Health Regulations.

[fran2]

I was'nt sure where to put this question so here goes. My daughter got married in May and the venue, a golf club did a fantastic job with the food. At the evening "Do" we had a buffet and the table was literally groaning with food but,after just 3/4 hour the 2 waitress's starting taking the food away. We took this up with the chef and he told us he was acting under the new Health Act and any food hot or cold must be taken away in under 2 hours. We went my 2nd cousins night do last night at a 4 star manor style hotel and the food was left. I was telling one of the waiters about our venue etc and he said the staff should'nt have removed the food as it had been paid for and if any food became contaminated, the onus would be on the guests so to speak. He then told the chef who said we should make a written complaint to the golf club and everyone agreed. Any views on this? Thanks.

[dot.hawkes]

Well i would have complained back in may, certainly if anyone tried to change the rules mid 'do' i would have something to say about it, if it is the case, it should have been made clear prior to your booking, and certainly prior to you paying for the food, as it may well have influenced the price per head you had budgeted for.

Go get em fina, but get back up for this health law they tried to fob it off onto,

[hayley2956]

hi fran2, i used to work in the hospitality side of Rushden and Diamonds Football Club a few years ago and even then when we put buffets out we were always told to bring them in about 2- 3 hours after they had been put out due to health and safety. Maybe the golf club was just being extra cautious. I mean fair enough u paid for the food but then again, im sure u wud still be complaining if you ended up getting food poisoning due to their negligence of the health regulations!

[dot.hawkes]

but this was after 3 quarters of an hour wasn't it?

[hayley2956]

oh dot, i read it as 3 to 4 hours, maybe ur right!!!

[~Wingnut~]

Hi fran :o)

I wasn't sure if Fran meant 3/4 or 3 to 4 hours Dot so have read it as 3 to 4 (if it's 3/4 of an hour then you should definatly complain)

You could check your facts with the food standards agency, send them an e-mail maybe .
I'm not sure that if one or more of the guests became ill because the food had been stood out for some length of time that it is the guests fault as I can't see how any of you would know that and surely the onus would still be on the golf club somewhere for not following guidelines, plus it wouldn't look good for the gold club if someone became ill after eating their food that had been stood out on the side for a while.
Working in a kitchen I do know that we aren't allowed to keep food in a hot trolley for any longer than 2 hours or keep it displayed for over that length of time, but I'm not sure where you stand when it comes to buffets. Sounds like they are just following guidelines and regs.

You could still write a letter to the golf club asking them.

[~Wingnut~]

Gold club?? Gosh only had a sip of cider honest!!

[fran2]

Thanks girls for your reply's. Hiya Dot,yes it was 3 quarters of an hour. the do started at 7-30 and they started bringing the food out at 8pm but bang on 8-45 they came and took it all away! hayley I can see what you mean but it was'nt even 2 hours and some of it was hot. Hiya wingnut, Im taking your advice, I'll phone or mail Food Standards just to find out. The golf club was posh but last nights venue was even posherer..lol and they left the food out. I've been wondering if the staff at my daughters do took the food home,there was loads of it. wing,my daughter and new son in law play golf hence the venue. I wanted a manor house but they did'nt..groan.

[Zeddy]

fran2, I am an EHO (honestly) and the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006 do not state a specific time period for food to sit out at a buffet. It is good practice for food to be left for up to 2.5-3 hours max and then removed. Doggy bags being best avoided too. This is to prevent any bacteria that survived the original cooking process from multiplying to harmful numbers.
The club sound like they are pretty ignorant of the legislation (which they should know about) and spoiled the event. Ask them to quote where in the regulations they got the information!


http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20060014.htm

[society]

Fran they did wrong. I would gather all the facts and pay them a visit. Be very firm and professional and demand that they reimburse a portion of the money you pay them. If they get uncorporative and refuse, tell them you will go to the media also tell them your lawyer will be contacting them.

If they decide to settle and come to some agreement then you both would be avoiding lawyers fee. Remind them of this also.

Find out if they had another event taking place after your daughters' wedding. This way you know they were trying to speed up your party so they can start preparation on the other one. This is only speculation so check first. They did you wrong and I'm sure it was very expensive occasion. Don't let them get away with it. Good luck!