Food preparation & storage

Receiving food

Keeping food safe starts from the moment that the food arrives:

• Check that your food suppliers are supplying safe food.
• Dry goods, dry ingredients or canned foods should be in good condition, without torn packaging or heavily dented cans.

Preparing food

• Use separate utensils, including cutting boards and knives, for raw food and cooked food. If this is not possible, thoroughly wash and sanitise equipment before using it.
• Wash all fruit and vegetables in clean water before using them.
• Don’t use food from damaged packaging.
• Don’t let raw food come into contact with cooked food to avoid cross contamination.

Handling food

• Cooked, or ready-to-eat food shouldn’t be handled with bare hands. Use tongs, spatulas, spoons, or disposable gloves.
• Raw food to be cooked can be handled with bare hands.
• Change disposable gloves every hour and/or when they tear and/or when you change tasks.
• Wash hands frequently.
• Have supply of soap, paper towels and gloves available in both kitchens.

Cooking & heating

• Thaw frozen food before cooking, in a microwave or at the bottom of the refrigerator.
• Never put thawed food back in the freezer.
• Cook thawed food immediately after thawing.
• Cook all foods completely, especially red meat, fish and chicken.
• Reheating: bring to the boil and simmer for a minimum of 5 minutes before serving (or microwave using manufacturer’s guidelines).

Storing food

Temperature: meat, dairy or fish (not already processed by heat) are high-risk foods. Store at the correct temperature, frozen (hard) at -15° C or cooler or refrigerated at 5° C or cooler.

Time: Don’t keep food in storage for too long. Record dates, ‘first in - first out’ rule. Food should be refrigerated as soon as possible and not left out for lengthy periods.

Displaying food

Wrap or cover all food on display. Tag or label food trays, not the food.

Transporting food

Keep cold by using insulated containers with ice or cold blocks.