Overview
The risk of cross contamination and temperature abuse increases greatly when foods are prepared, cooked, cooled, reheated and or held for several hours before service. If safe food temperatures are not maintained at any point in the process, proper cold storage, cooking or re-heating may not completely prevent the risk of a food-borne illness.
In the UK, Food Link has estimated that more than 5.5 million people each year may suffer from food-borne illnesses, that equates to 1 in 10 people. Improper cooling of cooked food and inadequate re-heating and safe holding temperatures provide the reasons for illnesses. Procedures must be in place to keep potentially hazardous foods out of the danger zone of 5°C to 63°C.
Food temperatures should be checked and documented frequently through all stages of preparation and cooking. Proper personal hygiene and reduced food handling helps reduce cross contamination.
Don’t cook foods too far in advance. Once cooked, keep foods covered and piping hot (above 63°C) until it’s time to eat them. Keep prepared cold foods in the fridge until it’s time to eat.
When designing preparation areas, position the main preparation stations between the bulk storage and the cooking process areas, this will ensure the correct flow pattern. Where possible, you should try to segregate different processes - ie, raw meat and fish separate from prepared foods. If necessary, consider chilled preparation areas for high-risk food environments. In smaller establishments where segregation is not possible, stringent regimes must be employed to ensure segregation of processes, so that utensils and tables are suitably sanitised between processes. In addition, consider adequate refrigerated storage for prepared food.
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• Cover food before use to protect it from contamination
• Potentially Hazardous Foods (PHF) may be high in moisture and protein and low acid. They support rapid growth of harmful bacteria when in the temperature "danger zone"; maintaining safe food storage temperature during the preparation and pre cooking stages are imperative.
• PHF includes meat, seafood, dairy produce, cooked rice, beans and potatoes and most perishable food products prepared in a kitchen.
• Keep raw and cooked foods apart at all times.
• Temperature "danger zone" is between 5°C and 63°C.
• Cool hot foods down to 50ºC within 90 minutes then refrigerate after this; the quickest way to cool is in a blast chiller.
• Never use a chiller cabinet or vending machine for cooling food from hot as they are not designed to cool quick enough.
• Wherever possible cut large joints and poultry into smaller proportions to ensure they cook evenly through to the centre.
• Minimise batch sizes and divide into shallow food pans for quicker cooling. Stir frequently while cooling.
• Place cooling pans covered with lids on upper shelves of the cooler with adequate circulation around the pan. Ensure all containers stored below are properly covered. Re heat foods to an internal temperature of 73°C for at least 2 minutes
• Never thaw foods at room temperature, best practice is to thaw in a refrigerator.
• All surfaces and utensils used for preparation and cooking should be cleaned and sanitised or changed between tasks.
• Never re-heat more than once, discard any leftovers or reheated foods.
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