DTI backs food safety plan

The Restaurant Association has won Government funding for an initiative to raise food hygiene standards in restaurants and catering establishments in Britain.

 

The initiative, due to launch in October, aims to raise standards by changing the way management and staff work together as a team.

 

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	Ian McKerracher

Ian McKerracher, chief executive of the Restaurant Association, said the main purpose of the initiative would be to ensure that “all food handlers become safe food handlers”.
He added that food safety training was not solely the responsibility of management. “I would much rather see people have the motivation and desire to be properly trained,” he said.

 

The project is being supported by the Hospitality Training Foundation and now has financial backing from the Department of Trade and Industry.

 

Details about the initiative, which is initially planned to run for one year, should be announced next week, when the Restaurant Association finds out exactly how much funding it will get.

 

Although the initiative is intended to be nation-wide, McKerracher said the association may target a specific area in a pilot study first.

 

by Samantha McClary