Article from Issue 31 Page 31
Food Safety, as professional chefs and food handlers should know, is essentially non-negotiable but often too selectively applied. Here, two industry experts give us their advice on keeping food safety a priority.
Food Safety Tips:
Chef Morné Ströh from the Chef Training and Innovation Academy gives us his food safety advice.
• Prevention is really better than cure: prevent unsafe conditions in your kitchen in the first place, wash your dishes, clean as you go, prevent crosscontamination by using different preparation areas and equipment for different foods, prevent pest infestation, etc. • If you store, cover before: if food is readied for storage or later use, cover it airtight or at least with plastic wrap to prevent contamination and cross contamination and to prolong the best qualities of your food. • Don’t compromise, sanitise: sanitising work surfaces and kitchen equipment kills and prevents pathogenic growth. Always sanitise before preparation and often during. This goes for your hands too. • FIFO: The principle is simple – use food items on the basis of First In, First Out. Older stored items should be used before newly purchased products, which should be placed behind the older items in the sequence of use. • 6˚C and below, or 75˚C or above: to make and keep food safe, always chill food at 6˚C andbelow, and always re-heat food to at least 75°C and above. • Hand washing prevents contaminating: the singly most effective tool in any kitchen that promotes the spreading of bacteria, is your hands. If your hands are kept consistently hygienically clean, it will become the single most effective tool to prevent contamination in your kitchen. • Everyday consistency is habit forming: apply food safety principle daily and consistently to standard. It will thus become a habit and Foods Safety practice is definitely a habit forming activity you’ll welcome in your life. • C, S, C, C: »» Clean: Wash your hands, utensils, surfaces and equipment before use and every time when switching from one product to the next, etc. »» Separate: Use separate plates and cutting boards for different food items, keep meat, poultry, seafood and eggs separate from all other foods, separate older cooked items from more recent cooked items. »» Cook: Cook foods thoroughly and at the right temperatures, keep foodshot if you’re going to eat it soon, etc. »» Chill: Refrigerate perishable foods; always thaw out in a fridge and never on a counter, food cooked for later use must be chill quickly, etc. • Trust your senses: if it looks, smells, feels or tastes spoilt, it usually is! Know when to throw food away. • Clean as you go: be proactive, don’t wait until tomorrow to wash dishes, or later to sanitise and wash down the area where you just cut your bloody piece of meat, clean it now! Waiting is almost always a disaster in the making.
How to store ingredients • Storage areas should be positioned to prevent contamination. Food should be stored away from warewashing and garbage areas. Storage areas should be accessible to receiving, prep and cooking areas to help ensure food safety. • All potentially hazardous food should be stored in designated storage areas, i.e. dry store, fridge and freezer. • All potentially hazardous food should be labelled before storage. • Practice FIFO (First In First Out) • Check the temperatures of stored foods and storage areas regularly. Use a calibrated thermometer to check the temperatures and record it in a log. • Keep storage areas clean and dry. • Keep all food items in clean, undamaged containers. Keep all food covered and labelled with prep or expiry date. • Store meat, poultry and fish separately from cooked and ready-to-eat foods whenever possible to prevent cross-contamination. General rule of thumb is to store prepared or ready-to-eat food above raw meat, poultry and fish.
How to select quality ingredients • For food you should always buy from reputable suppliers who are getting their products from licensed, reputable purveyors and manufacturers who inspect goods and adhere to all applicable health regulations. It is recommended to have an Approved Suppliers list which lists all the suppliers who have been audited by your company and found in compliance with food safety regulations. Once delivered, items should be inspected for quality, proper labelling, correct receiving temperature, appearance and other factors important to safety. Items should also be checked for intact packaging – check for broken boxes, leaky packages, dented cans, any signs for re-freezing, pre-wetness or pest infestation.
Expected lifespan of ingredients • General rule for dry goods is to keep according to expiry date. • Potentially hazardous, cooked foods should not be kept for longer than 2-3 days maximum. Example: cooked chicken on day one is used for chicken mayo sandwiches on day two, but discarded at the end of day two in not sold, otherwise the chicken is used for chicken stock. • Potentially hazardous, ready-to-eat food that has been frozen should be discarded if not consumed within 24 hours of being thawed.
Karin Kok from Ecolab sourced this information from ServSafe Essentials First and Third Edition (National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation).
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