Food safety practices in a Portuguese canteen

The objective of this study was to verify procedures and practices related to the pre-requisites of the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) at university foodservice canteen. A checklist based on the Portuguese and European legislation was developed and applied. The global score of the checklist in this canteen was 62% which is acceptable. The topics that had the worse classifications concerned: food handlers, preparation, distribution, cleaning areas and quality control. This checklist may help the quality control of food production in catering establishments and improve the hygiene and sanitary quality of the meals served.