Our last meeting was dedicated to learning all about food safety. Our instructor was Gavin Bucket (not pronounced Bouquet) who delivered a Food Safety for Dummies course which focused on making everyone aware of the risks associated with food hygiene.
Some of the messages included:
- Bacteria is a micro-organism. There are a diverse variety of bacteria but only a small number are harmful.
- Bacteria can be spread to humans through other humans, animals, soil or water.
- You can't always tell if the food you are preparing or eating has been contaminated with food poisoning bacteria.
- That's why food storage, personal hygiene, preparation and transportation of food is so important. If the food is contaminated, you cannot always tell.
- Bacteria flourishes under the following conditions:
- Moisture
- Air
- Time
- Temperature
- Some of the main causes of food poisoning are:
- Food prepared too far in advance
- Cooling food too slowly
- Not reheating food to high enough temperature
- Cooked food contaminated with bacteria
- Under cooking
- Inadequate thawing
- Cross-contamination
- Storing hot food below 60 degrees
- Infected food handlers
- Using left-overs
- The most potentially hazardous food groups are:
- Products high in protein e.g. raw/cooked meat
- Seafood e.g. raw/cooked fish or shelfish
- Poultry e.g. raw/cooked chicken, duck
- Dairy products e.g. milk, cream cheese, ice-cream
- Eggs e.g. raw eggs, cooked eggs in salads
- Carbohydrates e.g. rice, pasta
- To minimise the risk of introducing bacteria to food, you should:
- Always wash your hands and use gloves
- Wear appropriate clothing
- Have clean linen and laundry
This is just a sample of the information that Gavin provided, all in the space of one hour. Each participant will receive a Food Safety Certificate