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Chilling
Semi cooked or cooked dishes and other ready-to-eat foods such as prepared salads and desserts having short shelf life should not be left standing at room temperature- Chilled food intended for consumption should be cold enough
- Food items that need to be chilled should be put straight away into the fridge
- Cooked food should be cooled as quickly as possible and then put it in the fridge
- Chilled food should be processed in the shortest time possible
- Fridge and display units should be cold enough and as per requirement
- In practice, fridge should be set at 5oC to make sure that food is kept in chilled condition. Also, fridge and display units should be maintained in good working condition to avoid food spoilage and contamination
- Raw food / meat / poultry and ready-to-eat foods should be keptseparate at all times
- Hands should be thoroughly washed after touching raw meat / poultry
- Work surfaces, chopping boards and equipment should be thoroughly cleaned before the preparing of food starts and after it has been used
- Separate chopping boards and knives for raw fruit / vegetables / meat / poultry and ready-to-eat food should be used
- Raw meat / poultry below ready-toeat food should be kept in the fridge
- Separate fridge for raw meat /poultry should be kept
- Staff should be made aware how to avoid cross-contamination
Personal Hygiene
- High standards of personal hygiene should be maintained.
- All employees handling food should wash their hands properly:
– before preparing food
– after touching raw food or materials, specially meat/poultry or eggs
– after breaks
– after using the toilet
– after cleaning the raw materials or utensils / equipment
- Street shoes inside the food preparation area should not be worn while handling & preparing food
- Food handlers should ensure careful food handling & protect food from environmental exposure
- Food handlers should not handle soiled currency notes to avoid cross contamination
