Food safety compliance for care homes and residential care settings

Every food business operator, including a care home kitchen, must put in place and maintain permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, together with prerequisite programmes such as cleaning, pest control, temperature control and staff hygiene training. Records must be kept and made available to the competent authority.

The 14 declarable allergens must be identified for food served to residents, including non-prepacked and mass-catering food. Most member states require the information in writing or on request with a clearly signposted route to it.

Kitchens must be able to identify who supplied their food and to whom it was supplied — 'one step back, one step forward' — and act on withdrawal or recall notices.

Diet orders, allergies and texture levels are health data. They need a lawful basis, an Article 9 condition, access limited to the people who need it, and a defined retention period.

The retained hygiene rules mirror 852/2004: documented HACCP-based procedures, registration with the local authority and inspection under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.

The FSA's recognised HACCP pack for caterers. Care homes are expected to keep the daily diary, opening and closing checks, and the four Cs safe methods, or an equivalent documented system.

Food prepacked for direct sale must carry a full ingredients list with allergens emphasised. Food plated and served to residents is not PPDS, but the allergen information still has to be available and accurate.

Providers must meet residents' nutrition and hydration needs, including therapeutic and texture-modified diets, and be able to evidence it. Equivalent regulators: Care Inspectorate (Scotland), CIW (Wales), RQIA (Northern Ireland), HIQA (Ireland).

Same treatment as EU GDPR for resident dietary and health information, with the ICO as supervisory authority.