food safety at outdoor events
In June the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health
published guidance on food safety standards and health and safety
requirements for outdoor and mobile catering which aims to provide
consistent interpretation of the relevant environmental health
requirements and encourage proportionality within enforcement
protocols.
The potential for large numbers of people, frequent use of
temporary staff, the temporary nature of the accommodation and type
of food products for sale at both outdoor events and in mobile
catering mean that the risks associated with food handling and
cross-contamination under these circumstances are high.
The guidance covers both large and small organised, planned
events, including village fetes and regional agricultural shows,
and street trading such as mobile traders, markets, boot fairs and
similar events. Although each event will present different issues,
many of the key principles of good food safety practice apply to
all types of food preparation. The guidance covers the general
principles in the management of food safety for all types of
outdoor and mobile catering scenarios and then highlights the
different specific issues related to: higher risk planned/managed
events that generally last two or more days; markets and mobile
catering; and lower risk events such as family, community and
charity events.
