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Food Storage and Display:

Food naturally contains bacteria and some food may contain food poisoning bacteria. If food is not stored, displayed or transported correctly, these bacteria can multiply to dangerous levels. One of the most important factors for growth is temperature. The temperature range between 5ºC and 60ºC is known as the temperature danger zone. ‘High risk’ foods must spend only the minimum possible time in this zone.

Storing Food:

• ‘High risk’ foods are those foods which contain meat, dairy products and seafood (not including dried food powders in their original packaging, jars, cans and other containers of food which have been processed by heat). These high risk foods must be temperature controlled. Keep cold food cold—below 5°C. Keep hot food hot—above 60°C.
• Check equipment, particularly the operating temperatures of refrigerators and freezers. Buy a thermometer and monitor temperatures. Report malfunctioning equipment to the school principal immediately.
• Store cooked food separately from raw food. Raw food should always be stored beneath cooked food to prevent contamination from dripping liquids.
• Ensure frozen foods are kept frozen. Defrost freezers regularly and do not overload them.
• Cover food with lids, foil or plastic film. Once a can is opened, any remaining food should be transferred to a suitable container — not stored in the can.
• Make sure food does not remain in storage too long, remember the ‘first in – first out’ principle.
• Chemicals, cleaning equipment and personal belongings must be stored away from food preparation and food storage areas.

Displaying Food:

• Food that is displayed should either be wrapped or covered.
• Refrigerated display cases must be able to maintain foods below 5ºC.
• Bain-maries (or hot holding devices) are to keep hot foods above 60ºC. They should not be used to reheat foods. Food must not be stacked above the level of the trays, or else it will not remain sufficiently hot.
• Use tags or labels on the trays, and do not insert labels into ready-to-eat food.

Transporting Food:

• Ensure that all food that is delivered to you is done so in a vehicle that prevents contamination of the food. Food must be transported completely separately from chemicals such as detergents.
• Animals must not be allowed in vehicles that are used to transport food.
• Food which requires refrigeration must be transported so that food is kept below 5ºC.

Cleaning Procedures:

A well operated kitchen demands effective, frequent and regular cleaning to remove food residues and dirt. These may contain food poisoning and spoilage organisms, attract birds, rodents and insects, and act as a source of food contamination. Effective cleaning and sanitising will minimise the risk of food contamination and food poisoning.

A regular cleaning program ensures that:

• Cleaning is carried out systematically. For example, wash walls before work benches and work benches before floors.
• All surfaces, appliances and equipment that come into contact with food are cleaned after use.
• Non-food contact surfaces (including walls) are cleaned as required.

A cleaning schedule should be used to ensure that cleaning is conducted in a structured and regular manner. It should detail:

• Cleaning tasks.
• Frequency of cleaning.
• Method of cleaning, including chemicals to be used
• Person responsible for each task.

Consider using paper towels to clean up. If using cloth towels, wash in hot water after every use.

When cleaning, clean and sanitise surfaces such as handles on refrigerators, drawers and cupboards.

Chemicals and cleaning equipment must be stored separately from food areas.

Cleaning should be carried out in the following order:

• Pre-clean: Remove excess dirt and food scraps by sweeping, wiping or scraping, and pre-rinsing with water.
• Wash: Remove surface grease and dirt, using hot water and a detergent.
• Rinse: Remove loose dirt and detergent.
• Sanitise: Use a sanitising solution or commercially-available food grade sanitiser. (For example, immersion for 30 seconds in a solution containing 50 parts per million (ppm) available chlorine at 50ºC.)
• Final rinse: Remove sanitiser (depending on the type of sanitiser used).
• Dry: Allow to air dry.

Cleaning Procedure at Temporary Food Stalls:

If a sink connected to a water supply is not available near the stall, temporary facilities will need to be provided. Utensil washing facilities must be made available, including:

• Sealed container or drum with clean water.
• Water-heating device such as an urn, so that hot water is available.
• Bucket to collect dirty water.
• Detergent and disposable paper towels

Utensils should be washed as soon as possible in clean, soapy water and rinsed in clean water. All waste water must be disposed to the sewer, not stormwater. At the end of the day, all utensils and equipment should be thoroughly cleaned and sanitised (as described above) prior to storage.

Temperature Monitoring and Calibration:

It is important that high risk foods are maintained either cold (below 5ºC) or hot (above 60ºC). A thermometer should be used to keep a check on temperature-holding equipment to ensure that it is working correctly.

When using a thermometer to check temperatures, it is important that it measures accurately. For this reason, the thermometer must be calibrated.

Calibration should occur quarterly — for example, at the start of each term.

Ice point calibration is a simple way of calibrating a thermometer. The procedure for ice point calibration of thermometers is as follows:

• Crush ice into a container.
• Add enough pre-cooled water to form a slurry.
• Insert probe into the ice slurry.
• Wait three minutes and record temperature.

The temperature should read 0°C. If yours varies by more than 1°C (up or down) then it should be adjusted, or if that is not possible, replaced.

Digital thermometers have a limited battery life, and the batteries should be replaced before the end of their useful life to maintain accuracy.

If you also cook, your thermometer will have to be calibrated at a high temperature. As with the ice point calibration above, allow a few minutes for the temperature to stabilise after you place the thermometer in boiling water. The temperature should read 100°C.

Chiller thermometers need to be calibrated regularly, as they can become damaged. You can do this by placing your portable thermometer near the chiller thermometer and comparing the reading.

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