{"id":36107,"date":"2018-12-24T09:30:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T09:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/?p=36107"},"modified":"2024-05-08T14:23:06","modified_gmt":"2024-05-08T13:23:06","slug":"due-diligence-in-food-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Due Diligence in Food Safety and How Can I Evidence it?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>All food business owners must follow the food hygiene practices and systems established by food safety regulations. This is crucial for complying with the law and ensuring the food you sell is safe for consumption.<\/p>\n<p>However, in order to prove this, it\u2019s important to keep thorough records of your food safety system. Doing so helps you to prove due diligence, which is the most effective way to protect your business from legal consequences.<\/p>\n<p>This article explains exactly what the law says about due diligence and how you can prove it in your food business. Knowing this, you\u2019ll be able to demonstrate that your organisation consistently meets sufficient hygiene standards and avoid issues with the law.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What is Due Diligence in Food Safety?<\/h2>\n<p>Due diligence in food safety refers to being able to prove that your business has done everything reasonably possible to prevent food safety breaches. Following and recording a suitable HACCP system is an effective way to evidence this, and can be your primary defence against legal issues under the Food Safety Act 1990. It helps to prove that you applied all reasonable precautions and due diligence to avoid committing an offence.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-36110\" src=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Worker-carrying-out-a-check-of-food-manufacturing-equipment.jpg\" alt=\"Worker carrying out a check of food manufacturing equipment\" width=\"685\" height=\"295\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Under the Food Safety Act 1990, a due diligence defence is the primary way to prevent legal repercussions if there is a food safety incident in your business. It is designed to balance the protection of the consumer against defective food with the right of traders, so that they won\u2019t be convicted of something they took all reasonable care to prevent.<\/p>\n<h4>The Food Safety Act states that a business has a due diligence defence if:<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>They carried out reasonable checks of their food in all the circumstances or it was reasonable for them to rely on checks carried out by the person who supplied the food.<\/li>\n<li>The offence was due to an act or default of another person who was not under the business\u2019s control, or due to reliance on information supplied by this person. For example, if they needed to inform the business of an allergy.<\/li>\n<li>They had no reason to suspect that an act or omission would result in an offence under the relevant provision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your business ever faces a legal dispute surrounding food safety, a due diligence defence will protect you. Therefore, you should ensure that your systems are sufficient to prove you did everything possible to prevent food safety breaches.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>How to Demonstrate Due Diligence in Food Premises<\/h2>\n<p>The most effective way to prove due diligence is through records of your food safety systems. In particular, records of your <strong>food safety practices and<\/strong> <strong>HACCP procedures <\/strong>will help to demonstrate compliance. These will show that you follow all the necessary safety standards and procedures to make food safe.<\/p>\n<p>The type of food safety HACCP system you need depends on your business&#8217;s size and the activities it carries out. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to regularly carry out food risk assessments (or a HACCP risk assessment) to identify your requirements. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/haccp-decision-tree\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">HACCP decision tree<\/a> can also help you determine the major risks in your food premises and establish sufficient controls.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-36111\" src=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Baker-kneading-dough.jpg\" alt=\"Baker kneading dough\" width=\"685\" height=\"295\" \/><\/p>\n<p>However, there are certain safety practices and key aspects of HACCP that every business should have in place. For example, your records should always thoroughly explain your procedures for preventing cross-contamination. Likewise, every HACCP plan must identify what your business does to control critical risks.<\/p>\n<h3>Food Safety Due Diligence Checklist<\/h3>\n<p>In order to demonstrate due diligence, all food businesses should ensure their records cover the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Your use of approved suppliers.<\/li>\n<li>Details of how your workplace environment is compliant (e.g. being made from the correct materials).<\/li>\n<li>How you <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/avoiding-cross-contamination-in-the-kitchen\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Your HACCP system.<\/li>\n<li>Your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/restaurant-cleaning-schedule-template\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">cleaning schedule<\/a> and personal hygiene procedures.<\/li>\n<li>Records of your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/temperature-log-sheets-for-kitchens\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fridge and freezer temperatures.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Your equipment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/preventative-maintenance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">maintenance procedures<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Labelling procedures, including for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/free-food-allergen-printable-labels\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">allergens<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Waste disposal.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/courses\/health-and-safety\/pest-control-training-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pest control.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Training and supervision. You can use your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">online training records<\/a> to demonstrate your due diligence and compliance in audits.<\/li>\n<li>How you monitor and update records.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You should regularly check that you have sufficient evidence of fulfilling these requirements. Without it, you lack proof that you\u2019re doing all you can to manage food safety risks and leave yourself open to legal consequences.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>What to Read Next<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/top-hospitality-skills\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Top 8 Skills for a Successful Career in Hospitality<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/preventative-maintenance\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Preventative Maintenance in the Food Industry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/food-vulnerability-assessment-checklist\/\">Food Fraud: Vulnerability Assessment Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/frozen-food-delivery-checklist\/\">How to Accept Frozen Food Deliveries: A Safety Checklist<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/haccp-quiz\/\">HACCP Quiz<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/temperature-log-sheets-for-kitchens\/\">Fridge and Freezer Temperature Log Sheets for Kitchens<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/courses\/haccp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Online HACCP Training Courses<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you&#8217;ve covered all bases. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":36207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[700,701,773],"class_list":["post-36107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-hygiene","tag-food-safety","tag-haccp","tag-hospitality"],"acf":{"schema_disabled":false,"schema_properties_FAQPage_question_answer":null,"schema_properties_HowTo_howto_tools":null,"schema_properties_HowTo_howto_supplies":null,"schema_properties_HowTo_howto_steps":null,"schema_properties_WebPage_cssSelector":null,"schema_sameAs_repeater":null,"schema_custom_json_repeater":null,"schema_custom_json_override":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.5 (Yoast SEO v19.12) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Due Diligence in Food Safety | How to Evidence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you&#039;ve covered all bases.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Due Diligence in Food Safety | How to Evidence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you&#039;ve covered all bases.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Hub | High Speed Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/highspeedtraining\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-24T09:30:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-08T13:23:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/due-diligence-fi.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Liz Burton-Hughes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Due Diligence in Food Safety | How to Evidence\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you&#039;ve covered all bases.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hst\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hst\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Liz Burton-Hughes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Due Diligence in Food Safety | How to Evidence","description":"For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you've covered all bases.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Due Diligence in Food Safety | How to Evidence","og_description":"For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you've covered all bases.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/","og_site_name":"The Hub | High Speed Training","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/highspeedtraining\/","article_published_time":"2018-12-24T09:30:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-05-08T13:23:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2100,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/due-diligence-fi.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Liz Burton-Hughes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Due Diligence in Food Safety | How to Evidence","twitter_description":"For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you've covered all bases.","twitter_creator":"@hst","twitter_site":"@hst","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Liz Burton-Hughes","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/"},"author":{"name":"Liz Burton-Hughes","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#\/schema\/person\/b34f6cec80af05b8bf3702d8f7f54e27"},"headline":"What is Due Diligence in Food Safety and How Can I Evidence it?","datePublished":"2018-12-24T09:30:38+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-08T13:23:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/"},"wordCount":765,"commentCount":11,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#organization"},"keywords":["Food Safety","HACCP","Hospitality"],"articleSection":["Food Hygiene"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/","url":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/","name":"Due Diligence in Food Safety | How to Evidence","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-12-24T09:30:38+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-08T13:23:06+00:00","description":"For food safety inspections, you need to evidence due diligence. Our article outlines how to, including a checklist to make sure you've covered all bases.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/due-diligence-in-food-safety\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is Due Diligence in Food Safety and How Can I Evidence it?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/","name":"The Hub | High Speed Training","description":"Welcome to the Hub, the company blog from High Speed Training.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#organization","name":"The Hub | High Speed Training","url":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/HST_Logo_Dark-Blue_CMYK_AW-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/HST_Logo_Dark-Blue_CMYK_AW-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":1206,"caption":"The Hub | High Speed Training"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/highspeedtraining\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/hst"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#\/schema\/person\/b34f6cec80af05b8bf3702d8f7f54e27","name":"Liz Burton-Hughes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e8dd891dffaa723cee89793d4a90f4ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e8dd891dffaa723cee89793d4a90f4ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Liz Burton-Hughes"},"description":"Liz has been writing for the Hub since 2014. She has a University degree in English and previously worked as a freelance writer for various companies. Now, she specialises in writing Health and Safety content for High Speed Training.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk","https:\/\/twitter.com\/hst"],"url":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/author\/liz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36107"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74694,"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36107\/revisions\/74694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.highspeedtraining.co.uk\/hub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}