New hygiene guideline for handling customer-owned reusable cups, containers, and dishes for dispensing food in service or self-service

Aug 20, 2020 - Foods

New hygiene guideline for handling customer-owned reusable cups, containers, and dishes for dispensing food in service or self-service

The use of reusable containers is becoming increasingly popular. In addition to reusable cups for hot beverages, more and more consumers are using fresh boxes or bags to do their shopping. For this reason, the "German Food Association" has published new guidelines for hygienic handling of reusable containers. These complement the guideline on handling reusable cups for hot beverages published last year.

As this topic can also be relevant for ice cream parlors or may become relevant in the future, we would like to summarize the key content of the guideline below:

In principle, a food business can voluntarily decide whether or not to fill customer-owned containers with food
Food businesses can determine within the framework of their individual risk assessment which types of food are intended to be dispensed in customer containers or are excluded, whether customer containers are excluded, or whether only certain dispensing forms are possible (service or self-service).
The suitability of the container is the responsibility of the customer, but the filling of obviously contaminated customer containers should be strictly rejected.
The food business operator must prevent the environment and other foods from being contaminated by reusable containers. This applies to both the service form of dispensing and self-service.
Within the framework of the service, a separation of areas and processes should take place. Establishing zones (trays, color concepts) for the transfer of containers is recommended for this purpose.
It should be avoided that manual, direct contact with customer dishes takes place. Since contact is unavoidable due to the process, requirements for appropriate hand cleaning should be established to minimize the risk of cross-contamination.
The customer should be informed of the processes by the staff; this can be supported by displaying a pictogram.
In the context of self-service, precautions should be made for the placement of customer dishes. In this process, contact with the dispensing/self-service device or parts thereof should be kept to a minimum to reduce the risk of contamination. Additional, regular cleaning measures are appropriate.
The staff must be instructed in the hygienic handling of reusable containers in the establishment.
The most important rules are also contained in the following leaflet from the Food Association (https://www.lebensmittelverband.de/download/merkblatt-mehrweg-behaeltnisse)

You can find the complete guideline at www.lebensmittelverband.de. Furthermore, you can view the separate guidelines for hygiene in handling reusable dishes in the deposit pool system at the following link: https://www.lebensmittelverband.de/download/merkblatt-pfand-pool-systeme

In our opinion, this topic will become increasingly important in the future because a large portion of consumers want to use reusable containers. This can reduce the occurrence of packaging waste and allow consumers to contribute to a more sustainable consumption and environmental protection.

As with the "Hygiene guideline for artisanal production of ice cream and for conducting microbiological self-controls," a notified guideline has the advantage of creating a nationwide basis for businesses and monitoring. This ensures clarity, procedural security, and legal certainty.

We are happy to support you as a partner on these topics and challenges, and we invite you to contact our eCustomer advisor.