Food science- how individuals take responsibility for food safety

All staff that are working towards the production of the menu should take all necessary hygiene precautions to achieve standard food safety regulations. Before cooking and preparing the food, chefs and staff need to take the necessary hygiene precautions, for instance; putting on chef whites, removing jewellery, tying hair back, putting on a hair net, washing hands and lastly making sure surfaces and equipment are clean and have been washed with sanitizer to remove any germs and bacteria that could leak on to the food when preparing. Food storage is important when achieving food safety, bacteria can easily grow on food at high rates when at the right temperature, in the danger zone of 8 degrease to 60 degrease bacteria can grow fast. So, storing food in a fridge of 0-5 degrease ensures that the growth of bacteria is limited, and the storage of a freezer should be set to -2—18 degrease, this will freeze any bacteria from growing. Food should be cold or at room temperature to go in the fridge, if warmer it can alt the temperature of the fridge, which can increase the growth rate of bacteria due to the rise of the temperature. Covering of food made with cling film can stop cross contamination in the fridge. Chefs and staff should understand where food should be placed in the fridge and freezer (for example placing meat at the bottom of the fridge), to ensure full food safety. Chefs preparing and cooking food should be fully trained and have a clear understanding of the necessary food safety acts that need to be taken place at certain times. Correct equipment for each food they handle, will be required to avoid cross contamination, like salmonella and E. coli from raw meats getting on to uncooked food such as, fruit and vegetables. To achieve high-quality food safety, chefs should use different chopping boards, cutlery and equipment to avoid the mater of cross contamination, Chefs and staff must wash hands thoroughly with sanitizer after handling raw meats, fish and other food products that are known to carry bacteria and other harmful germs, that can cause harm especially towards older adults, it can result in customers getting very ill, so precautions must be taken to account. It is required that all staff are fully trained so they are capable of cooking food safely to avoid food poisoning of customers. Head chefs and managers should be obligated to make sure staff and chefs are fully trained before they handle the food, this is to ensure the safety of all workers and customers. Full training is required so food is thoroughly cooked through properly to a certain temperature of 75 degrease, this is a temperature that ensures raw meat products are fully cooked. Chefs and waiters should ensure that the temperature of the food is a safe temperature to eat at (not between 63 degrease and 8 degrease is known as the danger zone where the growth of bacteria increases fast at these temperatures), is safe to consume. Waiters and other staff that may be handling the food should ensure that their hands have been thoroughly washed with anti-bacterial soap, this is to make sure that no germs and bacteria get on to the prepared dishes, this can cause customers to get ill, the use of gloves can also be effective to avoid bacteria and germs getting on to the dishes. When staff take breaks/toilet breaks, full hygiene precautions are necessary, because you can easily pick up bacteria from such as door handles. Despite having washed their hands in the bathroom, staff should wash their hands again using anti-bacterial soap to kill any bacteria that may have been gained on their hands. When cooking foods that are prone to spillages and spitting, such as when frying on a high heat, should be monitored carefully. Cooking raw meat in an open top pan for example next to something else that may be on the hob at the same time can cause cross contamination. Staff, chef and other workers who come in contact with the food, in case that they get ill, it is required that they should stay of work for 48 hours to bypass the chance that they may contaminate the food. So as a precaution, workers should be required to stay of work and withdraw coming in contact with food being prepared and served.