Highfield Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety in Catering (RQF) 500-7327-8

Highfield Level 4 Award in Managing Food Safety in Catering (RQF) 10 o explain the importance of food safety procedures: − evaluate the most recent incidents of reported food borne illness regarding causative organisms and food vehicles and give reasons for seasonal variations in reported outbreaks o outline the characteristics of different food types: − identify, providing examples the main characteristics of high risk, raw, low risk and ready to eat raw foods and outline the dangers associated with contamination of each food type o explain the four main types of contamination associated with the production of food and analyse the risks posed to food safety, identify how they may occur and give examples of how they can be controlled and managed in the food industry: − define the four main food safety hazards: microbiological, physical, chemical and allergenic − give examples of sources of physical hazards, differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic contamination and identify suitable policies and procedures to control their prevention, detection and removal − give examples of sources of chemical hazards (inherent and introduced) and compare and contrast suitable policies and procedures to control their prevention, detection and removal − describe the main symptoms of an allergenic reaction and give examples of common allergens and identify suitable policies and procedures to prevent consumption by persons who are sensitive to allergens − describe and explain principal routes vehicles and routes of contamination and cross contamination − outline the possible consequences if food safety hazards are not controlled • Microbiology (Multiplication & Survival Hazards) • Candidates must understand how micro-organisms pose a hazard to food safety by being able to: o discuss the main characteristics of micro-organisms, including optimum growth requirements: − outline the structure, shape and size of bacteria and distinguish between the main types of bacteria − describe how bacteria multiply, and identify factors influencing bacterial growth − state the temperature range of the danger zone, optimum temperatures for bacterial growth, temperatures when most pathogens will stop multiplying and temperatures where they will die − identify timescales involved in bacterial multiplication and explain the significance of the bacterial growth curve o identify effective methods of destroying microbes: − methods include: heat (cooking, pasteurisation, ultra-heat treatment), use of chemicals, such as salt, sugar, acids − outline the principles involved with methods of preservation