Learning aim A TOPIC A.1 Procedures to maintain food safety Introduction Key terms Policy policy Compliance compliance Take it further

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1 Learning aim A TOPIC A.1 Procedures to maintain food safety Introduction Within a hospitality business, all staff need to be aware of and comply with food safety and health and safety procedures. Consider the tasks a chef has to complete during their working day. In pairs, discuss and prepare a list of these tasks. Put an H next to all the tasks where you think the chef needs to consider food safety. Share your list with the rest of your class and discuss your findings as a group. Key terms Policy documents relating to how the organisation operates, particularly with regard to complying with legislation. For example, all organisations should have in place a healthy and safety policy, as required by the Health and Safety at Work etc Act Compliance acting in a way that follows a set of rules, policies or standards. Noncompliance is where rules are in place but are not followed. Take it further Investigate local hospitality businesses (for example, your school canteen or a café or restaurant) and find out how they comply with food safety regulations. You could devise a questionnaire to ask staff: this way you can compare procedures and policies across different businesses. The hospitality industry is governed by a number of laws and regulations that must be followed in order to ensure that the food provided is safe for consumers to eat. These cover all steps in food-related activities, including delivery, storage, preparation, cooking and serving. All outlets within the hospitality and catering industry are required to produce a policy stating how they will ensure standards are set, monitored and maintained, as well as how and when training will be delivered to all staff. In addition to this, businesses must keep thorough daily food safety records, which Environmental Health Officers can request to see. Businesses can be inspected by food safety officers every six months, or more often if required. These inspections include all aspects of health and safety and food safety to ensure all required standards are being met. Food safety requirements and regulations Food od safety is critical to ensure that the food served to customers is safe to eat. Various legislation and regulations exist to ensure this happens across all hospitality businesses, sses, and that procedures are in place to see that they are properly enforced and maintained. Dtained. Draft Food safety legislation includes key requirements that businesses must implement to ensure effective comdcom compliance. These requirements include the following: Degislation All staff are in receipt of relevant, regular and accurate food safety and health and safety training. Records of training undertaken must be kept. All staff practise and demonstrate a high standard of personal safety and hygiene. For example, this includes regular and appropriate hand washing, for instance, between dealing with raw and cooked foods and after going to the toilet, and using oven gloves when picking up hot pans. Staff must comply with legislation and regulations governing the organisation. Staff must follow and comply with organisational policies written in accordance with such legislation. All records required under legislation are made, monitored and maintained. Examples of such records should include temperature records, cleaning records, use of reputable suppliers and maintenance records including a pest-control contract. Table 3.1 gives some examples of good practice and poor practice when working with food safety standards. 6 BTEC First Hospitality

2 Food Safety and Health and Safety in Hospitality UNIT 3 Table 3.1 Examples of good practice and poor practice in food safety standards Good practice Poor practice or unhygienic standards Regular washing of hands Not washing hands after handling raw meat Cleaning as you go Leaving spilt food to attract pests Wearing correct uniform Wearing dirty uniform Using oven gloves when moving hot pans Using a tea towel or cloth instead of proper oven gloves Following correct lifting procedure Not taking proper care when working at height Make sure: You wear the correct uniform Your uniform is clean Your hands are clean and washed regularly Your hair is clean and covered You remove all jewellery (including earrings, nose piercings, watches etc) Your fingernails are clean, short and free of nail varnish Figure 3.1 It is good practice for all staff working in the hospitality industry to wear correct uniform. Systems for controlling/monitoring food safety There are many systems of monitoring that take place within a kitchen in the catering industry. These include the following: The head chef monitoring and Contractor agreements e.g. there may recording items produced by others Ding: be a cleaning/maintenance contract for to ensure that they meet acceptable large pieces of equipment or extraction standards and quality. systems. Temperature logs of equipment, such as fridges and freezers. Cleaning schedules and completed documentation. Maintenance records and requests. Records regarding health and safety equipment e.g. checking of fire safety equipment and PAT testing of small, portable electrical appliances. Draft Documentation to support the checking of deliveries. Stock rotation practices. Food waste records. In chain companies, there may be photographic specifications to ensure that presentation is standardised across all outlets. The whole process of monitoring is to ensure that food safety hazards are reduced or eliminated before they become an issue. Regular checking and monitoring will ensure problems are highlighted early and effective controls can be implemented. Take it further Research PAT testing and make a list of the typical equipment you would find in a professional kitchen that would require PAT testing. 7

3 TOPIC A1 Key terms HACCP Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, according to the Food Standards Agency, is a system that helps food business operators look at how they handle food and introduces procedures to make sure the food produced is safe to eat. FIFO First in, first out. HACCP monitoring Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a documented, systematic control system used by organisations to ensure adequate controls are in place for food safety management. Hospitality organisations are required to have a systematic preventative approach to food safety in place and to safeguard against potential hazards. Many organisations choose to use an HACCP plan. The purpose of the system is to reduce the risk of food safety hazards by flagging areas where food safety may be problematic. The HAACP process is based on seven principles that examine each step or stage in the production of a meal or ingredient. Using a flow diagram record, each step is examined and potential hazards or risks highlighted. Measures can then be put in place to eliminate or minimise these risks. Table 3.2 shows the steps in food production, from the initial delivery stage through to the sale of the finished product, which might be outlined in an HACCP flow diagram. Table 3.2 The steps in an HACCP flow diagram covering food production HACCP step Delivery Storage Preparation Cooking Hot-holding after cooking Cooling after cooking Reheating What should be covered? The quality of the product, any defects ects with packaging and the temperature of the product on delivery. The temperature, location of storage, what materials should be stored where. How, where and when the food will be prepared. The time between preparing food and cooking it, the method of cooking, cooking time and temperature at which food is cooked. Draf raft t The length of time food can be held, the temperature at which it should be held. (Hot food should be held at 63ºC for a maximum of four hours.) The length of time food od should cool for, the correct temperature during the cooling process, the method of cooling to be storage after cooling. That the food item must only Dod Dused, be reheated once. Items that are reheated must reach a minimum temperature of 75ºC for two minutes. Chilled storage Serving The FIFO approach of labelling food with the correct date to ensure that food stocks are held for a minimum time. The labelling of foods is key to effective food storage. Methods of food service need to be considered in advance. Foods to be served cold should be stored in the fridge for as long as possible to avoid them becoming unnecessarily warm, and to avoid the risk contamination. Hot foods should be served quickly to avoid the food cooling down. Food safety controls To ensure the system is effective, and provides adequate control over food safety hazards, it is essential that HACCP systems include: identification of the possible food hazards at all stages throughout the process 8 BTEC First Hospitality

4 Food Safety and Health and Safety in Hospitality UNIT 3 identification of the points where such hazards can be controlled any critical control points (CCPs) these are the essential points where the hazard must be controlled the maximum or minimum limits at which the hazard must be controlled methods of removing and reducing the hazard documented records to show this process is being undertaken. Activity Identify five potential problems that you may encounter in a food premises and list them in the table. Complete the table by explaining in the Possible action column how you could reduce the problem. An example of a problem and action has been provided to help you get started. Problem Example: A member of staff spots a rat outside, near the bin area. Storage of food Dealing with food hazard problems Possible action Example: Report to manager or supervisor as soon as possible. Contact and call out pest control for immediate visit. All staff to look for signs of infestation, both inside and outside the building. Ensure usual high standards of practice in all aspects of food safety. If the problem is related to un-emptied bins of waste being held on the premises for too long, contact the waste disposal company to empty them. Ensure that all waste is stored securely, in containers with secure fitting lids, to avoid further infestation. Storing food items correctly ensures that they remain safe for consumption. There are several methods that can be used, based on reducing bacterial growth, avoiding contamination and reducing the rate at which food spoilage occurs. In addition, storing food correctly will eliminate possible risks of infestation. Cross contamination Draft Cross contamination, when bacteria from one food item are transferred to another, can be direct or indirect. Direct cross contamination happens when there is contact between raw and cooked food, for example in preparation or storage. Indirect cross contamination can happen when bacteria are transferred from hands or equipment. For example, a member of staff handling raw bacon for a breakfast takes cooked toast from the toaster and serves it to a customer without washing their hands. Another example is using a knife to chop raw meat and then immediately using the same knife to cut fruit, without washing it in between. Did you know? When you buy egg fried rice from a takeaway, the rice may have been cooked earlier in a larger batch quantity. Then, when you order your rice, a portion from the larger batch is reheated in a pan and the egg added. If you take it home and only eat half, you should not re-warm it the next day as it has already been subject to the reheating process. Key terms Contamination in food, any object or substance that has the potential to cause the consumer harm or illness. Spoilage when food becomes unfit to eat, for example due to decay, oxidation or fungal growth. Infestation the presence of pests in a food premises, particularly in large numbers, or when difficult to remove. Cross contamination when bacteria that may cause disease are transferred to food, for example from hands, kitchen equipment or from other foodstuffs, such as blood dripping from raw meat onto a trifle that has been stored below it in the refrigerator. This is why safe food storage is critical to ensuring the food we serve is fit for human consumption. 9

5 TOPIC A1 Infestation Infestation by pests is a common problem that Environmental Health Officers have to deal with. Common food pests include: rodents, such as rats and mice insects, including flies, ants, cockroaches insects that infest stored products such as flour and grain birds Common food pests: insects and rodents Signs that there is a pest infestation include: footprints, smears and marks sightings droppings, egg cases, skin, webs holes in food, holes in packaging disturbed equipment or food items, damage to skirting boards etc. Food handlers are responsible for reporting signs of a pest problem to their supervisor immediately. This is essential as uncontrolled pest infestations may lead to: contamination of food items and spread of harmful bacteria ft damage to stock and premises food waste customer complaints and business loss. D ra If identified by Environmental Health, a pest problem can lead to fines, prosecution and business closure. Storage methods Did you know? Flies are unable to eat solid food; they have to soften and liquefy food to consume it. They do this by vomiting saliva onto food and treading it in to aid the liquidising process. Once food is suitably liquefied, they suck it up with their proboscis. Flies excrete their own body waste onto food and, as they are attracted to decaying materials and faecal matter, they can also transfer bacteria from these sources to food. Uncovered food items are particularly at risk of contamination by flies in this way. 10 BTEC First Hospitality The hospitality industry relies on food being stored safely. Businesses are not always able to know exactly how much food will be needed, but they rely on not wasting stock. Therefore, uneaten food, where appropriate, may need to be kept for future reuse. A roadside burger van business, for example, will only be able to carry a limited amount of stock. On an average day, the owner might carry a hundred uncooked burgers. However, if they sell just eighty burgers, they will want to safely store the remaining twenty uncooked burgers for future use. All food items intended for storage should be covered or wrapped, and clearly labelled with the exact contents and date. This will help with stock rotation and control. Food storage methods include: chilled storage frozen storage dry storage. Chilled storage Chilled storage refers to storing food in refrigerators within safe temperature limits (at or below 8ºC). A refrigerator temperature should, ideally, be within the range 0 8ºC with a target temperature of 5ºC to prevent bacterial growth and ensure that food is safe to eat. To avoid cross contamination, raw and cooked foods should be stored separately. Raw foods, especially meat, should always be placed towards the bottom of the refrigerator. This ensures that blood cannot drip down and contaminate any food items below.

6 Food Safety and Health and Safety in Hospitality UNIT 3 All foods requiring chilled storage should be: kept at the correct temperature well wrapped clearly labelled kept away from the cooling unit stock rotated. Refrigerators should not be over-stocked and the door should always be kept closed. An open fridge door allows the temperature inside the refrigerator to increase and bacteria to multiply. Frozen storage Foods that need to be chilled Freezing preserves foods, giving them a longer shelf life. The temperature of a freezer must be at 18 C or below. If a freezer temperature is allowed to rise, foods will start to thaw and bacteria are able to multiply. Foods stored within the freezer should be: stored at the correct temperature well wrapped to avoid freezer burn clearly labelled stock rotated. D ra ft Freezers should not be over-stocked and the door should always be kept closed. An open door or broken seal allows the temperature inside the freezer to increase and bacteria to multiply. Raw foods should be stored at the bottom of the freezer to avoid cross contamination. Defrosting frozen foods Some frozen foods require defrosting before they are prepared or cooked. Some foods can be cooked straight from frozen and this information will appear in the manufacturer s instructions on the label. Where these instructions are not present you must assume that the product should be thoroughly defrosted before it is used. When defrosting food items you must: Foods that need to be frozen Discussion Why should you not re-freeze items that have already been defrosted? What can happen? thaw them at the bottom of a refrigerator keep raw and cooked items separate place a tray underneath the item to catch any liquid from the defrosting process cook defrosted products within 24 hours cook defrosted items thoroughly, using a temperature probe to ensure that the core, or the densest area, has been heated to the required temperature not re-freeze items that have already been defrosted. Dry storage The types of food that you would expect to find in a dry storage area are cereals, rice, flours and canned/tinned produce, unless the packaging states otherwise. Foods requiring dry storage need to be stored: in a cool, well ventilated area in a suitable container with a lid, and clearly labelled raised off the floor, and away from using FIFO stock-rotation, with new items placed at the back of the shelf to allow those with the shortest expiry date to be used first. Foods that require dry storage the walls 11

7 TOPIC A4 Food safety practices and procedures There are a number of reasons to follow appropriate food and health and safety practices when working within the hospitality industry. One of which is the importance of avoiding food-poisoning outbreaks. Unlike other food safety issues, this is something that only becomes known after the event has occurred when it is too late to take steps to stop it. All you can do is investigate the cause and put procedures in place to prevent it happening again. It is much better to make sure that those procedures and practices are in place from the start. By following good food safety practices and procedures, you are likely to: reduce the likelihood of a food poisoning incident/outbreak reduce any consequent harm to either the customer or the business be confident that all those working within the business are aware of food safety practices and procedures, and how to implement them. The many benefits of following food safety practices and the drawbacks if they are not implemented, are identified in Table 3.6. Table 3.6 The benefits of following food safety procedures and the drawbacks of not doing so Benefits of implementing food safety practices Good reputation tion Happy, motivated workforce Effective use of resources Safe and secure working environment Good relationships with suppliers Assessment activity 3.3 DaDactivi Drawbacks of not implementing food safety practices Unhappy customers Damage to reputation Negative publicity Unhappy staff Fines Prosecution Imprisonment Draft r f t 2A.M1 2A.D1 Your uncle is very impressed by the training materials you have produced. He would like you to give a presentation to the restaurant s staff about the importance of complying with food safety procedures to maintain food safety and the consequences of not doing so. Produce a presentation or report that explains the importance of following appropriate procedures to maintain food safety, the benefits of doing so, and the consequences of not complying when: storing food cooking food preparing food serving food. Tips Use real articles and real news stories, or industry examples, of breaches of protocols (codes of correct behaviour). You could conduct interviews with staff working in the industry and use your findings to support what you are saying in your presentation. 20 BTEC First Hospitality

8 Food Safety and Health and Safety in Hospitality UNIT 3 WorkSpace Nadia Khan Assistant manager of a hotel restaurant I completed my BTEC Level 3 Diploma in Hospitality five years ago and joined my current company, a hotel, on a trainee management scheme. I ve always enjoyed working in busy environments with lots of people, and I particularly like the customer-facing aspect of my job. ft I m responsible for a team of 12 people, which includes both full- and part-time staff. Although I have routine responsibilities and duties to complete, working in hospitality and catering is anything but routine. D ra My day starts with making sure that staff are ready for work, deliveries have been received and food preparation can proceed. I then check front-of-house to make sure that the correct set up for breakfast service is in place to open on time to customers. Once breakfast has been completed, it s time to think about lunch and dinner. However, that s just a small part of my job. I also have to deal with conferences, room service and maybe the occasional wedding or other function. There is no feeling as good as knowing that you and your team helped to make someone s special day happen. I also make sure that we comply with food safety and health and safety legislation. To make sure I was fully up to date with relevant legislation and requirements, I completed my Level 4 Food Safety Certificate. With food hygiene there s always the risk that if something goes wrong it can have fatal consequences and I wasn t prepared to let that happen on my watch! To make sure that the whole team is as efficient as possible, I run regular training in food hygiene and its importance, and undertake spot checks in the kitchen environment. I then work with the head chef to make any necessary improvements. As the kitchen is the chef s domain, I need good communication skills to ensure these suggestions are agreed and implemented. Sometimes I find myself having to be assertive to get things done. Organisational skills are key to my job as I have to collate, update and make available the food hygiene documentation for both the kitchen and restaurant should Environmental Health Officers request it. Think about it 1 List the documentation Nadia will be required to provide to Environmental Health officers. 2 Identify the powers of an Environmental Health Enforcement Officer when carrying out a visit to a hospitality business. 3 Explain the benefits of compliance with food safety for the hotel and the consequences of poor practice. 21