Catering Service Options and Guidance

The first part of this document is intended to aid to the decision making process for those schools looking for alternative providers for their catering service.  The Options Appraisal for Catering will not only give you your options when seeking a new catering provider, but will examine the advantages and disadvantages of taking the catering service in-house, procuring a private provider or appointing the catering agency.

The Leeds School Meals Strategy Team recognised that the delivery of the new school meals standards could potentially be a challenge to schools who are managing the service themselves.  To ensure all schools were fit for purpose, briefing sessions were offered to these schools to help them understand their role.  the workshops focussed on conducting a SWOT Analysis which captures the key issues raised and agreed by all attendees and gives a clear indication of the 'highs' and 'lows' of delivering your own catering service.

The second part of the guidance is for schools who have decided to manage the catering service themselves.  This is not intended to be a step by step guide to taking your school meals service in house but a guide to the legislation and responsibilities of running your own catering service.  There are also links to organisations where further information may be obtained.

Topics

  1. Health and Safety Policy Guidance
    • All UK organisations have to comply with Health and Safety legislation.  This gives a brief description of the requirements and links to other websites for further information.
      click here for further information
  2. Food Hygiene and Safety
    • All stages of food preparation must be carried out in a hygienic way.  This section gives guidance, a brief description of the requirements of the regulations and links to HACCP and the Food Safety Regulations website.
      click here for further information
  3. Selection and Authorisation of Suppliers, Product Traceability, Ingredient Specification and Declaration
    • The supply chain should be quality assured.  This section outlines the requirements of a Quality Assured Food Chain, the importance of identifying the ingredients of food and beverages; GM foods and prohibited substances.  There are also links to useful websites. click here for further information
  4. Nutritional and Healthy Eating
    • The School Food Trust was set up to promote the education and health of children and young people by improving the quality of food provided in schools.  In this section there is guidance on current legislation and standards, uptake in meals targets, menu detail, quality of food and links to appropriate websites. 
      click here for further information
  5. Staffing and Personnel
    • Schools are responsible for recruiting their own catering staff.  This section outlines areas to consider in recruitment and selection and where to get advice. 
      click here for further information
  6. Training for Staff
    • Schools are now responsible for providing appropriate staff training.  This section gives details of training available through Leeds LEA and other organisations. 
      click here for further information
  7. General Provision
    • This section deals with the necessity of quality management systems including monitoring; financial systems and maintenance and repair of catering equipment. 
      click here for further information
  8. Additional Links

 

HEALTH AND SAFETY POLICY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Introduction

All UK organisations must comply with a significant amount of health and safety legislation, including the Health and Safety Act 1974 and the many European based legislation made under the Act.  To ensure compliance, organisations must have an effective management control system maintaining and developing their ability to manage risk.  Monitoring is an essential element of the safety management system.  Reactive monitoring and RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences) are a legal requirement.

For further information click here:

Kitchen Risk Assessment and Review

The management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 obliges all employees to carry out risk assessments for all their work activities.  Following the risk assessment there is a responsibility on the employer to ensure that the relevant employees have received, understood and comply with the assessments.

For further information click here:

COSHH Assessments

If you manage employees who may be exposed to products, substances or processes which fall under the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 1994 (COSHH), it is your responsibility to ensure that those employees are aware of hazards associated with those products.  Managers have a responsibility to ensure that employees manage work in accordance with the COSHH information provided.

For further information click here:

Manual Handling Assessments

Each employer shall, as far as is reasonably practicable, avoid the need for employees to undertake any manual handling operations at work which involve the risk of their being injured or where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the need, a manual handling risk assessment must be implemented.  This is an in-depth assessment which should be carried out by a trained and competent person.

Useful links for further information are:

Kitchen Fire Risk Assessment

The person who owns or controls the business or premises is responsible for the safety of the employees and other relevant persons by managing the fire safety policy and risk assessment.  Kitchens are usually classed as high risk with regard to fire therefore the risk needs to be assessed and reviewed by a competent person.

For further information click here:

Work Equipment (PULWER - Provision of work equipment regulations 1998)

Schools will be responsible for the appropriate installation, maintenance and testing of all equipment in line with current legislation, recommendations and British Standards.

All equipment supplied or used, for example gas cookers and ventilation systems must be maintained and tested to comply with the relevant legislation.  Employees must be trained how to use equipment and supervised when doing so.  Records must be kept.

          Gas equipment must be installed in line with the Gas Safety (installations and use)
          Regulations 1998

The installation of gas pipework in buildings must be in accordance with BS EN 1775 and BS6891.  The supply and installation of gas pressure pipework for industrial and commercial premises must be installed to IGE/UP/2 (where applicable).

The installation contractor carrying out work associated with the gas installation must be a registered CORGI installer and the work must only be carried out by the persons competent to do so.  People deemed competent to carry out gas work are those who hold a current certificate or competence in the type of activity to be conducted issued under the ACOP arrangements, or by a certification body accredited by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

The contractor must submit and display a GAS REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE with the CORGI registration and ACOPS/ACS registration numbers of the contractor and all operatives proposed, prior to any work being carried out.

All work associated with the gas installation including appliances, flues and pipework must be carried out in accordance with the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 together with current amendments.

Plant and equipment testing - Your school's legal duty

As a result of delegation and the scheme of Fair Funding, schools have responsibility for all those elements of building maintenance covered by the statute.  Schools must arrange for the listed servicing and testing to be undertaken at the appropriate time and frequency.

Item to be tested and frequency

Chimneys/Flues Bi-annual/annual checks
Compressors/pressure vessels & compressed air Annual insurance inspection
Electrical test for swimming pools Annual
Emergency lighting Monthly, 6 monthly, annually and 3 yearly tests
Fire Alarms Quarterly, annual and 3 year tests (weekly/monthly testing of school)
Fire risk assessment Annual or when any changes occur
Fixed Electrical wire installation 5 year test
Gas appliances Annual gas safety check
Gas Catering Equipment Annually
Gas soundness testing Subsequent to all related works, and recommended annual tests
Lightening conductors Every 11 months
Local exhaust ventilation As required - annual or less
Non passenger lifts, hand powered service lifts and platform hosts 6 monthly checks
Oil and gas boilers Bi-annual and annual
Passenger lifts Monthly checks, 5 year and 10 year tests plus 6 monthly insurance inspection
Portable appliance testing Annual
Portable fire fighting equipment Annual
Powered pedestrian doors 6 monthly checks and annual test
Powered stair lifts Annual checks
Sprinklers 6 monthly checks and annual test
Water sampling (Legionella) Annual monitoring
Water temperature (Legionella) Monthly monitoring
  • a record should be kept of all statutory servicing undertaken by the school, with a copy provided to Estate Management as confirmation that the works have been carried out.
  • you must always obtain a certificate from the contractor to show that the works have been carried out.
  • any organisation chosen to undertake the works must be recognised by an appropriate industry standards body to secure safe maintenance and management through competent, trained and qualified operatives and contractors.
  • please note that failure to have the necessary servicing, testing and maintenance carried out may affect the school's insurance cover and ultimately the health and safety of all school users.

The above advice has been supplied by the Building Agency who are happy to provide further information as well as the appropriately trained and qualified operatives to carry out all checks and tests.

Further information and guidance can be obtained from Nigel Marriott, Buildings Agency and Operations Manager for Catering Equipment (0113) 2144156; Les Thompson Team Leader Electrical Services (0113) 2144185 and Nigel Paget Business Manager Heating Services (0113) 2143527.

For further information click here:

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)
PPE means all equipment which is worn or held to protect against risks to health or safety.  Assessment is needed to ensure the suitability of PPE provided.  It should follow on from, but not duplicate, risk assessments carried out under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.  PPE must be maintained in an efficient state, in working order and good repair.  Responsibilities, procedures (including frequencies) should be established and appropriate records kept.  Providing PPE is not a one off cost but is ongoing.

For further information click here:

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FOOD HYGIENE AND SAFETY

Food Safety and H.A.C.C.P
Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 say that a proprietor of a food business must make sure that all stages of food preparation are carried out in a hygienic and safe way.  The proprietor of a catering business must identify the steps in activities that are critical to ensuring food safety and develop safety procedures, based on the analysis of potential food hazards.

H.A.C.C.P (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) is a tool for minimising risks within a food safety management system.  Caterers must identify the steps in activities that are critical to ensuring food safety.

Identify and analyse hazards.  Look at each step (e.g. purchasing, delivery, storage, preparation, distribution) in your operation and identify what can go wrong.

Determine the Critical Control Points (CCPs).  Identify the points in your operation that ensures control of the hazards.

Establish Critical Limits.  Set limits to enable you to identify when a CCP is out of control.

Establish a system to monitor control of the CCP.  Identify the points in your operation that ensures control of the hazards.

Establish the Corrective Action.  Corrective actions must be taken when monitoring indicates that a particular CCP is not under control.

Establish procedures for verification.  Verification activities seek to confirm the HACCP system is working effectively.  Review and correct the system periodically and whenever you make changes to your operation e.g. new processing methods, new ingredients, etc.

Establish a documentation system.  Documentation, procedures and records associated with HACCP have to be maintained and available for inspection.  The implementation of HACCP leads to creation of records and auditors will want to inspect these records to confirm adherence to HACCP principles.  The aim should be to ensure control is maintained without generating excessive paperwork.

For further information click here:

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SELECTION AND AUTHORISATION OF SUPPLIERS AND THEIR SYSTEMS

It is essential that there are recognised procedures in place to ensure the safety of the food, the whole provision of the supply chain should be quality assured and schools should be able to demonstrate that their suppliers are competent, reliable, provide safe food as well as providing value for money.

Schools have the freedom to source their own suppliers or choose to use the corporate contracts set up by Leeds City Council.  These suppliers have already gone through a vetting process which ensures that the food supply chain is quality assured.

For further information click here:

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PRODUCT TRACEABILITY, INGREDIENT SPECIFICATION AND DECLARATION

Schools will be expected to trace all food products this requires a knowledge of the product and where all of its components have come from.  In addition, food and beverages will need to be checked against manufacturer's declarations and continually monitored and substitutions, additions or subtractions should be accounted for and meet the caterer's criteria.

Schools need to check for GM foods and prohibitive additives and will be expected to follow and maintain a list of prohibited additives in line with current dietary advice and good practice.  See below for prohibitive food ingredients and additives.

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NUTRITION AND HEALTHY EATING

The School Food Trust was set up in 2005 to promote education and health of children and young people by improving the quality of food provided and eaten in schools.  The four key goals that they have set are:

The school meals standard became mandatory in September 2006.

The School Food Trust has published guidance for schools on the food-based standards for school lunches.  It explains what the new standards are; offers advice and ideas; and gives examples of weekly menu plans  www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk

Uptake targets, menu detail and quantity of food
National legislation, The Healthy School Programme (HSP) and school catering staff have a common goal to - to get more pupils each day enjoying eating a healthy, balanced meal in a pleasant environment.

Where the catering provision is regulated by a contract the catering provider is expected to ensure:

A school managing their own provision need to ensure the service is supported to at least this level of service.

Nutritional Standards and Legislation
All school catering provision is required to meet national nutritional standards plus any local agreements arranged prior to changing the catering contract.

  1. the national standards introduced in September 06 require school meals to meet specific food group standards.  These are being further developed for primary (September 08) and secondary schools (September 09) when lunchtime meals will be required to meet a minimum nutrient specification.  The School Food Trust (SFT) has been established to provide information and support schools to implement the regulations.  Full details of the standards are available from www.schoolfoodtrust.org.uk  In addition the Caroline Walker Trust is widely regarded as the basis of these standards and the Trust produces which schools may find useful for further background www.cwt.org.uk
  2. Specific targets have been set for all schools to:
    1. increase the number of pupils taking a provided midday meal by 10%, from a September 06 baseline
    2. increase the free school meal uptake to 100%
  3. In Leeds there have been several ingredient restrictions which therefore must be followed.  These are:
    1. avoidance of 16 colours including all azo dyes
    2. no mechanically recovered meat (MRM)
    3. no genetically modified ingredients or foods not requiring declaration under EU regulation. 
  4. From September 07 there will be additional regulations covering drinks, snacks and meals provided during the school day other than at lunchtime. 

Menu Analysis and Monitoring of Meals
Menu analysis will be required to show menus conform to the nutrient standards from 08/09.  Simpler check lists can be used for monitoring the food groups and interim audits.  Schools within the Healthy Schools Programme are required to self monitor their progress towards preset goals in order to achieve the nutrition criteria.  It is useful if school caterers, staff and pupils work together on monitoring and audit tools.

To support schools and caterers in Leeds, the School Meals Team within Education Leeds has conducted a review of menu analysis software packages.  This will be valuable for those schools who have opted to take their catering in house and need to consider which package they will buy for their school.  The team has completed an audit of all available nutrient analysis packages and from this has prepared a review document.

To access the review of menu analysis software packages -
http://www.educationleeds.co.uk/schoolmeals/infopage.aspx?pageno=636

Training in menu analysis

The review identified Dietsure as Leeds preferred choice of menu analysis software.  Schools who have opted out and choose to procure Dietsure as their menu analysis package will be able to access training provided by the School Meals Team.  Further details can be obtained by contacting the School Meals Strategy Team, telephone 0113 24 43779.

Special Dietary Requirements
Wherever possible the diets provided should follow the food group and nutrient standards.  Only in extreme diets will this not be possible e.g. for some behaviour management regimes, avoiding major foods in cases of intolerance such as milk.

Many schools have populations from a wide variety of cultural groups.  The menu must meet the needs of all pupils.  It is important to liaise with parents and relevant local community leaders to ensure choices that are offered are appropriate.  The traceability and authenticity must be able to be monitored for all diet claims e.g. vegetarian, halal.  The term 'vegetarian' is used to imply a range of eating habits and caterers must ensure they understand the term as used by their own customers/families e.g.

  1. may eat fish but no meat
  2. may eat eggs and cheese but no meat or fish
  3. no eggs, meat, fish
  4. no meat, fish, eggs or dairy produce

It is not unusual for some families to eat meat at home but prefer to eat in a vegan style outside.  Further guidance from the the Food Standards Agency about labelling can be found at www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/vegitermsgn.pdf

Children may need special diets for a variety of reasons.  If these are requested it is recommended that caterers liaise with parents and request a copy of the diet sheet provided by the health practitioner.  This will normally be the hospital or community dietitian.  When health care staff are starting children on specific diets they may ask to speak directly to the caterers to ensure accuracy and agree a start date for the provision.

Prohibited ingredients and food additives

Colours

E102    TARTRAZINE
E104    QUINOLINE YELLOW
E107    YELLOW 2G
E110    SUNSET YELLOW
E120    COCHINEAL
E122    CARMOISINE
E123    AMARANTH
E124    PONCEAU 4R
E127    ERYTHROSINE
E128    RED 2G
E129    ALLURA RED AC
E132    INDIGO CARMINE
E133    BRILLIANT BLUE FCF
E142    GREEN S
E155    CHOCOLATE BROWN HT
E180    PIGMENT RUBINE

Genetically modified ingredients

All ingredients with GMI's present will be avoided; plus those not requiring declaration under EU regulations.

Meat

No mechanically recovered meat should be used as an ingredient in any homemade dish or ready made meal.

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STAFFING AND PERSONNEL

Schools will be responsible for the recruitment and retention of all catering staff.  The following areas should be considered important:

Advice and guidance for sourcing job descriptions can be sought from:

Recruitment Team
Contact
Julie Noble
Tel No
0113 247 5795

Alternatively - guidance and advice in recruiting catering staff can also be accessed via the approved list of catering consultants.  There will be a cost to the school for hiring a consultant 

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TRAINING FOR STAFF

Schools will be responsible for sourcing appropriate training for all catering staff as they must be competent within their role.  Training will include health and safety, food safety, craft based skills and customer relations.

A significant amount of training has been organised for school based catering staff to support the implementation of new national standards.  This will delivered by a consortium of Leeds Colleges and funded from the Grant A monies held by the LEA.  The training will be available to all school catering staff regardless of who provides their catering service.  For further details contact Rosie Denison on 0113 244 3779 or email rosemary.denison@educationleeds.co.uk

Advice on appropriate training and courses can be found by contacting

Leeds Thomas Danby
Roundhay Road
Leeds
LS7 3BG
Telephone 0113 249 4912
Email info@thomasdanby.ac.uk

For a list of catering resources available at college click here:

For advice, contact a catering consultant on the approved list: www.leedsadviceforschools.com (Approved list available in May)

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GENERAL PROVISION

Quality Management Systems
Schools will need to set up their own quality management systems in order to maintain and improve quality levels of the catering service.  The model of a process based quality management system is current best practice within the industry.  Such an approach emphasises the importance of:

Measuring customer satisfaction of pupils, parents and staff is an essential part of the quality system as to whether the service has met customer requirements.

The whole provision should be quality assured and ideally accredited to recognised systems and industry standards.

Financial systems
Schools will also need to set up a financial management system and consider the following:

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ADDITIONAL LINKS

Health and Safety at work Act 1974
http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/EnvironmentalServices/HealthAndSafety/hs_1974act.asp

Manual Handling    The manual handling operations regulations 1992
http://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/56-1.htm

Farm Assured Scheme
http://www.fabbl.co.uk/home.asp

Defra farm assurance schemes and standards
http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/trade/assurance/index.htm

Farm Assurance Schemes explained
http://www.igd.com/CIR.asp?menuid=115&cirid=1354

DEFRA
www.defra.gov.uk

Meat and Livestock Commission
www.mlc.org.uk

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