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There are four main things to remember for good food hygiene
– the 4Cs.
1 – cleanliness; 2 – cooking; 3 – chilling; 4 –
cross-contamination
1. Cleanliness
You can prevent the spread of harmful bacteria by observing good personal
hygiene and keeping work surfaces, utensils etc clean.
It’s important to wash your hands regularly, especially:
• After visiting the toilet
• After handling raw foods
• Before touching ready-to-eat food
And remember:
• Don’t handle food when you are will with stomach problems
such as diarrhoea and vomiting
• Don’t touch food if you have sores or cuts, unless they
are covered with a waterproof dressing
2. Cooking
Proper cooking kills food poisoning bacteria such as listeria, salmonella,
E.coli O157 and campylobacter. It’s important to cook food thoroughly,
especially meat. Make sure that food is cooked right through and piping
hot in the middle.
When reheating food make sure it’s piping hot all
the way through and don’t reheat it more than once.
3. Chilling
It’s very important to keep certain foods at the right temperature
to prevent bacteria growing or toxins forming. Always look at the label
on the packaging. If it says that the food needs to be refrigerated, make
sure you keep it in the fridge.
If food that needs to be chilled is left standing at room
temperature, food poisoning bacteria can grow and multiply to dangerous
levels. Cooked leftovers should be cooled quickly and then put into the
fridge. Putting food in shallow containers and dividing it into smaller
amounts will speed up the cooling process.
4. Cross-contamination
Cross-contamination is the transfer of bacteria from foods (usually raw)
to other foods. The bacteria can be transferred directly when one food
touches (or drips onto) another, or indirectly, for example from hands,
equipment, work surfaces, or knives and other utensils. Cross-contamination
is one of the major causes of food poisoning.
To prevent cross-contamination:
• Always wash your hands thoroughly after touching raw food
• Keep raw and ready-to-eat foods separate
• Store raw meat in sealable containers at the bottom of the fridge,
so it can’t drip onto other foods
• Use different chopping boards / work surfaces for raw food and
ready-to-eat food
• Clean knives and other utensils thoroughly after use with raw
food
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