Food hygiene inspection

[LMW1990]

During lockdown I started my own little bakery business. It's something I've always wanted to do and so far it's been very successful.

Early on I took out insurance, did a food hygiene course and registered with my local council and was granted permission to trade.

Due to Covid, a physical inspection has been delayed.

It's due this Tuesday. I'm nervous! Despite having a very small kitchen, it is extremely clean and I have well organised separate spaces for my business food and personal food. I make it clear to customers that I'm unable to assure allergen free food due to this being my own kitchen. I've also done an allergy course from the .gov website.

I'm just not sure what to expect!

I have a fair bit of competition in the area. Some well established business and some new ones who do not seem to have registered as they are not pending on the council website.

This hygiene rating, I hope, will set me out against the rest for those who are concerned about where they buy from.

Does anyone have any experience of what they will be specifically looking for?

Thanks

Join the Microbakery Connection group on Facebook. They will help. 😁

Do you have a safer food, better business file? If not, you can download the relevant pages from fsa website. My advice on this- make sure it is completely filled out (including the bit where you fill in the suppliers names and contact details) and read it- questions such as how do you clean your work surfaces etc can be answered to top spec by knowing what it says in the sfbb.

Have your paperwork up to date and in order! Dp you moniter fridge/freezer temperatures? Deliveries? Make sure every container has a lid and is labelled and with its use by date. Do you have clearly separate utensils and boards to prevent cross contamination? (Might not be relevant to a bakery)
Do you have clean and accessible sink to wash hands?

I run a couple of pubs and it might be a bit different to home based business. They are normally nice and will talk you through any concerns. Dont panic! You should be fine, good luck!

Thanks all

I forgot to add, the paperwork side of things has been completed and I answered all questions during a telephone interview. Tuesday is the physical inspection.

The EHO expect all paperwork to be in order. So records of temperature checks and cooling down times are important. They will take the temperature of your fridge so make sure it's at the right temp.

A separate sink for hand washing is usually needed. Make sure you are up on cross contamination and correct food storage.

They want to know you are following the safer food better business guidelines
They want to see your paperwork that supports this, eg temperatures, cleaning schedule, opening and closing checks, colour coded boards etc
They want to know that you are aware of your responsibilities and how you carry them out

Thanks all

This is excellent information! I'm going to go over all my paperwork and scrub my kitchen to within an inch of its life! before Tuesday!

Just to update. I got 5 stars!! thank you to everyone for your advice!

Excellent!
Well done