Dear Tomato Country Girl,
BRC 4.8.9: All food brought into manufacturing premises by staff shall be appropriately stored in a clean and hygienic state. No food shall be taken into storage, processing or production areas. Where eating of food is allowed outside during breaks, this shall be in suitable designated areas with appropriate control of waste.
In this clause BRC is actually saying 3 things:
1) if employees bring food or drink to your site (e.g. for lunch, dinner or snack) this should be stored hygienic. This should not consist contamination risk to your products (direct or indirect), not promote bacteriologic growth, not attract pests, etc. Preferable you provide refrigerators in the canteen/ rest rooms, in which employees can store food at appropriate temperature. Note: also implement a system to keep the refrigerator clean, neat and empty. E.g. Remove the food if it is stored for more than 3 days.
2) it is not allowed to take food into production areas, processing area or storage areas. With "food" in this sentence is meant the food eventually brought to the site by your employees.
3) if it is allowed to eat outside during breaks, this should be done in a dedicated area and you should provide systems to control the waste. Again the rests and waste from lunch/dinner/snack of your workers may not pose a risk on cross contamination or attract pests.
Hope this clarification helps you.
