INTRODUCTION
Food Safety refers to the proper handling, cooking, and preservation of food in order to protect consumers from foodborne illnesses caused by microbes such as viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi, and other contamination risks.
All employees are required to understand the following:
- Personal Hygiene
- Food Poisoning & Contamination
- Bacterial Growth
- Food Safety Hazards
- Temperature Control
- The Food Process
- Cleaning
- Pest Control
- HACCP
The Benefits of Food Safety
Food Safety Training is essential to the commercial viability of a company/organization as it:
- Assists companies in becoming more efficient, competitive, and profitable.
- Raises performance standards.
- Reduces wastage.
- Assists in the production of safe food.
- Complies with food legislation requirements.
- Promotes a good company image.
- Increases staff morale.
- Improves staff retention.
Costs of Poor Food Safety
- Customer Complaints
- Food Contamination
- Food Poisoning
- Food Wastage
- Food Safety Authority Closure Orders
- Loss of Business
- Loss of Reputation
- Pest Infestation
INDUCTION
1. Wear & Maintain Uniform /Protective Clothing Hygienically
- Wear a clean uniform: shirt, apron, hat & hairnet (if hair cannot be contained by cap)
- Wear face mask/screen if social distancing is not achievable (Covid-19)
- Do not wear personal clothing over protective clothing.
- Keep your uniform clean & wash it regularly.
- Do not wear uniform/protective clothing outside the premises, or when traveling to/from work.
2. Maintain a High Standard of Hand Washing
Wash for 20 seconds +, Use hot water, antimicrobial soap + alcohol
Wash hands every 15 minutes and always:
Before starting or recommencing work.
- After using the toilet.
- Before handling cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
- After handling or preparing raw food.
- After handling rubbish.
- After smoking.
- After coughing, sneezing, handling a handkerchief, blowing one’s nose, touching skin, hair, or face.
- After cleaning duties.
- After shaking hands (avoid hand-shaking during Covid-19)
- After handling money.
- Take appropriate action if hot water, soap, blue roll, etc. are not available.
3. Maintain a High Standard of Personal Hygiene
- Keep hair neat and tidy and covered in the presence of food.
- Wear protective clothing: clean uniform, apron, cap, hair net
- Keep fingernails short and clean and free of nail varnish.
- Do not wear inappropriate jewelry.
- Do not wear excessive perfume, deodorant, aftershave, or make-up.
- Keep cuts, sores, and grazes covered with clean, conspicuously colored waterproof dressing [usually blue]
- When using gloves, use them in a hygienic manner as per relevant standards.
4. If Suffering From Ailments & Illnesses That May Affect Food Safety.
Report to Manager or Supervisor if:
- Suffering from any ailments (in particular diarrhea or vomiting).
- You are absent from work due to any ailments which may affect the safety of food (re. Flu symptoms, Covid-19)
- You suffered diarrhea or vomiting while on holidays [especially overseas].
- Anybody living with you is suffering from ailments/illnesses that may affect the safety of food.
- Avoid working near open food if suffering from any ailment/illness that may affect the safety of food, in particular diarrhea or vomiting.
5. Avoid Unhygienic Practices
- Never chew gum or consume food in a food operation.
- Never spit or pick nose in a food operation.
- Never cough or sneeze over food.
- Never taste food with fingers.
- Never handle food after touching face, nose or head.
6. Safe Food Handling Practice
- Handle food/utensils as little as possible.
- Store raw and handle ready-to-eat products separately
- Follow the procedure in place for the management of food allergens.
- Correct use of color coding system. [e.g.Red cloths = surface tops sanitization; Green cloths = food contact surfaces]
- Hot food served immediately.
- Chilled food stored between 1⁰C – 4⁰C.
- Frozen food stored <12⁰C Display; <18⁰C Storage
- Cover Food: Waffles, Crepe Mix, Milk Shake Mix, Cut Strawberries & Gelato in back-up.
- Close Gelato Display Freezer Screens when not serving.
7. Hygienic Staff Facilities
- Keep Locker Room clean & tidy
- Keep Staff Bathroom clean & Tidy (observe Cleaning Schedule)
- Ensure Cleaning Schedule is filled in
- Only use chemicals & cleaning products specific to bathroom use.
- Never use bathroom mops or brooms in food preparation areas or stockrooms.
8. Obey Food Safety Signs & Instructions
Label & Date all mixes and products according to instructions*
- Gelato Base / Milk Shake Mix [72 hours; 1⁰C – 4⁰C]
- Gelato [72 hours; ≤-12⁰C display; ≤-18⁰C storage]
- Pre-Cooked Waffles [72 hours; 1⁰C – 4⁰C]
- Crepe Mix [48 hours; 1⁰C – 4⁰C]
- Strawberries [best before date; 48 hours after opening]
- Milk [best before date; 48 hours after opening]
- Fresh Cream [best before date; 48 hours after opening]
- All food must be appropriately covered: Lid / Vinyl Film Wrap
9. Keep Work Area Clean
- Clean as you go
- Follow Cleaning Program as instructed
- Ensure that the food contact surfaces are clean when finishing work & before commencing work.
- Use cleaning agents and equipment as instructed.
- Change water used for cleaning when it becomes cool or dirty.
- Ensure food does not come in contact with cleaning chemicals.
- Store cleaning agents in the designated storage area.
Hazards of Gelato
Hazards, which may occur during the handling and serving of gelato, could affect its safety and thus the health of your customers. These hazards may be microbiological, chemical, and/or physical. Microbiological hazards are the most common cause of foodborne illnesses.
What are Microbiological Hazards?
Bacteria are the most common type of microbiological hazard. Bacteria are tiny living structures that can only be seen with a microscope. Most bacteria are harmless but some cause foodborne illnesses. These bacteria are called pathogens.
Where is Bacteria Found?
Bacteria are everywhere, for example:
• In food
• In water
• On people (people carry bacteria on and in their bodies)
• On equipment (dirty equipment can carry bacteria)
• In dirty food premises (dirt and food particles can carry bacteria)
• On animals (pests such as insects, pets, birds and rodents can carry bacteria).
How Does Gelato Become Contaminated with Bacteria?
Food handlers with poor hygiene and poor handling practices can spread bacteria to gelato (i.e. they can contaminate the gelato).
Examples of poor practices include:
• Inadequate handwashing
• Using dirty machines and equipment
• Using dirty utensils, e.g. utensils that haven’t been cleaned properly before use
• Using unclean dishcloths or serving cloths.
What Makes Bacteria Grow?
Bacteria need food, moisture, warmth, and time to grow and multiply:
Food and moisture:
Bacteria grow well on foods, which are high in protein and moisture, for example, gelato.
Warmth:
Most bacteria need warm conditions to grow. Pathogens grow best at body temperature (37o) but can grow between 5oC and 63oC.
Time:
If the conditions are suitable (food, moisture, warmth), bacteria multiply very quickly and can double in number every 20 minutes.
What the Food Handler Should Do
Personal Hygiene
Personal hygiene is important in preventing the spread of bacteria. Table 1. Good Hygiene Practices for Food Handlers
• Be clean and tidy.
• Clean protective clothing, e.g. apron or overall should be worn where appropriate. This is particularly advisable in businesses serving large quantities of gelato, e.g. ice-cream parlors.
• Please note that: – Protective clothing should not be worn outside the food handling area – Personal garments should not be worn over the protective clothing.
• Keep hair clean and neat and where appropriate, wear hats/hairnets, which effectively contain the hair.
• Keep fingernails short and clean.
• Cover cuts, sores or grazes with a colored waterproof dressing.
• Do not smoke, consume food, chew gum, lick your fingers, cough or sneeze where gelato is being prepared or served.
• Do not serve gelato if you are suffering from diarrhea, vomiting, jaundice, fever, sore throat with fever, infected skin lesions/cuts on exposed body parts, discharges from the eyes, ears, nose, mouth/gums.
• Remember: If you’re unwell, go and tell
Hands are a common means of transferring bacteria to gelato and should be kept clean at all times. A wash-hand basin (with hot and cold water) should be sited within a reasonable distance of the gelato machine/gelato cabinet. Hand-wash products, e.g. bar soap or liquid soap, and hand drying facilities, e.g. paper towel, hand dryer or cabinet roller towel should also be provided.
Hand Washing Guidelines
Hands should be:
• Washed with warm soapy water for a minimum of 30 seconds (pay particular attention to fingertips and thumbs)
• Rinsed with warm water
• Dried (using a paper towel, hand dryer, or cabinet roller towel).
• Wash your hands frequently and always:
• Before and after handling all food
• After using the toilet
• After smoking
• After sneezing, coughing, and using a handkerchief
• After touching your nose, ears, mouth, or hair
• After performing routine cleaning tasks
• After handling rubbish
• After handling money
• Before gloving and after glove removal (Note: Single service disposable gloves should be of good quality. They should be discarded when damaged or soiled, or when interruptions occur in the operation, e.g. when handling money).
What the Food Handler Should Do
Good Hygiene Practices
Good hygiene practices start with the correct positioning of the gelato batch freezer and the gelato cabinet. These should be sited indoors away from direct sunlight, heat, and draughts, e.g. away from open doors, windows, or air conditioning outlets.
Good hygiene practices are required by the food handler from the time of intake of the ingredients/supplies to the time of serving. Guidelines are provided in Tables 3 and 4.
Table 3. Guidelines for the Storage of Ingredients and Supplies*
Ingredients/Supplies Details
Storage Instructions
• The storage instructions (i.e. the storage conditions and storage period) specified by the manufacturer should be followed at all times. All supplies should be rotated in order i.e. first in – first out, with respect to best-before and use-by dates.
Whipped ice-cream mix
Sterilized liquid mix (commonly referred to as UHT mix)
• Stable at room temperature
• Store in a clean, dry place
• Keep out of direct sunlight
• Once opened, keep refrigerated (≤5oC)
Pasteurized liquid mix (commonly referred to as fresh mix)
• Keep refrigerated (≤5oC) at all times
• Do not freeze prior to use
Powdered mix (Ginos Vanilla soft)
• Stable at room temperature
• Store in a clean, dry place
• Once mixed with drinking water, store under refrigerated conditions (≤5oC)
Scoop Gelato
• Deep freezers should operate at a temperature that maintains the Gelato at -18oC except for deep freezers used to serve Gelato. These deep freezers should maintain the gelato at -12oC subject to the gelato being stored for not more than one week.
Dry ingredients
Wafer cones and toppings
• Stable at room temperature
• Store in a clean, dry place
• Prevent contamination from foreign objects, dust, water, pests, etc.
Table 4. Guidelines for the Preparation and Serving of Soft Ice-cream*
* The storage instructions (i.e. the storage conditions and storage period) specified by the manufacturer should be followed at all times. All supplies should be rotated in order i.e. first in – first out, with respect to best-before and use-by dates.
Whipped ice-cream
• Discard any ice-cream mix which is past its use-by or best-before date
• Wipe the pack of ice cream mix with a sanitized cloth before opening. Open the pack along the perforation with sanitized utensils or tear as appropriate
• Follow supplier’s instructions regarding preparation of the mix
• Dispensed ice cream should not be returned to the hopper
• Do not refill mix containers
Scoop Gelato
• Discard any scoop gelato which is past its use-by or best-before date
• Ensure that there are no large ice crystals in the gelato or any other signs of thawing and refreezing. Discard if any signs are evident
Wafer cones and toppings
• Discard wafer cones and toppings which are past their use-by or best-before date
• Ensure wafer cones and toppings are in perfect condition and free from contamination
• Serve wafer cones from their original containers or use clean dispensers
• Serve the wafer cone in a protective sheet, e.g. paper napkin
What the Food Handler Should Do
Cleaning
Cleaning is very important as it removes the dirt and food particles, which allow bacteria to grow. Cleaning should be carried out using a designated bucket or a designated sink (cleaning should not be carried out in the wash-hand basin). Table 5. What do I Clean?
• Ice-cream machine and utensils
• The general working environment, i.e. all surfaces (worktops/boards, etc.) which come into contact with ice-cream
• Floors
• Containers used to collect rubbish and waste.
• When you are cleaning, you need to use both detergents and disinfectants/sanitizers.
• Detergents clean by removing the dirt you can see
• Disinfectants and sanitizers clean by killing the bacteria you cannot see once the dirt has been removed.
It is important that detergents, disinfectants, and sanitizers are:
• Food grade quality if used on food contact surfaces
• Prepared at the correct strength (follow manufacturer’s instructions) using designated measuring equipment
• Stored away from food.
The following six steps should be carried out to clean what you can and cannot see:
1. Pre-clean (remove loose dirt, spills, and debris)
2. Clean with detergent
3. Rinse with water
4. Disinfect or sanitize
5. Final rinse with water
6. Air dry.
When you are cleaning, you should always use clean hot water and a disposable cloth. If you don’t have a disposable cloth, make sure your cloth is clean and regularly disinfected/sanitized.
Remember: Always ‘clean as you go’ and mop up spills as they occur
Table 8. Guidelines for the Cleaning of Ice-cream Machines
All machines should be cleaned thoroughly and frequently. The cleaning procedure and the frequency of cleaning will depend on a number of factors including the type of machine (i.e. self-pasteurizing or non-pasteurizing machine) and the frequency of use. Retailers should consult the manufacturer or supplier of the machine for advice. The following section is for guideline purposes only.
Guidelines for cleaning whipped ice cream machines
1. Drain and discard all ice cream from the machine.
2. Clean:
• The tank of the machine using the machine’s washing cycle
• The hopper and the tip of the dispenser unit (these need particular attention as they are open to contamination during refilling of mix and dispensing of ice cream)
• The dismantled parts (dismantle the machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions and wash the parts in a designated sink or bucket)
• The outside of the machine.
3. Inspect and replace any damaged seals and o-rings. Reassemble the machine and lubricate parts as specified by the manufacturer.
4. Sanitize the machine as specified by the manufacturer. Drain the sanitizing solution from the machine and rinse well with drinking water.
5. Refill the machine with a small amount of ice-cream mix and discard the first run.
Guidelines regarding the frequency of cleaning
• Non-pasteurising machines should be cleaned every six days.
• Self-pasteurising machines should be cleaned every 21 days; however, the machine should enter its pasteurization cycle every three days.
• The exact cleaning procedure and the frequency of cleaning should be specified in your cleaning schedule.
What the Food Handler Should Do
Cleaning9. Guidelines for the Cleaning of Utensils used during the
Serving of Scoop Ice-cream
• Before use, the utensils should be washed in warm water and sanitizing solution (a food-grade sanitizer prepared according to the manufacturer’s instructions should be used).
• Throughout the serving period, the utensils should be rinsed and sanitized frequently.
• Surplus solution should be shaken off the scoop before use.
What the Manager Should Do
3.1 Food Safety Management Based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
It is the manager’s responsibility to develop and implement a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP. This involves identifying the hazards in the business, planning how they can be controlled, and ensuring control is maintained. Table 10 gives examples of typical hazards associated with the sale/serving of ice cream and suggests ways of controlling these hazards. This table can be used as the basis for your system but should be amended to suit the actual conditions and practices within your business. An important element of a food safety management system is to include regular checks that the controls identified as necessary, are actually taking place and that if or when things go wrong, corrective action is taken. For further information on developing a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP, see ‘Additional reading’.
3.2 Food Safety Training
The manager is responsible for ensuring that staff understand and use good hygienic practices. Details on the type of food safety skills that food handlers need can be obtained from the FSAI guides on training,
3.3 Traceability and Recall
Recently, it has become a legal requirement to implement a traceability and recall system. This simply means that the business needs to keep track of its supplies and that in the event of a problem with a supplied product, the business must cooperate with the product recall. The following is the minimum information that must be recorded:
Name of product Name and address of supplier Date of delivery.
In practice, the commercial documents accompanying the delivery may have all these details. These documents should be maintained by the food business for the shelf-life of the product plus six months.
CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE OF THE BATCH FREEZER:
At the end of your production of gelato you must clean and sanitize the machine:
-inside, removing the mixer body and wash it with soap, as well as the cylinder,
-remove the lock nut and the outlet hole cover, wash with soap, and after that lubricate all the seals and the useable parts.
Sanitize it at the end putting some water inside with a drop of sanitizer and spin it for a few seconds.
Check periodically the state of the blades, if you see that inside the cylinder the blades don’t scrape the cylinder well, it means that it’s time to change them.
WHEN TO EXTRACT THE GELATO FROM THE BATCH FREEZER:
With Valmar Snowy9quick, considering 5 lts of mix, when the display shows between 57/61 the gelato should be ready. The gelato must look dry, and must come out from the machine very slowly and full of air inside.
CONSERVATION OF GELATO DURING THE SERVICE
The temperature of the display freezer must be between -12 and -13.
Whilst servicing you must check periodically the state of the gelato and change the temperature by 1 or max 2 degrees up or below.
FREEZING TIME IN THE BLAST FREEZER
-If the ice cream must be served immediately, keep it inside the blast freeze long enough so that the surface becomes hard,
-if the ice cream must be served after a few hours keep it almost 15/20 minutes,
-remember that some flavors such as: hazelnut, pistachio, 100%, chocolate, almond, and all the sorbets must be kept inside the blast freezer for a shorter time than the others.
CONSERVATION OF THE GELATO DURING THE NIGHT
-store the gelato in the column freezer at the temperature of -18 and before you start selling put in the freezer display at least 1 hour in advance.
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