Maintain food safety when storing, preparing and cooking food. (2G3 & 2G4)

INTRODUCTION

This unit describes the craft competencies needed for preparing and cooking food safely and focuses on the four main areas of control – Cooking, cleaning, Chilling and preventing Cross – contamination, in addition to supplies being satisfactory. It provides you with a broad understanding of reviewing hazards and hazard-based procedures such that they are part of a team maintaining food safety.

 

HACCP

All catering businesses are required by law to a have a safe food system it must include hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP). This is the need to analyse all potential hazards at every stage of food production and which controls are critical to food safety. There are key points that include:

  • Temperature Monitoring
  • Cleaning Procedures
  • Pest Control (Including Audits)
  • Personal Hygiene Procedures
  • Storage Procedures
  • Stock Rotation

It is important comply with HACCP to ensure safe production of food and to comply with the law. If a business does not comply it could lead to food poisoning outbreaks, food spoilage and physical contamination of food.

If food is not stored correctly bacteria (both spoilage and food poisoning) can multiply. Physical or chemical contamination can also occur leading to unfit food as well. To help control hazards food handlers must thoroughly cook and chill food (for storage). They must also clean well and avoid cross contamination (transfer of bacteria from raw to cooked).

It’s important to monitor food safety procedures to ensure all critical limits are met, to keep food safe, to ensure all staff complies with procedures and to minimise the risk of failure in the system. If you identify a problem with the system you should report it to a supervisor (follow company procedures), use records to see how long the fault has been an issue and stop selling any affected product.

Safety records are important to help identify staff training needs, to identify recurring problems, to help staff know what to do and also to support a due diligence defence if something goes wrong.

 

Food Handlers
Protective clothing (PPE) is vital to protect food from outdoor bacteria, protect the employee from harm, to comply with company procedures and to comply with legislation. Hair covering is essential to stop physical and bacterial contamination of the food. OUTDOOR CLOTHING MUST NOT BE WORN IN ANY FOOD AREAS.
Uniform and PPE should be chosen that is easy to clean, hard wearing, light coloured, no pockets for kitchen workers, no buttons and be easy to work in. Jewellery should not be worn because it can contaminate food if it falls off and it harbours bacteria.

Hand washing is essential to prevent cross contamination and the spread of bacteria. When washing hands only use hand wash sinks, liquid antibacterial soap, use running water, scrub hands thoroughly and use paper towel or hot air dryer to dry hands.

If food handlers handle food with open wounds they can contaminate the food, illness must be reported immediately so that supervisors can assess the risk to food and report to the authorities if required.

Staff should avoid the following behaviours:

  • Touching face (Bacteria can be transferred to food)
  • Eating (Leads to hand to mouth contamination)
  • Chewing gum (gum can fall into food)
  • Smoking (Physical contamination and hand to mouth contamination and to comply with the law).



Cleaning
Surfaces must be cleaned before starting a new task to reduce bacteria, avoid physical contamination, follow cleaning policy and the law. The 4 main stages of cleaning are pre-clean, main clean, rinse and disinfect. Suitable cloths for cleaning should be disposable, clean and colour coded.



Equipment
Damaged equipment with loose parts can lead to physical contamination of food, harbour bacteria and lead to injury of staff. Examples of damaged equipment include chopping boards, damaged wall/floor tiles, broken fridge seals and oil leaking from machinery.



Waste
Waste must be removed promptly and stored in pest proof containers. This is to avoid pest problems. Food pests can include:

  • Rodents (Rats/mice) - signs include droppings, gnaw marks, damaged packaging, smear marks, dead or alive bodies and ‘rat’ runs.
  • Cockroaches - bodies dead or alive, eggs and smell.
  • Insects - bodies dead or alive, eggs and smell.
  • Stored product pests - bodies dead or alive, visual sightings.
  • Birds - bodies’ dead or alive, eggs, nesting materials and droppings.

Deliveries must be checked for pests, remove outer coverings. Unpack to ensure FIFO (First In First Out) principles and check for damage.



Storage
Food must be stored in suitable conditions:

Dry Goods - Clean, cool and dry
Dry powdered - Clean, cool, dry and covered.
Frozen - Below -18C
Defrosting foods - Clean covered dated at 1-5C
Chilled foods - Clean covered dated at 1-5C

Storage areas must be kept clean and hygienic to prevent pest infestation, create positive image, help stock rotation, prevent injuries and comply with the law. If areas are found to miss this standard you should report to a supervisor, clean it up and check the cleaning rota. Temperatures can be checked by probe, built in thermometer.



Foods
High risk foods are foods that are ready to eat and will have no more processes applied to them. Examples include cooked meats, oysters, gravy and dairy products. Stock rotation is essential to maintain FIFO (First In First Out), reduce pest infestation, help stock control and decrease wastage. It is a legal requirement that food is not stored, used or stored after its use by date.

Food must be defrosted thoroughly to ensure there are no ice crystals. Food should be probed to check this. All foods should be defrosted in the fridge, put foods on a tray, clean, disinfect surfaces and cook/use within 24hrs. It is important to know the ingredients of dishes to give accurate information to customers with allergies.

Food should be cooked to a minimum core temperature of 75C, and reheated to the same. A minimum for hot holding temperature is 63C. To chill food you should use a blast chiller, smaller portions, a water/ice bath and ensure food reaches 5C within 90 minutes.