Importance of Food Safety

What is Food Safety and why is it important to maintain a high standard of food safety?

To uphold and maintain a high standard of food safety it is important to prevent food-borne illness that can occur during food handling, preparation and storage.

Everyone who works with food, need to make sure they follow good food hygiene to ensure that the food they serve, is safe to eat.

Food Safety Standards

The Food Safety Standards set out the overall legal responsibilities of food handlers; to make sure they do not make food unsafe or unsuitable for people to eat.

Food Safety Standards Contamination is one of the main food hazards and can occur at any point in the ‘farm to fork’ life cycle or at any point in the food chain where food handling occurs.

If any organisation at any point of this chain fails to deliver the highest standards, then this undermines all the others too.

Signs of a Pest Infestation

Any place in which food is stored, produced, processed or used offers the perfect environment for pests.

Pests live up to their name and whatever way you look at it, they are things that you should avoid at all costs. There are several different signs of an infestation, if you discover any of these you must take immediate action.

To avoid pests, fly screens and electric ultraviolet insect killers are invaluable, although screens need to be maintained annually.

It is also important to keep food covered at all times and to keep the kitchen area clean. That will discourage pests from treating your workplace like their home.

Your Work Area

Cleaning as you go is important in the preservation of good food safety. Any place in which food is stored, produced, processed or used offers the perfect environment for pests.

Take off outer packaging from food and throw it away before you bring food into the kitchen or storeroom.

Keep your kitchen free from clutter and rubbish. Work surfaces are easier to keep clean when they are not cluttered.

Wash or wipe away spills as soon as they happen. Clean and then disinfect work surfaces after wiping up spills from raw food.

Use a new cloth (or one that has been washed and disinfected) to clean work surfaces and customers’ tables.

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