Guild reveals Code of Practice for charcuterie producers

The Guild of Fine Food’s long-awaited Code of Practice for Artisan Charcuterie Production is published this month.

The 94-page reference document gives producers guidance on meeting many of the essential food safety and trading standards requirements for Continental-style meats.

It includes detailed advice on creating a HACCP plan to protect against potential safety risks around charcuterie-making, and spells out the main parameters around pH, water activity, times and temperatures that EHOs will be looking out for.

There is also extensive advice on the legal requirements for labelling, allergen declarations, weights & measures and other trading standards issues.

Written by technical specialists at Cornwall Council, with input from leading charcuterie producers, the code is backed by a coordinated Primary Authority (PA) partnership between the Guild and the Council.

Guild-member charcuterie producers can opt in to the PA scheme at no extra cost. If they then follow the advice in the code, it will give a level of protection if their processes and procedures are challenged by their local inspecting authority.

Primary Authority advice is shared among local authorities across England and Wales, and their enforcement officers are required to bear that advice in mind when carrying out inspections.

Any producer can buy a copy of the code, but they will only benefit from PA protection if they are Guild.

Cornwall Council already has experience of working with the fine food sector, thanks to a PA partnership with the Specialist Cheesemakers Association.

The code is available free to Guild members as an interactive PDF, or for £20 plus VAT as a print copy.

Non-members can purchase the PDF and one print copy for £75 plus VAT.

Email support@gff.co.uk for details.