Community groups can be a hugely positive force in a town or city. However, as many of the activities that community groups organize and participate in involve food, such as feeding the homeless or selling food products to raise money for charitable causes, food hygiene is very important.
Many community groups rely on the help of volunteers, many of whom won’t have undergone any form of food hygiene training. If the group fails to teach its volunteers about food safety and to follow safe practices when preparing food products, it could be putting the health of the public at risk. Poor food hygiene can cause food poisoning, which can make people seriously ill.
Needless to say, giving people food poisoning is the exact opposite of what any community group would have been aiming for when baking cakes to sell at a charity event or making sandwiches for a community picnic.
To prevent this from happening and to get the most from your work as a community group, it is a good idea to give your volunteers and helpers a course of food safety training. Even the basics taught on a one day course can drastically improve standards of hygiene in the food your group produces.
