Integrating Allergen Awareness into Your Food Hygiene
As Early Years professionals, you will be very aware of the need for allergy awareness in your workplace. When we designed our food hygiene certificate course we made sure that we included plenty of information on the allergen groups specifically for the Early Years sector. Sometimes, as I did recently, you overhear things that make…
Read MoreWhy Kitchen Workwear is Vital to Good Food Hygiene
Kitchen workwear is not the most fashionable clothing. We doubt many kitchen workers head out on a Saturday night in their checks and whites. However, it is an important part of food hygiene and the right clothes should be worn if you want to abide by the legal requirements. It isn’t absolutely necessary to wear a…
Read MoreFood Safety Myths: 5 Commonly Mishandled Foods
You should scientifically manage your food hygiene in any kitchen or food preparation area. Often, people who take food hygiene training find that they have taken a word-of-mouth or ‘grapevine’ approach to food safety. However, legal requirements for food hygiene are based on evidenced science, so your methods should be too. Here are 5 common…
Read MoreJust a Cold? What To Do When You Are Ill and Work With Food
When you work with food in any capacity, you hold the health of the people who eat that food in your hands. You could pass on nasty bugs and bacteria with unclean hands. Whilst this can produce some unpleasant general consequences, for the elderly or children it could result in serious illness. So, what should…
Read MoreReheating Food: To Warm or Not to Warm?
Most kitchens, domestic and commercial, regularly end the night with leftover food, which is still likely edible. Furthermore, when cooking in bulk, some dishes are just not practical to make fresh to order. Some chefs might even tell you that certain stews and curries taste better after reheating. Reheating food, though, can be a dangerous…
Read MoreStomach Bug or Food Poisoning? Why are you Unwell?
So, picture the scene. Yesterday evening, you went out for a curry, had a few beers and got home late. In the morning, you feel nauseous, headachey, and want to stay within two feet of the toilet. In these circumstances, we telll work that we have a stomach bug or food poisoning, crawl back into…
Read MoreFood Hygiene in Nurseries
Introduction There is some variation in the food hygiene guidelines for different types of early years care providers. Childminders, for example, do not require a food hygiene rating like nurseries. However, the principles remain largely the same; the differences are contextual. It is vital to understand why looking after four children in your home is…
Read MoreRestaurant Food Safety: The 4 C’s
Introduction Restaurant food safety is outlined by the Food Standards Agency within the ‘Safer Food Better Business for Caterers’ document. The FSA centres all of their guidelines for food businesses around the 4 C’s of Food Hygiene: cross-contamination, cleaning, chilling and cooking. In this article, we will consider how we can apply the 4 C’s…
Read MoreFood Safety Management Systems: An Overview
What is a Food Safety Management System? A Food Safety Management System (FSMS) is a set of measures that a food business adheres to; it ensures the safety of the food which the staff prepares. Whilst the exact FSMS you employ as a food business is up to you, UK businesses have a legal requirement…
Read MoreFood Hygiene Course FAQs
How can this article help me? Where the safety of your staff and customers are involved, food hygiene is a serious matter. However, the dense, scientific nature of food hygiene requirements often results in mass confusion. As such, to shed some light on food hygiene, we often publish helpful articles on topics such as food…
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