Safety, Sanitation, and Hygiene
What this domain tests
Safety, sanitation and hygiene test HACCP, foodborne illness prevention, cleaning and disinfection, personal hygiene, fire and manual-handling safety, and allergen control. Questions often ask you to identify a control point or choose the safest corrective action.
Core rules
- HACCP has seven principles: hazard analysis, determine CCPs, set critical limits, monitor, establish corrective action, verify and keep records.
- Clean removes visible soil; sanitise or disinfect reduces microorganisms to a safe level. Cleaning must happen before disinfection.
- Handwash with soap and warm water, especially after toilet use, raw food handling, coughing and waste disposal.
- Keep raw and ready-to-eat food separate; store raw food below cooked food; use colour-coded boards.
- Cook poultry to a safe core temperature (often 74 °C/165 °F); reheat to at least 74 °C; cool rapidly and refrigerate.
- Fire safety: know alarms, extinguisher types, escape routes and assembly point; never block exits.
- Manual handling: assess the load, bend the knees, keep the load close and get help for heavy or awkward items.
Worked example
A chef probes a chicken breast and reads 68 °C. The correct action is to continue cooking and re-probe the thickest part until it reaches at least 74 °C, cleaning and sanitising the probe between readings. Serving at 68 °C is a CCP failure. The chef records the final temperature, the time and the corrective action. If the chicken had already been held below temperature for too long, it would be discarded, not merely reheated and served.
Traps that cost marks
Wiping a probe with a dry cloth instead of cleaning and sanitising it; storing raw meat above salad; using sanitiser on a visibly dirty surface; propping open a fire door; and assuming 'hot' food is safe without checking the core temperature.