PFA Hygiene Manager Exam cheat sheet

EU Regulation 178/2002 sets general food law principles: food must be safe, traceability must be one step back and one step forward, and unsafe food must be withdrawn and recalled.

HACCP is legally mandatory in the EU under Regulation 852/2004 Article 5; businesses must implement permanent procedures based on HACCP principles, with flexibility for small businesses.

Codex Alimentarius General Principles of Food Hygiene (CXC 1-1969, revised 2020) form the international baseline; national codes typically mirror them.

In the UK, the Food Safety Act 1990 plus the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013 apply; 'due diligence' defence exists for food safety offences.

Regulation (EC) 853/2004 lays down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin, including temperature and approval requirements for establishments.

Regulation (EU) 2017/625 governs official controls; competent authorities audit, inspect and can close premises or withdraw approval.

Allergen labelling under Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 requires the 14 named allergens to be emphasised in the ingredient list; non-prepacked food must still declare them.

Maximum residue limits, additives (Reg 1333/2008) and contaminants (Reg 2023/915) are separate legal instruments that must be checked per product.

Danger zone is 5–63°C; bacteria multiply fastest at 20–50°C, with generation times as short as 20 minutes for optimum conditions.

Spore formers (Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium botulinum) survive cooking; cooling must be rapid (63°C to 5°C within 90 minutes in many codes).

Salmonella: infective dose can be low in high-fat foods (chocolate); poultry, eggs and raw produce are key vehicles; infectious dose often under 100 cells for some serovars.

Listeria monocytogenes grows at refrigeration temperature (down to about −1.5°C), tolerates high salt and low pH, and causes severe illness in pregnant women and immunocompromised people.

Staphylococcus aureus toxin is heat-stable; cooking does not destroy it, so toxin-mediated illness follows poor handling by food workers with skin infections.

E. coli O157:H7 has a very low infective dose (10–100 cells), causes haemorrhagic colitis and HUS; raw beef, unpasteurised dairy and contaminated water are vehicles.

Norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne gastroenteritis; it spreads person-to-person and via contaminated surfaces, shellfish and ready-to-eat food.

High-risk foods are those high in protein and moisture, near-neutral pH and requiring no further cooking: cooked meats, dairy, shellfish, cooked rice, gravies.

Two-stage cleaning: detergent removes soil and biofilm, then disinfectant reduces microorganisms; disinfectant fails if applied to soiled surfaces.

Contact time is critical; most disinfectants need 30 seconds to 5 minutes wet contact, and concentration must match the manufacturer's label.

Chlorine-based sanitisers typically used at 100–200 ppm available chlorine for food contact surfaces; quaternary ammonium compounds need rinsing on food contact surfaces.

Clean-as-you-go and scheduled cleaning programmes must be documented with frequency, method, chemical, concentration and responsible person.

Biofilms form on poorly cleaned surfaces and are resistant to disinfectants; mechanical action and periodic deep cleaning are required.

Colour-coded cleaning equipment prevents cross-contamination between high-risk and low-risk areas (e.g. red for raw meat areas, blue for ready-to-eat).

Handwashing requires warm running water, soap, and at least 20 seconds; alcohol gels are not effective against norovirus or spore formers.

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

A CCP is a step where control is essential to prevent, eliminate or reduce a significant hazard to an acceptable level; control points that are not critical are not CCPs.

Critical limits must be measurable and based on validated science, e.g. 75°C core temperature for 30 seconds or pH ≤ 4.6 for acidified products.

Monitoring must be continuous where possible (e.g. temperature charts) or at defined frequency with named responsibility.

Corrective actions must address both the affected product (isolate, rework or discard) and the cause of the deviation, and be recorded.

Verification confirms the HACCP plan works (audits, product testing, calibration, record review); validation proves the control measures are scientifically capable.

Prerequisite programmes (GMP, SSOP) must be in place before HACCP; HACCP does not compensate for poor hygiene infrastructure.

Hazard analysis must consider biological, chemical, physical and allergen hazards, and assess severity and likelihood.

Food premises must be designed to allow linear workflow from dirty to clean, preventing cross-contamination between raw and ready-to-eat areas.

Floors, walls and ceilings must be smooth, impervious, washable and light-coloured; junctions should be coved to prevent soil traps.

Handwash basins must be provided with soap, disposable towels and running water at every food handling area; they must not be used for equipment washing.

Equipment must be food-grade, smooth, non-absorbent and easy to clean; damaged utensils and chopping boards must be replaced.

Pest control: proofing (screens, door seals, air curtains), housekeeping and monitoring (bait stations, insect light traps) form the three-line approach.

Rodent and insect activity indicators: droppings, gnaw marks, grease smears, live or dead insects, and sightings; records of pest control visits must be kept.

Waste must be stored in covered, pest-proof containers, removed frequently, and waste areas located away from food handling and storage areas.

Food handlers must report vomiting, diarrhoea, infected skin lesions, sore throat with fever, and jaundice to their manager; exclusion periods apply.

After vomiting or diarrhoea, food handlers are typically excluded for 48 hours after symptoms cease (national rules may differ) to prevent norovirus spread.

Hands must be washed before food handling, after toilet use, after handling raw food, after touching the face or phone, and after waste handling.

Clean, washable over-clothing, hair restraints and no jewellery (except a plain wedding band) are standard requirements in food areas.

Cuts and grazes must be covered with a waterproof, brightly coloured detectable plaster, and gloves used where appropriate.

Gloves are not a substitute for handwashing; they must be changed between tasks and when torn or soiled.

Staff must be trained in food hygiene commensurate with their role; training records must be maintained and refreshed periodically.

Chilled food must be held at 5°C or below; frozen food at −18°C or below; hot holding at 63°C or above.

Cooking must achieve a core temperature of 75°C for at least 30 seconds (or equivalent time-temperature combination such as 70°C for 2 minutes).

Cooling must be rapid: from 63°C to 21°C within 2 hours and from 21°C to 5°C within a further 4 hours (or national equivalent).

Reheating must reach 82°C for at least 30 seconds if food is to be hot-held; reheat only once.

FIFO and date coding (use-by and best-before) must be applied; use-by dates relate to safety and cannot be extended by freezing at home.

Raw and ready-to-eat foods must be stored separately; raw food stored below ready-to-eat food in refrigerators.

Thawing must occur in a refrigerator at ≤5°C or under running potable water, never at room temperature; thawed food must not be refrozen raw.

Temperature records for deliveries, storage, cooking, cooling and hot holding must be kept and reviewed.

Records must be legible, dated, signed and retained for the period required by law (often 1–2 years for temperature records, longer for HACCP plans).

Internal audit frequency should be risk-based; high-risk operations typically audit at least annually, with follow-up on non-conformances.

A non-conformance is a failure to meet a specified requirement; corrective action must be documented with root cause and verification of closure.

Traceability records must allow identification of suppliers (one step back) and immediate customers (one step forward) within 4 hours in many regulatory expectations.

Recall procedures must be tested periodically by mock recall to demonstrate effectiveness.

Inspection findings are commonly graded (e.g. major, minor, critical); critical findings usually require immediate action and may result in closure.

Calibration records for thermometers and probes must be kept; probes should be calibrated to ±1°C accuracy and checked regularly.

Complaint logs, training records, pest control reports, cleaning schedules and supplier approval records form the core audit evidence pack.