FoodSHAP Basic Food Safety cheat sheet

Three hazard classes: biological (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi), chemical (toxins, allergens, cleaning agents, pesticides), physical (glass, metal, bone, stones, packaging).

Biological hazards cause the majority of foodborne illness; bacteria need food, moisture (water activity above roughly 0.85), suitable pH, time, temperature, and oxygen status to multiply.

The temperature danger zone is 5°C to 60°C (41°F to 140°F); bacteria multiply fastest in the range roughly 20°C to 50°C.

Bacterial growth phases: lag, log (exponential), stationary, decline; keeping food out of the danger zone extends the lag phase and limits log growth.

Spore formers such as Clostridium botulinum and Bacillus cereus survive normal cooking; botulinum toxin is destroyed by boiling but spores are not.

Viruses (norovirus, hepatitis A) do not multiply in food and are not destroyed by cooking; they are spread by infected handlers and contaminated water or shellfish.

Foodborne intoxication comes from pre-formed toxin (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus); infection requires living cells; toxicoinfection requires growth in the gut (e.g., Bacillus cereus).

High-risk foods are protein- and moisture-rich: meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, dairy, cooked rice, legumes, and cut melons.

Handwashing steps: wet hands, apply soap, lather and scrub including backs, between fingers and under nails for at least 20 seconds, rinse, dry with single-use towel or air dryer.

Hands must be washed before starting work, after toilet use, after handling raw food, after touching face/hair/phone, after cleaning, after waste handling, and after breaks.

Hand antiseptics supplement but never replace handwashing; they are ineffective on visibly soiled or greasy hands.

Exclude food handlers with vomiting or diarrhoea and keep them excluded until at least 48 hours after symptoms resolve; report to supervisor.

Exclude or restrict handlers with infected wounds on hands, jaundice, sore throat with fever, or persistent skin lesions; cover cuts with a waterproof, detectable dressing plus a glove.

Clean outer clothing, hair restraint, and no jewellery on hands or arms except a plain wedding band; nails short, clean, unpolished, no artificial nails.

A food handler must not eat, drink, smoke, or chew gum in food handling areas; drinking is allowed only from a covered container with a straw in designated areas.

Handwashing stations require hot and cold running water, soap, single-use towels, and a waste bin; they must never be used for food prep or equipment washing.

Cold holding at or below 5°C (41°F); hot holding at or above 60°C (140°F); frozen storage at or below -18°C (0°F).

Cooking minimum internal temperatures: poultry and stuffed items 74°C (165°F); ground meat 71°C (160°F); whole fish and pork 63°C (145°F); reheated food 74°C (165°F) for at least 15 seconds.

Two-stage cooling: from 60°C to 21°C within 2 hours, then from 21°C to 5°C within a further 4 hours (total 6 hours).

The 2-hour/4-hour rule: food held in the danger zone for under 2 hours may be refrigerated or served; 2–4 hours may be served but not returned to refrigeration; over 4 hours must be discarded.

Thaw food in a refrigerator at 5°C or below, under cold running water, in a microwave followed immediately by cooking, or as part of cooking.

Reheating must reach 74°C (165°F) within 2 hours; food must not be reheated more than once.

Calibrate probe thermometers with an ice-water bath (0°C/32°F) or boiling water (100°C/212°F at sea level); sanitize the probe between uses.

Date marking: label ready-to-eat foods with preparation date and use-by date; refrigerated ready-to-eat food is typically held no more than a few days under documented shelf-life rules.

Cross-contamination routes: raw-to-ready-to-eat contact, hands, utensils, chopping boards, cloths, drip from raw food, and pests.

Colour-coded equipment separates raw meat, cooked food, and produce; never use the same board for raw and ready-to-eat food without cleaning and sanitizing between uses.

Cleaning removes visible soil; sanitizing reduces microorganisms to a safe level; the sequence is clean, rinse, sanitize, air-dry.

Chemical sanitizer concentrations: chlorine typically 50–100 ppm, quaternary ammonium typically 200–400 ppm, iodine typically 12.5–25 ppm; verify with test strips.

Sanitizer contact time is generally at least 30 seconds for chlorine and per manufacturer instructions for others; water temperature per label (often 24°C–43°C).

A two-stage (or three-stage) manual dishwashing method: wash in hot detergent water, rinse in clean water, sanitize, then air-dry; do not towel-dry.

Cleaning cloths must be changed frequently and laundered at high temperature; wiping cloths used with sanitizer must be stored in sanitizer between uses.

Food contact surfaces must be cleaned and sanitized after each task, after handling raw food, after a break, and at least every 4 hours during continuous use.

Linear workflow: design premises to move food from receiving to storage, preparation, cooking, and dispatch without crossing raw and ready-to-eat paths.

Food contact surfaces must be smooth, impervious, non-toxic, corrosion-resistant, and easy to clean; joints should be smooth and sealed.

Handwashing basins must be separate from food prep sinks and provide soap, single-use towels, and hot and cold water.

Ventilation and extraction must control heat, steam, condensation, and grease; condensate must not drip onto food or food contact surfaces.

Pest control: proofing (screens, door sweeps, air curtains), eliminate harbourage, manage waste, and use a documented pest control programme with monitoring devices.

Pest indicators include droppings, gnaw marks, live or dead insects, grease smears, and sightings; record and act on findings.

Lighting must be shatter-proof or fitted with protective covers over exposed food areas; glass and brittle material registers are maintained.

Equipment must be installed with adequate clearance for cleaning, and food contact equipment must be cleaned and sanitized before first use and after maintenance.

Potable water must be used for food preparation, handwashing, ice making, and cleaning; water must meet drinking-water microbiological and chemical standards.

Ice must be made from potable water, stored in a clean, covered container, and never used to cool other products or handled with bare hands.

Waste must be held in covered, leak-proof, pest-proof containers, removed frequently, and kept away from food storage and preparation areas.

Waste containers must be cleaned and sanitized after emptying, and waste must never be stored in food handling areas overnight.

Grease traps and drainage must be maintained to prevent backflow and pest harbourage; drains should be trapped and free-flowing.

Toilets must not open directly into food rooms; they require self-closing doors, adequate ventilation, and handwashing facilities.

Spills and breakages must be cleaned immediately with a documented procedure, and the affected area sanitized before use resumes.

Environmental monitoring (swabs, air plates) can be used to verify cleaning effectiveness and detect harbourage of pathogens in high-risk areas.

FoodSHAP Basic Food Safety is aligned with international food safety principles and national food safety regulations; always verify the specific national requirements applicable to your operation.

The Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene provide the international framework for food safety and hygiene.

HACCP principles are recognised internationally as the basis for food safety management; many jurisdictions require documented HACCP-based systems.

Legal duties typically include food safety training for handlers, registration or licensing of premises, and notification of foodborne illness or unsafe food.

Traceability requires records that allow food to be traced one step back and one step forward in the supply chain.

Allergen labelling and declaration requirements apply to pre-packaged and, in many jurisdictions, non-prepacked foods; allergen information must be accurate and available.

Records must be legible, dated, signed, and retained for the period required by the relevant authority; records support due diligence.

Regulatory inspections may result in enforcement action, closure, or prosecution; compliance with documented procedures is evidence of due diligence.

HACCP has seven principles: hazard analysis, determine CCPs, establish critical limits, establish monitoring, establish corrective actions, establish verification, establish record-keeping.

Prerequisite programmes (PRPs) provide the foundation: premises, supplier approval, training, cleaning, pest control, personal hygiene, and maintenance.

A critical control point (CCP) is a step where control is essential to prevent, eliminate, or reduce a hazard to an acceptable level; critical limits must be measurable.

Monitoring must specify what, how, when, and by whom; corrective actions must address both the affected product and the cause of the deviation.

Verification confirms the system works (audits, calibration, record review); validation confirms the control measures are capable of controlling the hazard.

A HACCP team should be multidisciplinary and include persons with specific knowledge of the product and process; the scope and flow diagram must be verified on site.

A decision tree can help identify CCPs, but the result must be justified by the hazard analysis, not applied mechanically.

Allergen management is a recognised control area requiring supplier verification, separation, cleaning validation, and accurate labelling.