw
Mrs J M Muyenga
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19. • There are a number of products which have been found to
present a particular risk to public health. Checks are carried
out on food not of animal origin (FNAO). These include, but
are not limited to:
• peanuts
• spices
• palm oil
• Figs
• pistachios and other nuts
• Some of these products may be subject to special controls or
may be banned altogether.
Mrs J M Muyenga
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20. Thank You
Mrs J M Muyenga
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