various legal aspects of produce law.

Regarding produce and food, the new EU legislation came into effect from 1st January 2006, which affects all produce and food business related operators who are now supposed to maintain and implement all the procedures based on the seven principles of HACCP. The full form of HACCP is Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point which is a management system designed for the produce and food industry. It is made especially to assist the produce and food business operators to maintain proper hygiene standards which will guarantee that they are adhering to the legislative laws. The produce law and the food law which is otherwise known as HACCP have seven basic principles as mentioned below: • There is absolute necessity to identify the point at which a hazard could occur therefore harming the consumer. • All potential hazards are to be identified like physical, microbiological, and chemical. • Measures to identify out of control activity through set parameters. • When the parameters of critical control points have been breached, establish corrective action to be taken • A Monitoring System to be implemented or established to monitor the critical control points. • Establish measures to confirm that points 1-5 are working in effect. • To provide evidence that the HACCP system is working effectively, establish reporting procedures which should be made available on request The current produce law has been made in such a way so that the responsibility lies with the operator to make sure that their produce is safe for consumption. HACCP has been intended to assist them in doing this, and failure to adhere with the laws carry grievous penalties. The local authority is generally responsible for enforcing produce hygiene laws, and if necessary will take action against the defaulter in order to protect the public. Enforcement officers will inspect premises and can ask you to produce relevant reports and documentation in order to prove due diligence. This is done without prior notice, so that there is no chance of any fraudulent activity to cover up non compliance. rnThe action under Preliminary Enforcement may include the following: • Record inspection • Taking food samples • Written letters requesting that troubles are correctedrnEnforcement actions in more serious cases, can involve one or more of the following: • Serving of hygiene improvement notices • Serving of legal notices • Closure of premises • Prohibition notices • Fines, prosecution, and even imprisonment There are ways to prevent the above penalties and actions. Spend or invest in a wireless temperature monitoring system that monitors your decisive control points and alerts you when your set limits surpass their set parameters, and produces the reports you need to satisfy your local enforcing power. Therefore, the produce laws that have been set by the legislature, is to monitor produce and food operators so that the public is safe from any kind of harm caused by produce or food. The Chemicals or additives in the produces should be used as per the laws and regulations so that no poisonous substances pass into the consumers’ hand and result in any kind of sickness or harm. The safety of the general population is the foremost concern which is at the helm of this law, and the governing bodies make sure that they are followed as per the set rules.