How I Use the Safe Cooking Template with Customers in Pilla

It is important that foods are cooked to a time and temperature combination that has been scientifically proven to reduce bacteria to a safe level for human consumption.

Consumers may develop food borne illnesses if unsafe food is ingested. Some foods and cooking methods require extra care and diligence in order to avoid problems.

Staff should follow the safety points below in order to achieve a consistent level of food safety.

Time and temperature combinations

The following time and temperature combinations have been scientifically proven to reduce bacteria to a safe level. These combinations rely on staff checking that the whole of the product has been cooked thoroughly throughout the food at the required temperature for the required time.

Staff should be aware that the figures below are minimum time/temperature combinations i.e. Critical limits, therefore longer periods or higher temperatures represent good practice.

• 80°c for 6 seconds
• 75°c for 30 seconds
• 70°c for 2 minutes

Remember: If any combination lower than 75°c is used, for the purposes of due diligence you must indicate on the monitoring sheets both the temp/time reading. Example: 70°/2 mins.

Random temperatures during each service period should be taken with a disinfected probe thermometer and recorded in the daily monitoring records.

Some foods will not be cooked thoroughly as they will be served rare e.g. Tuna loin and steaks. These products should always be sealed thoroughly on their outer surfaces as some bacteria can survive on the outer surfaces, these must be destroyed through the sealing process.

Safety points

Food handlers

• All food handlers involved in cooking must be trained correctly in the methods of preparation, cooking and equipment use. All staff must maintain good standards of hygiene and must be properly supervised to ensure that they are competent to carry out their tasks
• Poor hygiene practices can lead to foods becoming contaminated

Separation

• If grills, salamanders, griddles or barbeques are used, do not mix raw, cooking and cooked foods. Cooked or cooking foods can become re-contaminated with bacteria when raw foods are added to the equipment for cooking
• Good practice is to move foods from left to right i.e. Raw meats should be placed on the left and cooked meats removed from the right
• Do not allow the juices/blood from raw products to drip onto cooked or cooking foods under any circumstances

Pre-heating equipment

• It is good practice to always preheat ovens, ranges, grills, griddles, fryers and any other hot equipment before use
• Manufacturer's instructions may be affected when equipment has not been previously pre-heated effectively

Defrosting foods

• Ensure all foods are thoroughly defrosted before cooking takes place unless manufacturer's instructions state otherwise that they can be cooked from frozen safely
• The food may not reach the correct cooking temperature to destroy bacteria to a safe level if the food is still frozen in parts

Deep fat fryers

• Ensure that deep fat fryers are well maintained and used correctly
• The fat should always have reached the correct temperature prior to cooking, if the oil temperature is too high the danger is that foods will cook very quickly on the outside and the inside will not cook properly. The danger from oil that is at too low of a temperature is that the food will absorb excessive levels of fats making the food unpalatable and spoiling the quality
• Ensure spillages are cleaned immediately to avoid contamination of other products, also from a health and safety viewpoint to avoid burn and slip accidents and injuries

Misuse of hot holding equipment

• Bain-maries or any other type of hot holding equipment cannot and must not be used for anything other than hot holding and must never be used for cooking, as adequate temperatures for the destruction of pathogenic bacteria cannot be achieved by this method
• Food must always be thoroughly cooked by conventional methods before placement into hot holding equipment

Maintenance of equipment

• The physical condition and integrity of all cooking equipment should be sound and well maintained. Regular checks should be made on this equipment to ensure continuity

Cleaning

• Cooking equipment must be cleaned regularly, depending on usage, all items and equipment must be included in the cleaning schedule
• In the case of food spillage, the item must be cleaned and disinfected prior to use, this will prevent the occurrence of foreign body contamination, allergen contamination and strong smells from permeating through the kitchen

Whole cuts of meat

• Whole cuts or joints of meat including beef and lamb must be fully sealed on the outside
• These foods can be served rare as long as the surface has been sealed, generally with these foods the internal tissues should be free from bacterial contamination
• Always ensure that these cuts of meat are supplied by approved reputable suppliers to ensure food safety consistency through the food chain

Rolled joints of meat

• It is critical that rolled joints of meat, including beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey are thoroughly cooked completely through the product until juices run clear. Verified by probing the food with a disinfected probe
• During processing, bacteria will have transferred from the outside to the inside which will subsequently contaminate the whole product
• These products are also more susceptible to anaerobic organisms contaminating, multiplying and surviving in the food
• All minced and processed meats such as minced meat products, sausages, burgers and any similar foods must be thoroughly cooked throughout the product. Mincing and processing allows bacteria from the outer surfaces of the product to move into the inside of the product, these products will hold significant bacterial levels throughout the product, therefore they must be cooked thoroughly right through the product, this must be verified by probing the food with a clean disinfected food probe to ensure that correct temperatures have been reached

Chicken livers

Chicken livers are particularly prone to causing food poisoning when served undercooked, therefore:

• Do not offer cooking options on chicken livers
• Saute livers in small batches to allow for effective cooking
• Saute livers for a minimum time of 5 minutes or until an internal temperature greater than 70°c has been reached and maintained for a minimum time of 2 minutes, longer if possible
• Use a disinfected food probe to check the internal temperature of the largest liver in the batch
• Chicken livers must always be cooked until they are no longer bloody at the core. Colour is not always a good indicator of effective cooking. Studies have shown that liver tissue can remain pink after it has reached a safe temperature, always ensure that no pink remains to verify that the product has been cooked effectively
• Ensure that juices from uncooked chicken livers does not leak, drip or contaminate other products, surfaces or equipment
• Scrub cutting boards, knives and other utensils that have come into contact with raw livers using hot water and detergent, followed by washing and disinfection through the dishwasher, then allowed to air dry
• Preferably use separate boards and utensils for the preparation of poultry products

Poultry

• All poultry including chicken, turkey and other game birds must always be cooked thoroughly, with no exceptions
• Meat must not be pink, and juices must always run clear every time
• Campylobacter jejuni is found at relatively high levels in poultry, especially in chicken but also in turkey and other game birds which can cause serious food borne illness and death in some circumstances

Burgers

• If a customer requests an undercooked burger, the request must be declined
• Burgers must always be cooked fully completely through; no pink tissue must be visible and juices must run clear with no blood or pinkness seen
• Burgers must be probed to ensure a minimum temperature of 75°c for 30 seconds has been achieved
• Burgers prepared in house have a maximum shelf life of three days including the day of preparation
• The above safety points must be followed strictly as E. coli O157 is a bacterium present in minced products especially minced beef products, the toxin of this bacteria can cause serious health problems and often death

Corrective actions

• Food that has not reached a safe temperature must be cooked further until a safe temperature and time combination is reached
• Use alternative equipment or divide food up into smaller portions to speed up the cooking process
• Repair or replace faulty or broken equipment, use alternative equipment if available
• Call an engineer to repair cooking equipment
• Food that may have been cross contaminated should be cooked or reheated but only if safe to do so but ideally should be discarded
• If staff do not follow the safety points above, then retrain them and increase supervision until competency can be shown

Record keeping

• Random temperatures should be taken during each food service period and recorded in the kitchen monitoring records
• Record any instances when cooking equipment breaks down, the corrective actions taken, and the alternative methods used
• Record any contraventions of the safety points and any corrective actions taken
• Record any training or retraining undertaken