🍽️ Church Food Hygiene Guidance for Volunteers

To help keep everyone safe and well, please follow these simple food hygiene guidelines when preparing and bringing food to church events.

🧼 Before You Start: Clean & Safe Preparation

• Wash hands thoroughly before handling food (and after handling raw ingredients).

• Tie back long hair and avoid wearing loose jewellery.

• Ensure kitchen surfaces, utensils, and chopping boards are clean before use.

• Use separate boards for raw meat and ready-to-eat food (e.g. bread, fruit).

• Avoid preparing food if you’re ill – especially with vomiting, diarrhoea, or flu symptoms.

🧊 Food Storage & Transport

• Cool food quickly after cooking and refrigerate within 1–2 hours.

• Transport cold items (e.g. dairy, meats, salads) in cool bags with ice packs.

• Keep hot food hot (above 63°C) and cold food cold (below 8°C) until serving.

• Label containers clearly if they contain allergens (see below).

🥪 Serving Safely

• Wash hands again before setting up food.

• Use serving utensils where possible (tongs, spoons) instead of hands.

• Cover food with foil, clingfilm, or containers until ready to serve.

• Keep food out for no more than 2 hours before disposing of leftovers.

⚠️ Allergen Awareness

By law, we must inform people about allergens. Please:

• Clearly label your food if it contains any of the 14 main allergens:

  • Milk, Eggs, Wheat (Gluten), Nuts, Peanuts, Soya, Fish, Shellfish, Celery, Mustard, Sesame, Sulphites, Lupin, Molluscs.

• If in doubt, write: "Contains allergens – ask for details."

✅ Final Checklist

Before bringing food to church:
✔ Food prepared hygienically
✔ Allergens clearly labelled
✔ Cold/hot food stored properly
✔ Utensils and covers packed