BC FOODSAFE Level 1 cheat sheet

Three hazard classes: biological (bacteria, viruses, parasites), chemical (cleaners, pesticides, toxins, allergens) and physical (glass, metal, bone, hair, packaging).

Biological hazards account for most foodborne illness; they are invisible, odourless and do not change the taste of food.

Potentially hazardous food = moist, protein-rich, low-acid (pH above 4.6): meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, cooked rice, cooked vegetables, sprouts, cut melon.

Contamination alone does not cause illness; illness requires the hazard to survive, be present in sufficient dose, and be consumed by a susceptible person.

Five leading contributing factors: improper cooling, inadequate cooking, cross-contamination, poor personal hygiene, and holding food at unsafe temperatures.

Danger zone = 4°C to 60°C (40°F to 140°F); time in the danger zone accumulates across receiving, preparation, cooling and holding.

Legal duty of the food handler: report vomiting, diarrhea, fever, jaundice, or infected cuts and lesions to the supervisor and stay away from food handling.

Written records (temperatures, sanitizer strength, receiving checks) are the standard proof of due diligence; record as the task is done, not later.

FATTOM growth factors: Food, Acidity (pH), Time, Temperature, Oxygen, Moisture (water activity). Removing any single factor slows or stops growth.

Bacteria reproduce by binary fission; at one division every 20 minutes, a single cell becomes over one million cells in roughly 7 hours.

Fastest growth occurs in the danger zone and peaks near body temperature; refrigeration below 4°C (40°F) slows growth rather than stopping it.

Spore formers survive normal cooking: Bacillus cereus (cooked rice), Clostridium perfringens (meat and gravy), Clostridium botulinum (low-acid, low-oxygen, canned or vacuum-packed food).

Staphylococcus aureus toxin is produced in food by handlers with skin infections and is heat-stable, so reheating cannot make the food safe.

Viruses (norovirus, hepatitis A) do not multiply in food; they are spread by hands, water, shellfish and surfaces and require only a very small dose.

Parasites (Trichinella, Cyclospora, tapeworm) are inactivated by correct cooking and by approved freezing schedules.

Moulds tolerate lower pH and lower moisture than bacteria and can produce toxins that spread through soft food; discard soft mouldy food rather than trimming it.

Handwash sequence: wet hands with warm running water, apply liquid soap, scrub palms, backs, between fingers, thumbs, fingertips and under nails for 15–20 seconds, rinse, dry with paper towel.

Mandatory handwash times: before starting work, after the washroom, after handling raw meat, poultry, seafood or eggs, after garbage, after cleaning, after breaks, after touching face, hair, phone or money.

A handwashing station requires hot and cold running water, liquid soap, paper towels and a waste bin; it must be used only for handwashing.

Decision rule: no bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food - use tongs, deli paper, spatulas or single-use gloves.

Gloves are single-use: wash hands before putting them on and after removing them; change when torn, soiled, or when switching tasks.

Exclusions from food handling: vomiting, diarrhea, fever, jaundice, sore throat with fever, and infected cuts or lesions on hands or wrists.

Cuts are covered with a waterproof bandage and then a glove; burns and rashes must also be reported and covered.

Work attire: clean outer clothing, hair restrained, short unpainted nails, no jewellery on hands or wrists, no eating or drinking in food areas.

Alcohol-based hand rub is not a substitute for handwashing when hands are visibly soiled, after the toilet, or during a norovirus outbreak.

Receiving rule: refrigerated food arrives at 4°C (40°F) or colder; frozen food is solidly frozen with no signs of thawing or refreezing.

Reject deliveries with swollen, dented or rusty cans, torn or wet packaging, missing labels, expired dates, off odours, pest evidence, or temperature abuse.

Measure product temperature by inserting a sanitized probe between packages or into the thickest part; sanitize the probe between different products.

Coolers at 4°C (40°F) or colder; freezers at -18°C (0°F) or colder; check with a thermometer at least daily, not by the dial setting alone.

Storage order top to bottom by required cooking temperature: ready-to-eat food, seafood, whole cuts of beef and pork, ground meat, poultry on the bottom.

FIFO (First In, First Out): label food with the date received, place new stock behind old, and use the oldest product first.

Hold raw animal foods in drip-proof containers below and away from ready-to-eat food, and never store food under sinks, drains or chemicals.

Store food at least 15 cm (6 in) off the floor and away from walls; keep dry goods in sealed, labelled containers.

Keep shellfish tags for 90 days; keep the receiving records and date-marking labels with the product.

Minimum internal cooking temperatures: poultry and stuffed items 74°C (165°F); ground meat 71°C (160°F); whole cuts of beef and pork 63°C (145°F); fish 70°C (158°F).

Two-stage cooling: 60°C to 20°C (140°F to 70°F) within 2 hours, then 20°C to 4°C (70°F to 40°F) within 4 more hours - 6 hours total.

Reheating for hot holding: reach 74°C (165°F) within 2 hours, once only, and reheat on a stove or in a microwave - never in the hot-holding unit.

Hot holding at 60°C (140°F) or hotter; cold holding at 4°C (40°F) or colder; verify and record temperatures at least every 2 hours.

Approved thawing: in the cooler at 4°C or colder, under cold running water, in a microwave then cooked immediately, or as part of cooking.

Cumulative 2-hour rule: perishable food that has spent more than 2 hours total in the danger zone is discarded, not rechilled and reused.

Cross-contamination control: separate colour-coded boards and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat food, and clean and sanitize between uses.

Cool food in shallow layers no more than 5 cm deep, use ice baths or a blast chiller, and leave food uncovered until it stops steaming.

Two-step rule: cleaning removes soil with detergent and water; sanitizing reduces microorganisms. A surface must be cleaned before it can be effectively sanitized.

Verify sanitizer strength with test strips; a chlorine food-contact solution is typically about 100 ppm, mixed to the manufacturer's label.

Respect the labeled contact time (commonly 1–2 minutes for chlorine) and let items air dry; towel drying re-contaminates the surface.

Clean and sanitize food-contact surfaces after each use, between raw and ready-to-eat tasks, and at least every 4 hours during continuous use.

Manual dishwashing: wash in hot detergent water, rinse in clean hot water, sanitize for the labeled contact time, then air dry on a rack.

Mechanical dishwashers rely on a final rinse of at least 82°C (180°F) or a chemical sanitizer at the labeled concentration.

Change sanitizer solution when it looks dirty, becomes greasy, or the strip reading falls below the target concentration.

Keep wiping cloths submerged in sanitizer buckets and use separate cloths for raw food areas and ready-to-eat areas.

Maintain a written cleaning schedule with the task, frequency, chemical, concentration and initials; log completion as each task is finished.

Pests need food, water and shelter; effective control means denying all three through storage, sanitation and building repair.

Signs of pests: droppings, urine stains, gnaw marks, grease rubs along walls, tracks in dust, burrows, nests, frass, and live or dead insects.

Exclusion: seal cracks and gaps, fit door sweeps and weather stripping, repair window screens, keep doors closed and use air curtains at loading doors.

Garbage: lined, lidded, leak-proof containers emptied at least daily, stored away from food, equipment and doorways, and cleaned regularly.

Only a licensed pest control operator applies pesticides; bait stations are mapped, numbered, kept away from food and food-contact surfaces, and logged.

Report sightings, droppings or damaged packages to the supervisor immediately and record the finding in the pest control log.

Facility surfaces should be smooth, non-absorbent and easily cleanable; coving is used at wall-floor junctions and floors slope to drains.

Light fixtures above exposed food are covered with shatterproof shields; no glass or brittle plastic is stored above food preparation areas.

No pets or unauthorized animals in food areas; service animals are restricted to designated customer areas.