Food Hygiene, Safety and Sanitation
This section covers food hygiene, safety and sanitation: the causes of food-borne illness, safe storage, cleaning and the controls that prevent contamination. The exam tests hazard types, temperature control, personal hygiene and HACCP principles.
Hazards and controls
- Biological hazards include bacteria, viruses, moulds and parasites; they are the main cause of food poisoning.
- Chemical hazards include cleaning chemicals, pesticides and unlabelled containers.
- Physical hazards include glass, metal, stones, hair and plasters. Keep high-risk foods out of the danger zone, roughly 5°C to 63°C. Chill promptly, cook thoroughly, reheat to at least 75°C and keep hot food above 63°C. Wash hands after toilet use, before food handling and after touching raw meat. Clean and sanitise boards, knives and surfaces; use FIFO stock rotation and pest control.
HACCP in brief
Identify hazards, set critical control points, set limits, monitor, take corrective action, verify and keep records. For example, a fridge has a limit of 5°C or below and a temperature log.
Worked example
Raw chicken is stored on the top shelf above a bowl of salad in a fridge. Explain the risk and the correction. Juice from the chicken can drip onto the salad, causing cross-contamination with Campylobacter or Salmonella. The salad is ready to eat, so it will not be cooked again to kill bacteria. Correct storage places raw meat in a sealed container on the bottom shelf, with ready-to-eat foods above. The reasoning is drip direction plus the absence of a later kill step.
Traps that cost marks
Do not say freezing kills all bacteria; it only stops growth. Do not put hot food straight into a crowded fridge. Do not use a wiping cloth for raw meat juice and then for plates. Do not treat the danger zone as a safe holding range.