Food Health and Safety

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infoWhy this? Food-safety knowledge enables us to prepare, cook, store, and evaluate food while preventing avoidable injury, contamination, allergen cross-contact, and food poisoning. Understanding hygiene routines, safe temperatures, equipment, and knife techniques supports confident and responsible practical work.

scheduleWhy now? Placed at the start of the food strand, this unit establishes the non-negotiable routines required before undertaking more complex practical cooking. It provides the safe working habits, equipment knowledge, and temperature-control skills needed to investigate nutrition and ingredient science later in the course.

The main rules for safe and hygienic behaviour in the food room include washing hands, tying back hair, not running, and wearing an apron.
Not following food room rules can result in food poisoning, cross-contamination, accidents, and injuries.
Knives cut food, chopping boards provide a cutting surface, graters shred food, measuring jugs measure liquid volume, weighing scales measure mass, ovens bake or roast, hobs heat pans, and blenders mix or purée ingredients.
Different coloured chopping boards are used to prevent cross-contamination, such as red for raw meat and green for vegetables.
Key food safety and hygiene rules include cleaning surfaces with antibacterial spray, correct handwashing, and safe food handling.
Poultry must reach a safe core temperature, such as 75°C for 30 seconds or 70°C for 2 minutes.
Hot-held food must remain at 63°C or above, chilled food should normally be kept at 5°C or below, and frozen food should be kept at −18°C or below.
Bacteria multiply most rapidly in warm, moist conditions; chilling slows their growth but does not destroy them, while thorough cooking reduces harmful bacteria to a safe level.
Cross-contamination can occur through hands, cloths, equipment, surfaces, or direct contact between raw and ready-to-eat foods.
Cross-contamination is controlled by separating raw and ready-to-eat foods, cleaning hands, cloths, equipment, and surfaces, and storing covered raw food below ready-to-eat food in the fridge.
Allergenic ingredients must be identified accurately, and allergen cross-contact must be prevented by using separate equipment, cleaning surfaces, and handling food carefully.
Correct food storage is important to prevent bacterial growth, maintain food quality, and reduce food waste.
A high-quality dish is characterised by good taste, texture, appearance, correct seasoning, and appropriate cooking.

rocket_launchYou must be able to

Identify and correctly use a range of food room equipment safely and appropriately for different tasks.
Follow a recipe accurately, applying health, safety, and hygiene rules throughout the process.
Store different types of food correctly in the fridge, freezer, and cupboard according to food safety guidelines.
Critically evaluate a finished dish, considering taste, texture, appearance, and adherence to the recipe and safety rules.
Clean and sanitise work areas and equipment before, during, and after food preparation.
Demonstrate safe knife skills by using the bridge or claw grip as appropriate, keeping fingertips away from the blade, and cutting on a stable chopping board.
Check food temperature by cleaning and sanitising the probe, inserting it into the thickest part or centre of the food without touching bone or the container, recording the reading, and sanitising the probe afterwards.

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