Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Comparative analysis of hospital food safety and hygiene policies in England, UK and Saudi Arabia state hospitals

8^th International Conference on Food Safety, Quality & Policy

November 27-28, 2017 Dubai, UAE

Ali AlRasheed and Ian Connerton

University of Nottingham, UK

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Food Process Technol

Abstract:

Saudi state hospitals lack food safety and hygiene policies based on HACCP which is required by the Ministry of Health. This paper compares Englandâ??s state hospitals Food Safety and Hygiene Policies, each detailing individual and teamsâ?? responsibilities including training in some cases. Previous research showed that the precaution measures specifying the details of HACCP implementation in different areas for each hospital need to be transparent and demonstrated in such a way that responsibilities are related to individuals and teams. Even so, the state hospitals in England have various policies whose quality differs. In this project, a model policy for Saudi hospitals was designed based on the best practice in the evaluated 5 Englandâ??s state hospital policies. In addition, a survey was conducted in 7 state hospitals in Saudi Arabia to determine the current safety and hygiene practices among the caterers and their supervisors. Based on their attitudes, knowledge of HACCP and practices the selection of the descriptors was further fine-tuned. State hospitals in Saudi Arabia do not have written food safety and hygiene policies for each hospital which makes it difficult for the workers and supervisors to implement HACCP directly and successfully. Therefore, there is a need for such policies that will be based on the best practice in Englandâ??s hospitals and further modified according to the current attitudes, knowledge and practices in Saudi Arabia. Nevertheless, Englandâ??s hospital policies are not consistent themselves. Although HACCP standards to maintain food safety and hygiene are clear and sustainable; the UK practice has shown that individual hospital policies can bring the processes closer to the managers detailing their food safety and hygiene responsibilities. In Saudi Arabia, they could also demonstrate the training needs and progression including the provision of resources.