As a caterer, you need to know about the Food Safety Act and Regulations as well as what types of food poisoning exist and how to avoid them. This chapter covers these topics, safety tips, how to transport food and also the role of the environmental health officer. It is a legal requirement that anyone involved in food preparation in the UK holds a basic food hygiene preparation certificate. Contact your local environmental health officer for details and types of courses.

Fridge Storage And Temperature Control

Temperature control is essential in food storage. It is vital that raw meat is, for example, stored at the base of the fridge at a temperature of 1–4°C to stop bacteria from multiplying. Keep a thermometer in the fridge and record a diary of temperatures for health and safety inspection. Keep it on the door to remind staff to check the temperature levels.

Other foods that need chilling are:

• Milk, yoghurt, cream, butter, foods with cream filling, dairy-based deserts and certain cheeses.
• Many cooked products until ready to eat cold or heated. Most foods containing eggs, meat, fish, dairy products, cereals, rice, pulses or vegetables, and sandwich fillings containing these ingredients.
• Most smoked or cured products like hams unless the curing method means the product is not perishable at room temperature.
• Prepared ready-to-eat meals including prepared vegetables, salad leaves, coleslaw and products containing mayonnaise.
• Pizzas with meat, fish or vegetables.
• Foods with ‘use by’ and ‘keep refrigerated’ labels.

Foods that don’t need chilling:

• Some cured/smoked products.
• Bakery goods.
• Canned and dried foods like pickles, jams, sauces. (However, these do need chilling once opened.)

Food Poisoning

As a caterer you and your staff need to understand what causes food poisoning and how it can be avoided. It is vital that your premises are clean throughout. The kitchen, naturally, is the hot spot where cleanliness is of paramount importance. The food you serve must be absolutely safe; you can do this by strict following of hygiene and cross contamination rules.

Below are the most common causes of food poisoning. It makes for alarming reading! But remember that they are preventable.

• Campylobactor: the most common food poisoning bug in the UK. Found in raw and undercooked poultry, red meat, unpasteurised milk, untreated water. Just a piece of undercooked chicken can cause severe illness.
• Symptoms: gastroenteritis with fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea that is often bloody. Can be fatal.
• Salmonella: the second most common food poisoning bug. Found in eggs, raw meat, poultry, unpasteurised milk, yeast and even pasta, coconut and chocolate. Grows very well in the food itself unless the food is chilled. It is also passed easily from person to person by poor hygiene such as not washing hands.
• Symptoms: usually mild, with abdominal pain, diarrhoea and nausea but rarely vomiting.
• Clostridium perfringens: the third most common bug and the least reported as symptoms are vague. Found in soil, sewage, animal manure and in the gut of animals and humans. It breeds in food cooked slowly in large quantities then left to stand for a long time. Symptoms: when taken in large numbers, the bacteria produce toxins which attack the gut lining causing diarrhoea and acute abdominal pain.
• Listeria: a food poisoning bug of particular danger to pregnant women, babies and the elderly. Found in soft, mould-ripened cheeses, pates, unpasteurised milk and shellfish. Resists heat, salt and nitrate and acidity better than many micro-organisms. Symptoms: fever, headache, nausea and vomiting. Can be fatal to the elderly, immune impaired infants and developing foetuses.
• Scrombotoxin: although not strictly speaking a bug, this poison is produced by certain bacteria in oily fish which has been allowed to spoil through inadequate refrigeration. It causes a dramatic histamine reaction. Found in fresh and tinned mackerel, tuna and – very rarely – Swiss cheese. Symptoms: tingling or burning in the mouth, a rash on the face or upper body, itching, sweating and headache with a drop in blood pressure, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting.
• E.coli 0157: most strains of E.coli are harmless but those producing the poison verocytoxin can cause severe illness, E.coli 0157 being one. Found in farm animals and land contaminated with their faeces. Transmitted through undercooked minced beef (such as burgers) and unpasturised, inadequately heated or contaminated milk. Symptoms: abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhoea. In serious cases, kidney failure, severe anaemia, neurological problems and death.