Food Handling, Protection and Storage
A Food Safety For Food Workers Information Source
June 1998
The intention of food safety is to prevent food poisoning, (the transmission of disease through food) and to maintain the wholesomeness of the food product through all stages of processing, until it is finally eaten.
In the private home where food is prepared for a small number of people the results of food contamination are restricted.
However food contaminated in a restaurant kitchen for example, can result in a large number of people being affected.
The presence of food spoilage bacteria, taints or foreign material, may not cause food poisoning, but can still result in considerable loss if the product cannot be used.
This booklet provides basic guidelines on safe food handling, protection and storage practices to help you, the foodworker, produce a cleaner safer product.
FOOD SAFETY
Food safety involves more than just cleanliness; it includes all practices involved with -
- Protecting food from the risk of contamination, including harmful bacteria, poisons and foreign objects.
- Preventing any bacteria present in the food multiplying to a level that would result in food poisoning, or the early spoilage of the food.
- Destroying any harmful bacteria in the food by thorough cooking or processing.
FOOD SAFETY EDUCATION
A good knowledge of safe food handling practices is essential for all those involved in food processing, storage, distribution and sale.
All food handlers MUST receive adequate food safety education and training that ensures -
- they are aware of the dangers of poor food handling,
- they have the knowledge to break the chain of events that results in food poisoning.
A good standard of food safety depends on foodworkers knowing -
- how the job is done,
- why it should be done,
and then by doing it properly.
THE COST OF POOR FOOD HANDLING
- Food contamination and food complaints.
- Food poisoning outbreaks and occasionally death.
- Waste food due to spoilage.
- Pest infestations.
- Loss of production.
- Decontamination, cleaning and replacement of damaged equipment.
- Fines and costs of legal action taken due to non-compliance with hygiene legislation, or because of the sale of unfit or unsatisfactory food.
- The closure of food premises by local authority action.
THE BENEFITS OF GOOD FOOD HANDLING
- Satisfied customers, a good reputation and increased business.
- Increased shelf-life of food.
- Good working conditions, higher staff morale and lower staff turn over.
- Compliance with the law.
HIGH RISK FOODS
High Risk Foods are those perishable foods which can support the growth of harmful bacteria and are intended to be eaten without further treatment such as cooking, which would destroy such organisms. They include -
- All cooked meat and poultry.
- Cooked meat products including gravy, stock, and roll/sandwich fillings.
- Milk, cream, artificial cream, custards and dairy products.
- Cooked eggs and products made with eggs (eg. mayonnaise).
- Shellfish and other seafood.
- Cooked rice.
FOOD CONTAMINATION
To prevent the consumption of unsafe and unsound food it is vital that contamination of high risk foods is kept to a minimum.
There are two types of contamination -
- Bacterial Contamination -- which usually happens inside the food premises because of ignorance, inadequate space, poor design or due to food handlers taking short cuts.
Contamination of this kind is the most serious and can result in food spoilage, food poisoning and even death.
- Physical Contamination -- by foreign objects which may be dangerous, (eg, glass, stones, nails or staples) or others like hair, insects or vermin, all of which are unpleasant and offensive.
BACTERIAL CONTAMINATION (VEHICLES AND ROUTES)
Clean food can be contaminated by bacteria from four main sources -
- The people present in the workplace and their clothing.
- Other food that is already contaminated.
- Dirty kitchen or work premises and equipment.
- Insects and vermin.
Sometimes, harmful bacteria pass directly from the source to high risk food, but, usually they rely on other things to transfer them to food.
These things are called Vehicles.
Indirect contamination using an intermediate vehicle is the most common,
eg.- the movement of bacteria from the intestine of a food handler to food via unwashed hands, after using the toilet.
Where contamination is passed from raw food to high risk food via for example, a cutting board, this is known as Cross Contamination.
The path that bacteria use to move from the source to the food, is known as the Route.
PHYSICAL CONTAMINATION
Foreign objects found in food may be brought into food premises with the raw materials or may get in during storage, preparation, service or display.
Although there are many different types of foreign objects, it is important that foodworkers are aware of those commonly found in their working area and that they take all practicable steps to prevent them entering the food.
Food handlers must follow all regulations and food safety guidelines to ensure that they are not responsible for contaminating food.
FOOD SPOILAGE
Food decays or goes off, due to the micro-organisms that always exist in food; -they are not necessarily the bacteria that cause food poisoning.
The Signs That Food Is Spoiling Are -
Odour - "off odours" are smells (like rotten eggs) that are produced when bacteria break down food. Taints due to flavour change may also occur.
Sliminess - As the bacterial population grows, the food can become slimy. Moulds may also form slimy whiskers.
Discolouration - Some moulds have coloured spores that give the food a distinctive colour, for example, black pin mould on bread, or blue and green mould on citrus fruit and cheese.
Souring - Foods go sour when certain bacteria produce acids for example when milk sours from the production of lactic acid.
Gas - Bacteria and yeasts often produce gas that can affect food. You may have noticed meat becoming spongy, or packages and cans swelling or having a popping or fizzing sound on opening.
FOOD SAFETY
Safe food handling practices must be used to prevent contamination by food poisoning or spoilage organisms, they include -
- Using good personal hygiene practices.
- Inspection of all food and the washing of fruit and vegetables before preparation.
- Keeping high risk foods at temperatures that inhibit the growth of bacteria.
- Adequately cooking food and protecting it from outside contamination.
THE PREPARATION, COOKING, SERVING AND COOLING OF FOOD
Using good food safety practices during food preparation is an important step in preventing food poisoning
Raw food and high risk food should be prepared in separate areas with separate equipment.
Raw food such as fruit and vegetables should be washed thoroughly in a separate sink that is not used for washing utensils etc. The sink being positioned to avoid cross-contamination of high risk food or clean utensils/equipment.
The handling of food should be minimized and high risk foods must not be left sitting out at room temperature.
Food handlers should work in a straight forward, planned manner, keeping working surfaces as tidy as possible. Spillage's and waste food should be cleared away promptly.
Thorough cooking is important to destroy harmful bacteria, even though some can produce toxins which will withstand boiling for 30 minutes, and others can produce spores that may also survive cooking. Accurate digital thermometers should be used to check that a minimum internal cooking temperature of 80°C is reached.
After cooking, the food should be eaten as soon as possible.
If it is to be kept hot before serving, it must be kept above 70°C.
If it is to be refrigerated, it should be cooled quickly and then put in the fridge.
Food put on tables, (like bread rolls), must not be reused.
Condiments should be kept in clean, covered containers.
All crockery and utensils must be clean, dry, stored properly, (especially ice-cream scoops) and their food contact surfaces must not be handled.
Reheating of refrigerated meat dishes is not good practice. However if this does take place, the food must be thoroughly reheated for immediate use, with any leftovers being thrown out.
The time between -
- refrigeration and cooking / processing
- cooking and eating
- cooking and refrigeration
- refrigeration and serving
must be kept as short as possible.
PERSONAL HYGIENE
HAND WASHING
All those handling food must wash their hands -
Before handling any food or equipment.
After handling raw food especially meat and chicken and before they handle other foods.
Immediately after going to the toilet, blowing their nose, coughing, sneezing, smoking, eating, combing or touching their hair, handling waste food or rubbish and handling cleaning equipment.
Hands must be washed thoroughly and dried on a disposable towel.
FOOD HANDLING
All Those Handling Food Must -
- Not prepare or handle any food for sale if they have suffered from diarrhoea in the last 2 to 3 days.
- Not cough or sneeze over or around food nor smoke while handling food.
- Avoid unnecessarily handling food, and should use tongs, forks, spoons, scoops etc, where possible.
- Avoid handling the food contact surfaces of crockery and cutlery.
- Use only clean cloths and tea towels, keep all utensils, chopping -boards, and benches clean and discard chipped or cracked crockery.
- Cover any cuts or sores on their hands with a bandage, and use gloves.
SPECIFIC, BUT TYPICAL FOOD HANDLING FAULTS
- Hands not washed often enough.
- Displaying raw and high risk foods in the same display case.
- Topping up bowls and carrying them over from day to day.
- Using the same cutting boards for both raw and high risk foods.
- Insufficient thawing before cooking, and reheating before serving.
- Hot food holding temperatures too low.
- Setting up and taking down raw and high risk foods for display with either bare hands or the same pair of gloves.
- Reusing the same decorative garnishes (eg. cress leaves, kale, plastic dividers or colour enhancers), for both raw and high risk foods.
- Food "specials" being purchased and displayed in refrigerated units that don't have the required capacity.
- Improper cleaning procedures.
FOOD DISPLAY
The main principle to be considered with the display of food is to protect the food from contamination by customers, staff and the environment.
Basic Points To Remember Include -
- High risk hot foods (eg. quiche, pies and cooked chicken) must be kept above 70°C.
- High risk cold foods (eg. filled-rolls, sandwiches, cooked meats and salads) must be kept below 4°C.
- All unwrapped food usually eaten in the same state as it's sold, must be protected from possible contamination by customers, staff, flies and dust etc.
- Tongs or other serving utensils must be provided for staff, and for customers when food is sold by self selection.
- Tickets or labels must not be placed in contact with any unwrapped food.
- Milk must be stored away from daylight and must be kept refrigerated at 7°C or less.
- All meat and fish on display must be kept out of direct sunlight, and -
- Raw fish on display should be kept at 7°C or less.
- Raw meat on display should be kept at 13°C or less.
- Raw meat and fish pre-wrapped for customer selection must be kept at 2°C or less.
- Raw meat and fish in short term bulk storage must be kept at 2°C or less.
- Thawed frozen food for sale must be labelled as having been previously frozen.
- Frozen food on display must be kept at -12°C or below.
- Frozen food in bulk storage must be kept at -18°C or below.
Food displays must be carefully supervised to prevent customers from contaminating food, (eg. by lifting the lids of sealed products, breaking wrapping materials and coughing over or touching unwrapped foods).
FOOD STORAGE AND TEMPERATURE CONTROL
Food is continuously subject to the natural process of decay.
From the time a raw material is harvested or killed, it is subject to changes in quality, usually for the worse.
Bacteria, yeasts, moulds, insects, birds, rodents and other animals are all in constant competition with man for the available food supply.
Correct storage helps to prevent spoilage, contamination and wastage, and is necessary to maintain the wholesome and nutritional quality of the food, and is also essential in the safe and hygienic operation of any food business.
Not providing satisfactory conditions of cleanliness, temperature, humidity and stock rotation can result in problems with unfit or spoiled food (by mould or bacterial growth, discolouration and staleness and possibly insect/rodent infestations).
Storage conditions should ensure that the nutritional value, appearance, taste and fitness of the food are maintained.
All deliveries should be checked for freshness, temperature, colour, odour, contamination, infestations and satisfactory packaging and labelling.
Any problems should be reported.
As far as practicable, external packaging should not be brought into food preparation areas.
GENERAL FOODS STORAGE
Rooms used for the storage of dried, bottled and canned foods etc, should be kept dry, cool, well-lit, ventilated, vermin-proof and clean and tidy.
All goods should be inspected before being put in storage.
Problems Found Include-
- Dirty delivery trays.
- Damaged and leaking cartons.
- Dented and/or rusty cans.
- Out of date stock.
- Insect and/or vermin infestations.
Fruit and vegetables should be stored in separate, dry, cool, well ventilated areas and should be checked regularly as moulds spread very quickly.
CANNED FOODS
The risk from canned foods is very small compared with the number produced and this safety record will continue if-
- Blown cans are not used.
- Badly-dented, seam-damaged, holed or rusty cans are rejected.
- Adequate stock rotation is carried out.
SHELF - LIFE OF CANNED FOODS
|
Months |
| Fruit juice, Prunes, Milk products |
12 |
| New potatoes, Blackberries, Raspberries, Plums |
18 |
| Vegetables, Baked beans, Soups, Ready meals |
24 |
| Solid-pack cold meat products, Fish in oil |
60 |
After the above times the food should not present a health risk but there may be changes in colour, texture and flavour.
HIGH RISK AND OTHER PERISHABLE FOODS STORAGE
High risk and other perishable foods may be contaminated by harmful bacteria which can multiply to dangerous levels if not stored under refrigeration.
The trend to remove additives means that some foods must now be stored under refrigeration when previously they didn't need to be (eg. opened containers of tomato sauce), so check label storage instructions.
STOCK ROTATION
Satisfactory rotation of stock, to ensure that older food is used first, is essential to avoid spoilage and applies to all types of food.
Daily checks should be made on short-life perishable food stored in fridges, while weekly checks of other foods may do.
Good stock rotation has the added advantage of helping to maintain the correct levels of stock.
Stock rotation has been made easier with the onset of date marking, but some products don't require a "use-by" date and in these cases, food handlers must use their own coding system.
Remember - First in, First out.
REFRIGERATED STORAGE
Adequate refrigeration space must be provided for high risk and other perishable foods.
Refrigerators must keep the food at 4°C or below and should be fitted with accurate clearly visible thermometers.
Basic Points To Remember Include -
- Hot food should not be put directly into the fridge, as this will raise the temperature of food already being stored and will encourage condensation and consequently contamination.
- Put prepared food in shallow containers to ensure quick heat loss.
- Refrigerate food as soon as it has cooled after cooking or processing.
- Don't pack foods tightly together, but leave space between containers for the cold air to circulate.
- Raw foods must always be kept separate from high risk foods. Separate fridges are preferred, but if kept in the same fridge, the raw food must always be put at the bottom, (especially raw meats).
- Food should be covered to prevent drying out, cross-contamination and possible taints .
- Adopt a policy of first-in, first-out, to ensure rotation of refrigerated food.
- To prevent canned acidic foods such as fruit, fruit juice, or tomatoes from reacting with their cans, opened and partly used cans should not be kept in the fridge. Instead the unused contents should be put into a suitable container, such as a covered plastic bowl, and then refrigerated.
- Use leftovers within 24 hours.
- The fridge door should be open for the least possible time
- The temperature of refrigerated deliveries should be checked on arrival.
- Fridges need regular cleaning and maintenance for best performance
FROZEN FOOD STORAGE
Even in subfreezing temperatures, a few degrees difference can alter the time that vegetables will retain their vitamin content.
Meat also looses its quality quickly with an increase in temperature.
The relationship between time and temperature determines the food quality of frozen foods.
Frozen food in bulk storage should be kept at -18°C or below.
Sound packaging is important to prevent foods from drying out and getting freezer-burn.
For food safety purposes freezing is not a means of killing bacteria as they will still be capable of growth as soon as the temperature is high enough.
Freezing has little effect on spores, viruses and toxins.
The temperature of frozen food deliveries should be checked before unloading and should only be accepted if -18°C or below. The food must then be put into your freezer as quickly as possible.
Frozen food should not be kept for longer than that recommended by the manufacturer, as the quality gradually deteriorates.
Adequate stock rotation practices must be used.
Basic Retailing Points Include -
- Quick frozen foods should be sold only from freezer cabinets designed for the purpose that are capable of keeping the food at a constant temperature of -12°C taken just below the load line.
- Food products must not be stacked above the load line.
- Unless put in bulk storage, new stock should be put in the freezer cabinets immediately on delivery.
- Use stock rotation -- First in, First out.
- Don't refreeze thawed or partly thawed food.
- Freezer cabinets should be sited away from draughts and direct sunlight.
- To ensure efficient operation freezers must be kept clean and should be defrosted regularly.
FRIDGE, FREEZER AND COLD ROOM MOTORS
Wherever possible these motor units should be located outside the premises, as they can be noisy, produce unwanted heat and collect dust.
They should also be suitably insulated to avoid creating any noise nuisance.
QUALITY CONTROL
The general purpose of quality control is to ensure that a maximum amount of the product being processed reaches the desired level of quality with minimum variation and that this is achieved as economically as possible.
The products of natural raw materials are never exactly the same, so control is necessary to keep product quality within the standards set.
Raw materials should be purchased from reliable suppliers who hold a current food manufacturer's registration.
Quality control generally involves inspections of three kinds -
- Raw materials
- Materials in process
- Finished product
If effective raw material and process controls are not put in place and only examination of the finished product is done, then quality control stops being a control and becomes merely an inspection.
A good control system rejects substandard ingredients before the process begins and once it has begun, prevents wastage of good raw material.
FOOD SAFETY PROGRAMMES
HAZARD ANALYSIS CRITICAL CONTROL POINT-(HACCP)
It is recommended that every food business adopt a HACCP approach to identify all potential hazards and control them before they result in problems.
Setting up a HACCP system will involve the following -
- Set up a HACCP team - of those people who fully understand the product.
- Draw up flow charts - that define all stages in the preparation process, from raw materials through to consumption or sale.
- Identify all potential hazards - (eg. physical, chemical, bacterial) etc.
- Identify the critical control points - consider all preventive measures and decide which are needed to eliminate or reduce potential hazards to acceptable levels.
- Determine target levels and tolerances for control points - (eg. time).
- Establish monitoring systems for critical control points - (eg. work out who should act and when, where and what action should be taken).
- Establish a recording and documentation system.
- Review the HACCP system - annually and when changes are made to any process.
| Christchurch City Council Environmental Health Officers can assist with advice and information on Food Safety Programmes and HACCP. |
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