FSA Standards

Food Business Operators (FBO) have a duty to guarantee that food is safe for customers to eat or this can lead to infection, damage to reputation or even closure of a business. In order to prevent this Environmental Health Officers (EHO) require proof that the sanitizing products used on kitchen surfaces conform to BSEN1276 and BSEN13697. This is due to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) releasing a document on 15th February 2011 detailing guidance for food operators for good hygiene practices, principally to avoid cross contamination. Pages 26 and 27 state that products used in food areas by law must comply with BSEN1276 or BSEN13697. Chemex FAD passes both tests with flying colours even at 40:1 of 50:1 dilution.

What is BS EN 1276:1997?

BS EN 1276:1997 is proof of the highest bactericidal efficacy and suitability for use throughout the food industry. To pass this standard, products must be proven to kill 99.999% of bacteria (log 5) at their specified dilution rate in five minutes.

Strains of bacteria used in testing include E. coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus hirae and Staphylococcus aureus. This represents a good reference mix of Gram-positive and Gram-negative potential pathogens.

This is a ‘suspension’ test – i.e bacteria are suspended in a liquid medium.

What is BS EN 13697:2001?

This is a very similar test to 1276 but involves killing bacteria on a non-porous surface to a minimum log 4 (99.99%) kill.

To learn more about cleaning and hygiene standards please contact us.

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