Benefits of Hazard Analysis

As a food business operator there is currently no legal requirement for your assessment to be documented. However, it is likely that this will be included in new legislation that will probably be introduced in 2006.

Regardless, there are several advantages in documenting your hazard analysis:

It makes it far easier for you to see that you have considered all the important points

Documentation will demonstrate that you have thought about the hazards and control measures, and will provide a useful basis for discussion during routine inspections

It is an offence to sell food which is unfit, substandard or which may cause harm to those who consume it. The principal defence available to anyone accused of selling such food is that of ‘Due Diligence’. This requires food businesses to prove that they ‘took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence’. Should anything go wrong, documentation would obviously be an extremely important element in establishing a "Due Diligence" defence