Hygiene Guidelines for Mobile Burger Vans and Trailers
This guide is not intended to cover all aspects of hygiene in burger vans but covers the main areas where proprietors can sometimes fall short of legal requirements.
Hand Washing Facilities
A wash hand basin with a supply of hot and cold or warm water, soap (preferably bactericidal) and single use towels require to be available within the van.
When trading or preparing food, a water supply must always available within the van and any equipment (pumps etc) necessary for delivering it switched on. Similarly, hot or warm water must always be available and any necessary heaters etc switched on.
The wash hand basin must be used exclusively for hand washing and kept free from obstructions.
Protective Clothing
Protective clothing must be worn at all times when handling food. This must be clean, preferably white and capable of covering any clothing likely to come into contact with food. Long hair must be tied back and head covering should be worn.
Storage
The juices of raw meat are likely to contain food poisoning germs such as E coli 0157 and Salmonella which remain harmful even when frozen. If these are allowed to come into contact with cooked and ready to eat foods then there is a risk of food poisoning.
Fridges - It is recommended that separate fridges be provided for raw meat and cooked and ready to eat foods. In the absence of this, it is a requirement that raw meats are always kept well separated from cooked and ready to eat foods and on the lower shelves to prevent drip contamination.
Fridges should operate in the temperature range 1 - 4°C.
Freezers - It is recommended that separate freezers be provided for raw meat and for cooked and ready to eat foods. In the absence of this, it is a requirement that raw meats are always kept well separated from cooked and ready to eat foods by storing them in separate compartments or containers within the freezer.
Freezers should maintain a temperature at or below -18°C.
Handling
There are three possible methods to avoid cross contamination when transferring the raw burgers sausages etc to the grill.
Tongs - a separate set must be available exclusively for handling raw (and partially cooked) burgers sausages etc. These should be colour coded (red for raw) and kept in a separate container from utensils used for ready to eat foods. When purchasing new tongs, ones with red handles should be specified. In the interim they may be marked with a piece of red plastic tape.
Hands - while the use of tongs is preferable, where the frozen burgers sausages etc are stuck together, it may be necessary to handle them directly (however this may be a symptom of partial thawing - see "Freezer" below). In such case it is essential that hands are thoroughly washed every time after touching frozen raw meat and before touching ready to eat foods or other utensils. It is recommended that a bactericidal handwash be used.
Separate Staff - where staffing levels permit, one person may be designated exclusively to the "raw" side of the operation and another to the "cooked" side of the operation.
Cooking
Meat must be cooked to a minimum core temperature of 75°C for 30 seconds.
Utensils used to handle raw and partially cooked burgers sausages etc must not be used to handle them when cooked. It is recommended that colour coded tongs (see "Tongs" above) be used exclusively for raw and partially cooked meat products.
Temperature Monitoring
The following parts of the process require to be monitored:-
Fridge - fridge temperatures must be regularly monitored. Unlike fixed premises with regular trading hours where twice daily is recommended, checks should be made at the start of trading or when the fridge is powered up to ensure that it has reached the correct temperature before using it for storing food and should be monitored at least another once during the trading period or more often if there is an interruption to the power supply.
Freezer - freezers temperature must be regularly monitored. In view of the transient nature of the business, it is recommended that freezers be monitored at least daily or more frequently where there is an interruption to the power supply. Food must not be thawed and re-frozen. If there is an interruption to the power supply or mechanical defect to the extent that food thaws in the freezer then it must not be re-frozen. NB - Burgers sausages etc which have a frosted coating or which are sticking together can be an indication that they have thawed at some point.
Cooking - the core temperature of the cooked burgers sausages etc must be monitored regularly throughout the day to ensure that this temperature is being consistently met. It is especially important to check temperatures when busy as this is the time when undercooking is most likely. The temperature should be taken by placing the probe in the very centre of the burger half way through its thickness, being careful to avoid going right through to the hot plate as this will give a false high reading. Special thermometers are available for measuring burger core temperatures - for details phone Stirling Council Environmental Health at the number below. It is essential that the thermometer probe is cleaned between uses, ideally using probe wipes or alternatively by washing it in a bactericidal detergent.
Hot Holding
Food which has been cooked and is being hot held prior to sale must be kept at a minimum temperature of 63°C.
Record Keeping
It is recommended that the storage cooking and hot holding temperatures be recorded.
If you have any questions regarding this guidance or food safety in general, please phone Stirling Council Environmental Health on 01786 443322 and ask for Food Safety