Free Lunch for Senior Citizens

KilkennyBoi

Hi, sorry if this isn't in the right forum - I had a hard time trying to work out where the right place is. Please move it if it's in the wrong place :-)

My church has recently started providing lunch, once a month for the senior citizens in our congregation and for any of their friends they wish to invite. The lunch will either be soup and bread or stew or something similar and is cooked at home by our volunteers then reheated in the church kitchen.

Someone recently told us that we would need to register this with Environmental Health. We're very happy to do this, and it was an oversight on our part not to have done so already - we had no idea we would have any obligations.

Now, we're going to get in touch with Environmental Health, and we know that theirs is the opinion that matters. Having said that, it would be nice if we had a wee bit of an idea of what sort of experiences others have had so we're not taken completely by surprise. So, if you've been through something like this, could you give me a few rough answers to these questions? Thanks so much!

Is cooking at home and reheating in the church kitchen a big no-no?
Does every volunteer need to have certified food safety/hygiene training?
Are there things that kitchens need to have that are commonly overlooked?

Thanks again!

pedroeibar1

If Duplo does not see & respond to this (pressure of work) send him a PM, he's the man!

duploelabs

I'll respond properly later this afternoon, I am as Pedro said swamped this morning

duploelabs

KilkennyBoi wrote: »

Hi, sorry if this isn't in the right forum - I had a hard time trying to work out where the right place is. Please move it if it's in the wrong place :-)

My church has recently started providing lunch, once a month for the senior citizens in our congregation and for any of their friends they wish to invite. The lunch will either be soup and bread or stew or something similar and is cooked at home by our volunteers then reheated in the church kitchen.

Someone recently told us that we would need to register this with Environmental Health. We're very happy to do this, and it was an oversight on our part not to have done so already - we had no idea we would have any obligations.

Now, we're going to get in touch with Environmental Health, and we know that theirs is the opinion that matters. Having said that, it would be nice if we had a wee bit of an idea of what sort of experiences others have had so we're not taken completely by surprise. So, if you've been through something like this, could you give me a few rough answers to these questions? Thanks so much!

Is cooking at home and reheating in the church kitchen a big no-no?
Does every volunteer need to have certified food safety/hygiene training?
Are there things that kitchens need to have that are commonly overlooked?

Thanks again!

Ok,

Lets take those three questions.

1. For commercial sized portions ( I assume you're cooking for over 20 or 30 people), for cooling you'd need a blast chiller where the food is prepped to safely cool the food from cooking temperature (75 degree) to 3 degree at a rate that doesn't promote bacterial growth. Since they're a hefty price then it's not conceivable to get them in every kitchen. So what I would do is prep the food in the kitchen, put them in to a temp controlled box whilst hot (available in any commercial kitchen suppliers), and then deliver them (you've three hours to do this as that's how long they'll keep at temp) for cooling and refrigeration in the church kitchen. That way you've only one blast chiller.

2. Every area where food is prepped has to have a haccp plan for recording of food providence, temperature controls, food handler training, etc. So yes, anyone who preps the food needs to be trained in this and maintain the paperwork.

3. There are many things that are overlooked. The long and the short is it's your menu or what you cook that dictates what equipment you need.

Given the method in which EHOs work, your best plan would be so write up the recipes of what you want to make and approach your local EHO with your plan of cooking off site and then reheating to serve. They will identify what equipment you need to get, issues of training etc. Unfortunately they work on their interpretation of the science and rules, not a direct set of guidelines and therefore it's down to their individual discretion as to what you can and can't do. It's madness I know but you have to play by their rules otherwise you're boned

duploelabs

Thank f*ck I didn't go to the effort and time of putting in a more detailed response
:rolleyes:

pedroeibar1

It is unkind/bad manners and I too noticed the lack of response, but what can one do? At least those who read your reply added to their knowledge base. It caused me to wonder how the ‘meals on wheels’ people managed and if there were any derogations for charities that provide free food.

duploelabs

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

It is unkind/bad manners and I too noticed the lack of response, but what can one do? At least those who read your reply added to their knowledge base. It caused me to wonder how the ‘meals on wheels’ people managed and if there were any derogations for charities that provide free food.

Well I've a blanket No from the fsai for donating soup to any charities due to most of those charities not having a HACCP system, they only thing I could do was supply Br Kevin in the Capuchin centre with an over supply of veg

Mrs OBumble

pedroeibar1 wrote: »

It is unkind/bad manners and I too noticed the lack of response, but what can one do? At least those who read your reply added to their knowledge base. It caused me to wonder how the ‘meals on wheels’ people managed and if there were any derogations for charities that provide free food.

Meals on wheels in Galway, the food is all prepared in the COPE Galway kitchen which has all the gear , training and certs needed.

And I know that they are allowed to accept donated food too.