Egenkontroll, or self-checks, is the system the business itself has to make sure the food is safe. The law requires every food business operator, apart from primary producers, to have such a system. As an employee you are an important part of it, because you are the one who carries out the checks in daily work.
Three parts
The Swedish Food Agency describes the business's food safety system as three parts:
- Prerequisites. These are what we have covered in the course: suitable premises and equipment, drinking water, personal hygiene, cleaning, waste, pest control, temperatures and training. They are also called good hygiene practice. They take care of most of the risks.
- Traceability. The business must know who it bought goods from and who it sold to, one step back and one step forward (article 18 of Regulation 178/2002). Keep delivery notes and invoices, and label goods that are moved or divided.
- HACCP-based procedures. This is a method for finding the steps in handling that are decisive for safety and keeping an eye on them. The requirement is in article 5 of Regulation (EC) No 852/2004.
The seven HACCP principles
- Hazard analysis. Identify the hazards that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced.
- Critical control points (CCP). Find the steps where control is necessary.
- Critical limits. Set the boundary between acceptable and unacceptable, for example a core temperature.
- Monitoring. Check the control points, for example by measuring temperature.
- Corrective actions. Decide what is to happen when something is not under control.
- Verification. Check regularly that the system works.
- Documentation. Write down what is needed to show that the system is applied, to an extent that suits the size and nature of the business.
Flexibility for small businesses
The HACCP requirement is the same for everyone, but it must suit the business. In a small business the prerequisites can sometimes replace monitoring of a critical control point. The requirement for critical limits does not always mean an exact number, and the documentation can be simple. Flexibility must never endanger food safety.
What you do in daily work
- Follow the procedures. Measure, wash, clean and check as the company's instructions say.
- Write it down. Fill in temperature sheets, cleaning sheets and delivery checks straight away. Do not write them afterwards or in advance. A value you have not measured is an invention.
- Report deviations. A deviation is something that did not turn out as it should, for example a fridge showing too high a temperature, a delivery that arrived warm, a pest or a dish that has not reached the right temperature.
- Carry out the corrective action. It may be to cook for longer, throw away the food, move goods, call a service technician or put a product on hold.
- Ask if anything is unclear. Do not guess.
Thermometers
A measurement is only worth anything if the thermometer works. Clean it between measurements, and check it at regular intervals, for example in ice water. Replace or repair a broken one.
Recall
If a product turns out to be unsafe, the business must be able to withdraw it and, if necessary, recall it from customers, and inform the authorities. That is one reason traceability is important.
The business's responsibility
It is the operator who must build up, implement and maintain the system, find out what hazards exist in this particular business and make sure the staff know their part. Industry guidelines can help, but they are voluntary. A course like this gives the basics, but it does not replace the company's own system.