What Are The Requirements For Events Including Food?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• EVENTS WITH HOMEMADE FOOD 
• EVENTS WITH SHOP-BOUGHT FOOD
• EVENTS AT EXTERNAL VENUES
• EVENTS WITH EXTERNAL CATERERS

EVENTS WITH HOMEMADE FOOD 

If your group is planning on making food for an event (for example holding a bake sale) then the people involved in preparing the food will need to complete an online food safety training module to understand how to safely prepare and store the food. This module can be found on the University Oracle Learning platform here, and by searching for the "Food Safety Essentials" module, once complete please contact us with a screenshot showing that the module has been completed. 

When preparing the food your group must ensure that:

• Good food hygiene standards are being met.
• Only fresh and in-date ingredients are being used for making the products.
• All food being used to prepare the products is stored correctly before being used (refrigerated if needed).
• All products are fully cooked through, any food that is undercooked / raw is not to be served.
• Only food that does not need to be refrigerated is being provided, e.g. apple cake, baked cheesecake, brownies or similar.
• Food is covered and refrigerated, or stored in a cool, dry place, before being served.

All food should be checked before being served to make sure that it is in a good condition, and where practical tools such as scoops and tongs should be used to handle food rather than hands. Where handling cannot be avoided, hands should be washed before, during and after process. 

On the day of the event itself, a full list of all of the ingredients used in making the products, and a list of all allergens must be displayed with the food so that members can check these lists if they have any allergies / intolerances. 

EVENTS WITH SHOP-BOUGHT FOOD

If your group will be purchasing any food to serve at an event, you will need to make sure that all products being served are still in-date come the date of the event. Any food purchased in advance must be stored correctly and must be checked before being served to make sure that it is still in a good condition. Where practical tools such as scoops and tongs should be used to handle food rather than hands. Where handling cannot be avoided, hands should be washed before, during and after process. 

On the day of the event itself, you will need to display all of the food packages, which include the ingredients, and a list of all allergens so that members can check these packets if they have any allergies / intolerances. 

EVENTS AT EXTERNAL VENUES

If your group is having an event with food at an external venue, if you are providing food yourselves then the above sections still apply, if the venue is providing and serving food then they should already have taken all of the food hygiene and safety standards into account themselves. 

Before the event happens, we would expect that the venue would require a list of menu options from you, including a list of attendees allergy / dietary information so that these can be catered for in advance of the event, you will therefore need to ask attendees for these details when purchasing tickets. 

EVENTS WITH EXTERNAL CATERERS

If your group is having an external caterer provide food for an event, we will need to make sure that they are on the University's approved list of caterers as checks have been done with these providers to ensure that they have the appropriate Public Liability Insurance and food hygiene certificates. Get in touch with us if you are having some caterers though and we can check whether they are on the approved list or not. 

Don't forget that we will also need a Student Group Activity form and risk assessment completing for any events that your group are running, you can find more information about risk assessments here too. 

The University also doesn't allow food and drink in any of their spaces, if your group are planning an event in any of their rooms then you won't be permitted to have food or drink at the event, you can find more about this on our Can We Have Food And Drink In SU Or University Spaces? article too. 

For any issues relating to accessing the links above, please get in touch here.