Food safety in hospitality and catering
What's covered
Key facts
Food related causes of ill health
Allergens can transfer between foods; for example, chips described as gluten-free cannot be fried in the same oil as battered fish.
Preventative control measures of food-induced ill health
Chilled food must legally be kept at 8 °C or below (England, Wales and Northern Ireland); the FSA recommends setting fridges at 5 °C or below. Fridges in the Food bank are taught as 0-5 °C.
Symptoms and signs of food-induced ill health
Food allergy symptoms include an itchy raised rash, swelling of the lips, face and eyes, and wheezing or breathlessness.
The Environmental Health Officer (EHO)
An Environmental Health Officer is also called an environmental health practitioner; they make sure legal standards are met in food safety, housing, public health, and air and water quality.
Food related causes of ill health
A food allergy is when the body's immune system reacts to a food, which it wrongly treats as harmful; reactions can be life-threatening (anaphylaxis).
Preventative control measures of food-induced ill health
Chilled food can be kept out of the fridge for up to 4 hours (for example on display); if it has been out for less than 4 hours it can go back in the fridge, but after 4 hours it must be thrown away.
Symptoms and signs of food-induced ill health
If someone may be having anaphylaxis, use their adrenaline auto-injector (such as an EpiPen) if they have one and call 999.
The Environmental Health Officer (EHO)
EHO evidence includes samples for testing, photographs, interviews and inspection reports.
Food related causes of ill health
Uncooked rice can contain spores of Bacillus cereus that survive cooking. The longer cooked rice is left at room temperature, the more likely it is that the bacteria or toxins make it unsafe, so rice should be cooled quickly, kept in the fridge for no more than one day, and never reheated more than once. The problem is how the rice was stored before reheating, not the reheating itself.
Preventative control measures of food-induced ill health
Food must be cooked until it is steaming hot all the way through. FSA standard advice is a core temperature of 70 °C held for 2 minutes; equivalent combinations include 75 °C for 30 seconds and 80 °C for 6 seconds. A clean temperature probe is used to check the core.
Practice questions with answers
A taste of the 48 questions in this topic, answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
A chef leaves a large pan of cooked rice on the side overnight. Which bacterium is the main risk?
- ✓Bacillus cereus
- •Campylobacter
- •E. coli O157
- •Salmonella
A chilled meat delivery arrives with a probe reading of 14 °C. What should the chef do?
- •Accept it and chill it quickly
- •Accept it and cook it straight away
- •Put it straight into the freezer
- ✓Reject the delivery and record it
Which of these is a visible symptom of food-induced ill health?
- •Constipation
- ✓Facial swelling
- •Painful joints
- •Stomach-ache
Who usually employs the Environmental Health Officer who inspects a restaurant?
- •The Food Standards Agency
- •The Health and Safety Executive
- ✓The local authority (council)
- •The restaurant's owner
A kitchen porter with an uncovered cut prepares sandwiches. Which bacterium is most likely to contaminate them?
- •Bacillus cereus
- •Clostridium perfringens
- •Listeria monocytogenes
- ✓Staphylococcus aureus
Raw chicken and cooked ham share a fridge. Where should the raw chicken go?
- •In the door, away from the ham
- •Next to the ham on the same shelf
- •On a shelf above the cooked ham
- ✓On a shelf below the cooked ham
Three minutes a day. Knowledge that sticks.
Practise all 48 Food safety in hospitality and catering questions with spaced repetition, so what you revise today is still there in the exam. Free to use, no card needed.