Malta Food Handling Licence A cheat sheet

Legal duty: food handlers must keep themselves clean, protect food from contamination, and report illness or symptoms (vomiting, diarrhoea, fever, sore throat with fever, infected skin wounds) to their supervisor.

Exclusion rule: anyone with vomiting or diarrhoea must stay away from food handling for at least 48 hours after symptoms stop; some pathogens (e.g. E. coli O157, Salmonella) may require longer exclusion and medical clearance.

Hand washing is required before starting work, after using the toilet, after handling raw food, after touching bins, after breaks, after cleaning, and after touching face, hair, or phone.

Correct hand wash: wet hands, apply soap, rub palms, backs, between fingers and under nails for at least 20 seconds, rinse, dry with single-use paper towel or hand dryer.

Clean-as-you-go: spills and food debris must be removed immediately; surfaces and utensils used for raw food must be cleaned and disinfected before reuse.

Colour-coded chopping boards reduce cross-contamination: red for raw meat, blue for raw fish, yellow for cooked meat, green for fruit and vegetables, white for dairy, brown for vegetables (board colour systems vary; follow workplace scheme).

Food waste must be held in lidded, pest-proof containers and removed frequently; waste areas must not open directly into food preparation areas.

Pest control: report signs of pests (droppings, gnaw marks, insects, nesting material) immediately; keep doors and windows screened and external openings proofed.

Fitness to work: a food handler with jaundice, skin infection, or persistent cough should be assessed by a medical professional before returning to food handling duties.

Biological hazards include bacteria (Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli O157, Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus), viruses (norovirus, hepatitis A), parasites (Toxoplasma, Giardia) and moulds.

Bacterial growth phases: lag, log (exponential), stationary, death; most foodborne pathogens grow fastest in the log phase between 5°C and 63°C.

High-risk foods support bacterial growth: meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, dairy, cooked rice, pasta, beans, gravies, and any food containing these.

Spore-formers: Bacillus cereus in cooked rice and Clostridium perfringens in meat stews survive normal cooking; rapid cooling and reheating to 75°C or above prevent growth.

Listeria monocytogenes grows at refrigeration temperatures (0–4°C) and is controlled by keeping ready-to-eat high-risk foods within shelf life and by thorough cooking of raw foods.

Chemical hazards: cleaning chemicals, sanitizers, pesticides, veterinary drug residues, food additives above legal limits, allergens, and toxic metals (lead, mercury) from equipment or packaging.

Physical hazards: glass, metal fragments, plastic, wood, stones, bones, jewellery, hair, and packaging materials; control through equipment inspection, metal detection, sieving, and no jewellery policy.

Allergen cross-contact is a chemical hazard: milk, eggs, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, wheat/gluten, sesame, celery, mustard, lupin, sulphur dioxide/sulphites must be declared and separated.

HACCP principle: identify hazards, determine critical control points (CCPs), set critical limits, monitor, establish corrective actions, verify, and keep records.

Hands must be washed with soap and warm running water for at least 20 seconds; hand sanitizer is not a substitute for hand washing when hands are visibly soiled or after toilet use.

Hands must be dried with single-use paper towels or a hot-air dryer; communal cloth towels are prohibited in food handling areas.

No nail polish, false nails, or nail extensions; nails must be short, clean, and unvarnished to prevent physical and microbiological contamination.

Jewellery (rings, watches, bracelets, earrings) must not be worn in food handling areas except a plain wedding ring and a smooth band, if permitted by local policy; jewellery harbours bacteria and is a physical hazard.

Hair must be fully covered with a clean hat, hairnet, or snood; beards must be covered with a beard net.

Cuts and wounds on exposed skin must be covered with a waterproof, detectable (blue) plaster and, where required, a clean glove over the plaster; report any wound to the supervisor.

Clean protective clothing (apron, tunic, gloves) must be worn, changed when soiled, and not worn outside food areas; gloves are not a substitute for hand washing.

Eating, drinking, smoking, vaping, and chewing gum are prohibited in food handling areas; breaks must be taken in designated areas away from food.

Personal belongings (phones, bags) must be stored away from food; mobile phones harbour bacteria and must not be used in food preparation areas.

Danger zone: bacteria multiply rapidly between 5°C and 63°C; keep high-risk foods out of this range or limit time in it to less than 2 hours cumulatively.

Cold storage: refrigerators must operate at 5°C or below (ideally 1–4°C); freezers at -18°C or below; use a probe thermometer to check food core temperatures, not just air temperature.

Cooking: core temperature of at least 75°C for 30 seconds (or equivalent time-temperature combination) for poultry, minced meat, rolled roasts, and reheated food.

Cooling: cooked food must be cooled from 63°C to 21°C within 2 hours and from 21°C to 5°C within a further 4 hours (total 6 hours); use shallow containers, ice baths, or blast chillers.

Reheating: reheat food to at least 75°C or above, and only reheat once; do not reheat food in a bain-marie or hot-holding unit.

Hot holding: maintain food at 63°C or above; check and record temperature at least every 2 hours; discard food held below 63°C for more than 2 hours.

Defrosting: thaw food in a refrigerator at 5°C or below, in a microwave (then cook immediately), or under cold running water; never thaw at room temperature.

Cross-contamination prevention: separate raw and ready-to-eat foods in storage (raw below cooked), use separate utensils and boards, and clean and disinfect surfaces between tasks.

Storage: keep food covered, labelled with date and contents, and rotated using FIFO (first in, first out); dry stores should be cool, dry, well-ventilated, and pest-proof.