Video Food Hygiene 2
This section is all about food poisoning - looking at the four major ways food can become contaminated, what the main symptoms are and how to avoid the dangers. Firstly we look at microbiological contamination, which includes bacteria, viruses, moulds and parasites. We look in detail at what bacteria need to grow and multiply and use this to explain how easy it is to reduce risks. The importance of food labelling (use by dates) and stock rotation are also explained.
We then cover chemical contamination - which happens if things like cleaning products or pesticides get into food, explaining the importance of storing and using chemical products well away from food products. Next is physical contamination - this is all about protecting food from 'things' getting into it - things like animal hair, items of jewellery, bits of packaging, fingernails - in fact anything that shouldn't be there!
And finally we look at allergenic hazards in foods - ingredients which can cause an allergic reaction, such as peanuts and food colourings; and the importance of ensuring allergy information is clearly displayed on all labels, packaging and menus.
2. Personal Hygiene
People are one of the most serious hazards in the food industry because people carry bacteria. This section is all about good personal hygiene, looking at washing hands, what you wear and what you should do if you're ill and your illness could be passed onto others through food. A step-by-step guide shows you exactly how you should wash your hands!
3. The 4 C's of Food Safety
This section covers the 4 C's - cleanliness, cross-contamination, cooking and chilling.
Cleanliness in food preparation areas covers things like tidying as you go, keeping work surfaces clean and how to wash-up properly.
Cross-contamination - this is where harmful bacteria are spread from one thing - such as food, surfaces, hands or equipment - onto something else, simply by touching. And cross-contamination can happen at any point during the food process, so here we include correct storage of food and disposal of waste.
Chilling and defrosting foods properly contains step-by-step guides on how to check the temperature in fridges and freezers.
Cooking and reheating foods safely includes use of and care of probe thermometers.
4. Procedures and Premises
In this final section we cover aspects of food safety which are required at Level 2, including Food Safety Management Systems which are planned sets of procedures designed to manage food safety hazards and based on HACCP principles (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point).
The importance of record-keeping is also included - things like oven, fridge and freezer temperatures, training records, cleaning records and records about where food came from and where it's going to (where appropriate).
We talk about inspections and finally we use an interactive screen with clickable areas to show the legal requirements for food premises.
5. Taking the Test
After completing all sections of the programme there is a 20-question multiple-choice test. A certificate can be printed out for each person who takes the test to show they have completed their Food Safety and Hygiene Level 2 training
