Temperature Control and Safe Food Storage
Temperature control relies on the danger zone, the range in which bacteria multiply most rapidly, commonly quoted as 5°C to 63°C. Candidates should know that chilled food should be held at or below 5°C, frozen food at or below -18°C, and hot holding at or above 63°C. Cooking must achieve a time and temperature combination sufficient to kill vegetative pathogens, often expressed as 75°C at the centre or an equivalent validated combination. Cooling must be rapid, typically from 63°C to 5°C within a defined short period, and reheating must reach at least 75°C.
Storage rules are frequently tested. Keep raw food below and away from ready-to-eat food, store food off the floor, cover and label it with date and contents, follow first-in first-out, and never refreeze thawed food unless it was thawed in a refrigerator and the business's system permits it. Traps include the overloaded fridge, which prevents cold air circulation, and the assumption that a fridge thermometer on the door reflects food temperature. The probe should measure the food, and probes must be cleaned and sanitised between uses. Another trap is relying on appearance or smell: pathogens do not change taste, smell or appearance.
A rule of thumb for any temperature question: ask what the food temperature is, not what the air temperature is, and ask how the reading was verified and recorded. For example, a delivery of chilled chicken arrives at 9°C; it should be rejected because it has been held in the danger zone, and the rejection should be recorded.