Keeping Food Safe

Question 1

What are the rules for personal hygiene?

Answer 1

1. Wash hands regularly
2. Avoid handling food when you are unwell to prevent bacteria contaminating food
3. Cover cuts, sores and burns with clean dressing or blue plasters and change regularly
4. Wear a clean apron
5. Remove jewellery before preparing food
6. Avoid touching hair and tie back long hair when preparing food

Question 2

What are the rules when purchasing food?

Answer 2

1. Observe personal hygiene standards of staff when handling and serving food
2. Report unhygienic practices to store management
3. Check the chilled and frozen food cabinets are operating at the correct temps and are not overloading
4. Buy chilled and frozen foods last and pack in an insulated bag
5. Get chilled and frozen products home and stored quickly
6. Pack raw foods and fruit and veg away from ready cooked foods
7. Pack foods that bruise or damage easily above other foods
8. Don’t buy cans or packs of food that have been damaged
9. Don’t buy raw foods from counters where raw and cooked foods are displayed and stored together
10. Don’t buy foods that have exceeded the ‘use by’ date

Question 3

What are the rules for use by date?

Answer 3

Appears on labels of high risk foods. These foods go off quickly and generally must be stored in a fridge or freezer.

The coldest part of a fridge should be at no more than 5* and a freezer should be -18* or below

Question 4

Food must be eaten by the use by date. After this food is likely to…

Answer 4

Become unsafe to eat and can cause food poisoning

Question 5

Where do best before dates usually appear?

Answer 5

On the label of low risk foods that can be safely stored in a cupboard

Question 6

What may unpasteurised milk be contaminated with?

Answer 6

Salmonella and listeria

Question 7

What is unpasteurised cheese contaminated with?

Answer 7

Listeria

Question 8

What may shellfish be contaminated with?

Answer 8

Salmonella

Question 9

What may uncooked eggs be contaminated with?

Answer 9

Salmonella

Question 10

What are the symptoms of listeria?

Answer 10

Fever, muscle aches, headache

Question 11

What are the food sources of listeria?

Answer 11

Unpasteurised cheeses
Uncooked meats
Ready meals
Mouldy cheeses

Question 12

How can you control listeria?

Answer 12

Thoroughly cook raw food from animal sources

Keep uncooked meats separate from other foods

Thoroughly was raw vegetables before eating them

Question 13

What are symptoms of salmonella?

Answer 13

Fever
Diarrhoea
Vomitting
Abdominal pain

Question 14

What are the food sources of salmonella?

Answer 14

Eggs
Raw meat
Unpasteurised milk

Question 15

How can you avoid salmonella?

Answer 15

Ensure chicken and other raw foods are thoroughly cooked

Always wash hands after handling raw foods

If suffering from food poisoning don’t handle food until 48 hours after symptoms have stopped

Question 16

What are the symptoms of staphylococcus aureus?

Answer 16

Severe vomitting
Diarrhoea
Abdominal pain

Question 17

What are the food sources of staph?

Answer 17

Cooked meats
Poultry
Foods made by hand that require no cooking

Question 18

How can you avoid staphylococcus?

Answer 18

Don’t sneeze or cough in food rooms

Ensure food is stored to above 63*

Keep kitchens and food serving areas clean

Question 19

What does the NI food safety order say?

Answer 19

It is unlawful to sell food that is: 
Unfit for human consumption 
Falsely or misleadingly labelled 
Not of the nature substance or quality of demand 
Been declared injurious to health

Question 20

What does the legislation give ehd’s the right to do?

Answer 20

Issue improvement notices
Inspect and swipe suspect food
Issue emergency prohibition notices

Question 21

What can EHO’s do?

Answer 21

Inspect food businesses to inspect they comply with food safety legislation
Investigate consumer complaints about unclean premises or food quality
Offer advice to food industry and consumers about food safety