Food Hygiene Level 1

Food Safety Act 1990 – This is the granddaddy of all food safety laws in England, Wales, and Scotland. It basically says three things:

1. Don’t put anything harmful in food
2. Make sure food is what customers expect it to be
3. Don’t lie about what’s in your food

Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991 – Northern Ireland has its own version that says exactly the same things.

Food Hygiene Regulations 2006 – These are the detailed rules about how to actually handle food safely. Think of the Food Safety Act as saying “be safe” and these regulations as the instruction manual showing you exactly how.

What Changed After Brexit?

Here’s something important: When the UK left the EU, we kept most of the same food safety rules, but now they’re called “assimilated law” instead of “EU law.” For you as a food handler, nothing really changed – the rules are still the same.

However, Northern Ireland is a bit different because of something called the Windsor Framework. If you work in Northern Ireland, some EU rules still apply.  Details are covered in our Level 3 Food Hygiene & Safety course.

When to wash your hands:

• When you arrive at work (always start clean!)
• After using the toilet (every single time, no exceptions)
• After touching your face, hair, or nose
• After handling raw food
• After handling money or credit cards
• After taking out the bins
• After cleaning
• After eating, drinking, or smoking
• After coughing or sneezing
• Before and after wearing gloves (yes, gloves don’t replace handwashing!)