Food Hygiene and Sanitation Practices
What to know
This domain covers the operational practices that prevent contamination: personal hygiene, handwashing, protective clothing, illness reporting, cleaning and disinfection, pest control, waste management, and safe water. Candidates must distinguish cleaning (removing soil) from disinfection (reducing microorganisms), and know the two-stage clean-then-disinfect sequence.
Understand the five keys to safer food conceptually: keep clean, separate raw and cooked, cook thoroughly, keep food at safe temperatures, and use safe water and raw materials. Know cross-contamination pathways - hands, utensils, chopping boards, cloths, and drip from raw meat.
Key parameters
- Handwashing: warm water, soap, thorough rubbing, drying
- Disinfectant contact time and correct dilution
- Colour-coded equipment to separate raw/cooked
- FIFO stock rotation and date labelling
- Pest control: proofing, monitoring, and approved contractors
Traps
- Assuming a sanitiser works instantly - contact time matters.
- Believing gloves replace handwashing (they do not).
- Overlooking food-contact surface cleaning versus floors/walls.
- Ignoring that cloths and sponges are major cross-contamination vectors.
Rule of thumb
For any hygiene question, ask: Is this a source, a vehicle, or a control? Controls must interrupt the vehicle between source and food.
Worked example
A chef wipes a board after raw chicken with a damp cloth and uses it for salad. The cloth is the vehicle moving pathogens to a ready-to-eat food - the highest-risk scenario. Correct action: dedicated colour-coded boards, clean and disinfect with contact time, and separate ready-to-eat preparation.