The core messages of the Five Keys to Safer Food are: (1) keep clean; (2) separate raw and cooked; (3) cook thoroughly; (4) keep food at safe temperatures; and (5) use safe water and raw materials.
Food hygiene rules: don't cross-contaminate
Follow these rules to avoid cross-contamination in the kitchen: Use different boards for cutting fish, meat, veg, dairy or bread (different colour boards can help with this). Use different utensils for raw and cooked food. Never leave edible food next to raw meat.
The four basic safe food handling behaviors — clean, separate, cook, and chill — will keep our food safe. Food safety risks at home are common. Learn more about each of these steps: Clean!
Food manufacturers must do everything possible to avoid contamination and produce safe products, knowing the dramatic consequences if they don't. There are four types of food contamination: physical, biological, chemical and allergenic. This blog explains these categories and provides tips on how to avoid them.
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
Read the recipe.
Of all the important advice out there about cooking, this by far has to be the number 1 rule of cooking: read your recipe completely before getting started. This may seem like a mundane task (especially when you're excited dive in!), but you'll be so thankful you took the time to do it!
There are four easy steps to handle food safely, which are: clean, separate, cook, and chill. Clean: Make sure to keep your hands, surfaces, utensils, and food clean. Wash your hands before and after handling raw meat and produce.
Keep Food Out of the "Danger Zone"
Keep hot food hot—at or above 140 °F. Place cooked food in chafing dishes, preheated steam tables, warming trays, and/or slow cookers. Keep cold food cold—at or below 40 °F. Place food in containers on ice.
The "Danger Zone" (40 °F-140 °F)
Bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 ° and 140 °F, doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes.
A food thermometer can be used to check food is cooked thoroughly, food should be 75°C or above in the thickest part. Some foods change colour when they are cooked so you can check this too. Always check your food is steaming hot in the middle. Make sure frozen vegetables are cooked before you eat them.
How it works. Food held between 5°C and 60°C for less than 2 hours can be used, sold or put back in the refrigerator to use later. Food held between 5°C and 60°C for 2-4 hours can still be used or sold, but can't be put back in the fridge. Food held between 5°C and 60°C for 4 hours or more must be thrown away.
1. Wash your hands well and often. Washing your hands well and often is the golden rule of food safety. Your hands are full of bacteria, and you pick up new bacteria every time you touch something.
Hot food must be kept at 63°C or above, except for certain exceptions. When you display hot food, e.g. on a buffet, you should use suitable hot holding equipment to keep it above 63°C.
“Food safety” refers to the conditions and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination and foodborne illness. • “Food safety” includes quality and safety through the whole food chain. • The quality of the food not to cause harm to the consumer.
Hand washing after handling raw meat or poultry or its packaging is a necessity because anything you touch afterwards could become contaminated. In other words, you could become ill by picking up a piece of fruit and eating it after handling raw meat or poultry without properly washing your hands.