Food Safety Refresher

It’s Food Safety Week this week, take a look at a number of events happening in Queensland and get involved! We have also put together a handy food safety fact sheet to support you in your everyday food safety kitchen procedures. Click here to download a copy.

DWS Safety & Compliance Fact Sheet
Food safety is essential to prevent allergic reactions and food poisoning, both at work and at home. With the warmer months now upon us, it is even more important to ensure we use good food safety and hygiene whenever we handle food. Did you know that there are 4.1 million cases of food poisoning reported every year?
Who is at greater risk of food poisoning?
Pregnant women, elderly people and people with poor immune systems are particularly vulnerable to food poisoning, and in some extreme cases can be fatal or have long lasting effects.
How to prevent food poisoning?
There are 5 main ways of preventing food poisoning, along with training of your staff, design of your premises and ensuring good quality food comes into your kitchen in the first place are also important.
Clean
Clean hands, prep surfaces and utensils and cooking areas must be kept clean so there is no transfer of bacteria to food.
Chill
Food should be stored at 5°C or below or kept frozen if not being used immediately. The danger zone for bacteria growth in food is between 5°C and 60°C. Ensure the temperatures of your cold rooms, fridges and freezers is being constantly monitored and recorded.
Cook
Poultry and minced products are to be cooked to 75°C in the centre.
Ensure your thermometer probes are clean and sanitised before each use to prevent cross-contamination.
Separate
Cross-contamination of foods can provide a breeding ground for bacteria. Keep raw meat, seafoods and poultry separated from other raw foods and food that won’t be cooked (e.g. salad ingredients).
Illness
If your kitchen staff are sick with an illness that could potentially spread bacteria and germs through food handling, re-allocate them away from the kitchen or they stay home. A register of illness should be kept. An example of this type of illness would be gastro.
Food Safety Plans
Ensure your Food Safety Plan is up to date and available to your kitchen staff. You should be recording inspections of incoming goods, temperatures, food wastage and disposal, staff illness and training undertaken.
Are you thinking of revitalising your venue’s food safety plan?
For any clarification, questions or arranging a food safety audit for your venue, please contact Michelle Pitman, DWS Work Health Safety & Compliance Advisor, on 0401 014 619 or michelle@dws.net.au.
Looking to get your staff certified in Food Safety?
Visit our training division, CTA Training Specialists at www.ctatraining.com.au for online food safety courses or if you are interested in a group booking, we can come to your workplace! Simply contact the CTA Operations team on 07 3878 8977 or email operations@ctatraining.com.au