Wokingham

In order to assist Wokingham businesses with new food safety legislation requirements, Wokingham District Council has been running a series of free food safety training courses for businesses and organisations. Some 18 businesses have so far attended seminars, and on Thursday July 20 participants were awarded certificates by chairman of Wokingham council Cllr Angus Ross, in a special ceremony.

The new EU food hygiene regulations, introduced in January 2006, set out more clearly the duty of food businesses to produce food safely and to achieve consistency. For the first time the legislation includes most areas of farming, so it covers the whole food chain from 'farm to fork'. The new laws are intended to help reduce the number of cases of food poisoning, with businesses required to document where food safety problems could arise and put steps in place to prevent things going wrong. They also need to have procedures in place to review systems on a regular basis.

Attending the awards ceremony at the Wokingham civic offices, Shute End were:

* Julie and Richard Haycock from the Stable Café, Forest Road, Wokingham
* Terri Pitfield from Hurst Golf Club
* Agustin Garcia from Sorrentos, Wokingham
* Simone Webb from The Buffet Angels, Woodley
* Caroline Golding from Down Lodge,Wokingham
* Pauline Symes from Waingels College, Woodley
* Rabbi Zaiden from Norwood Ravenswood Village, Crowthorne
* Adrian Brunswick from The Bull, Barkham
* Peter Goold from The Henry Street Garden Centre, Arborfield
* Vicky Jones from the Holt School, Wokingham

Rabbi Zaiden from Norwood Ravenswood Village said: “I really enjoyed the course and got a great deal out of it. I have worked in this area for many years but it is always good to keep up to date.”

Vicky Jones, catering manager at the Holt School, Wokingham said: “This was an excellent course. The daily diary will be so useful - it acts as a reminder and it is so good to have as a template to save the work. I am looking forward to the intermediate course.”

Pauline Symes, catering manager at Waingels College, said: “I thought that I would know everything and wasn't really looking forward to the course. But the training went into things a lot deeper than I had expected. The diary is really useful and I have learnt a great deal which I can now pass on to my staff at Waingels.”

Although they were unable to attend the awards ceremony, catering representatives from the following organisations also attended the seminars:

* Reading University Students’ Union
* Rivermead Primary School, Woodley
* Sultan Balti and the Square Bar, Wokingham
* Farley Hill Primary School, Farley Hill
* A Bit of a Do, Winnersh, Wokingham
* Sonning Golf Club, Sonning
* The Swan, Three Mile Cross
* Grovelands Garden Centre, Shinfield

Wokingham District Council’s principal environmental health officer Ros Hale said: “We are now classifying businesses into types, to enable us to tailor the training to their needs. We will be holding a further series of seminars towards the end of the year. A funding bid has also been put in to the Food Standards Agency, as we would like to continue training businesses in 2007 and 2008.

Chairman of Wokingham council Cllr Angus Ross said: “It gives me great pleasure to present these certificates and to see that high standards of food safety are being achieved by businesses in the district. My congratulations go to all who have attended the council’s seminars and I hope more businesses will take part in training in the future.”

Wokingham District Council