Would we be committing an offence

terrierlady

a lady working in our local charity shop has kindly offered to make home made jams/ marmalade etc for us to retail, do we need any special health and hygiene certificates to cover this .

Savvy_Sue

It would be worth asking the local Environmental Health Officer to begin with, I think. And if there's a local branch of the WI they might also be worth consulting, as long as they don't perceive you as competition to their markets.

There are so many different regulations, and there's also this 'CMA' mentality which stops home-made cakes etc being sold in schools or taken into hospitals, but I am sure at least some of the recently publicised cases are down to 'CMA' rather than actually in breach of any regulation.

Although you wouldn't want the publicity associated with anything nasty turning up in any of her jars, so you are right to be cautious!

daveoneil

Hi

You could get people to sign a short disclaimer saying that they know it is home made and therefore are happy to buy it knowing it hasn't been "Government Approved" if you like. Also, there are health and safety courses all over the country for small retailers to send their staff on - so that if, for instance, someone is working in a cafe they are "accredited" to produce sandwiches for the premises. I can't really remember the name of the scheme but any local food place to you should be accredited. People love homemade jam, so it seems a shame to deprive them!

Savvy_Sue

I think what dave is thinking about is a Basic Food Hygiene Certificate, although it may now have a different name - Foundation probably. If the lady offering the jams would not be offended by the suggestion then getting one of these would be a good idea, even if it turns out not to be essential. She will then know how many germs multiply on a dirty dishcloth in the space of an hour - luvverly. Local college of F&HE probably offers it, or google for one near you.

daveoneil

Sue, that's exactly what I am talking about. I did one for sandwich preparation and I have to say whilst it was not university level microbiology it was good fun and quite interesting. Just couldn't remember the name of the thing.

If the lady in question is conscientous enough to volunteer to support a local charity in this way then I reckon she might even be flattered to be asked. Most people these days are fully aware of how strict food law is and it is an obvious complement to her jam making skills that the charity value it highly enough to enroll her on this course. I run a juvenile orchestra course and have to have criminal background checks, but I just take this as part of the job and don't worry that they do it because I might be criminally insane, I know it's just a standard procedure.

Really good luck with it - not sure how robust the other "disclaimer" idea is that I came up with in hindsight! What is the charity you are supporting?

terrierlady

well, we phoned up the local health and environment office, they said that only the postcode needed to go on the label so if a problem occurred they would know where the problem came from!!!!After reading various replies to this thread I'm sure this info from the E>Health, is not correct.
It seem the above replies make more sence, in that it should be regulated.
The charity is a small local animal charity.

Savvy_Sue

terrierlady wrote:

well, we phoned up the local health and environment office, they said that only the postcode needed to go on the label so if a problem occurred they would know where the problem came from!!!!After reading various replies to this thread I'm sure this info from the E>Health, is not correct.
It seem the above replies make more sence, in that it should be regulated.

I wouldn't be so sure that EHO is wrong. If you were selling fresh food, above all refrigerated food, there are loads of regs, because there are so many possible entry points for contamination. But for jams and marmalades in sealed jars, there are far fewer entry points. So as long as you can trace back to origin, there is less need for regulation.

Ooh, I've found you some useful websites! Ask Cedric, and the Food Standards Agency. There may be others: this is my google search! But I'll let you do your own research!

terrierlady

thankyou Savvy-Sue, the ask Cedric site seemed to answer all our questions thankyou .