Highfield Level 4 Award in Food Safety Management for Manufacturing (RQF) 500-7326-6

Highfield Level 4 Award in Food Safety Management for Manufacturing (RQF) 10 − 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 − analyse the risks to food safety from microbial, physical, chemical and allergenic hazards in a specified food business − 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 identify 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 o explain how bacterial spores and toxins are formed and why these may pose a hazard within the food industry: − explain the terms ‘bacterial spore’, identify the role spores play in the survival of bacteria, describe the conditions under which spores are formed and the consequences these may have for food safety − describe how some bacteria produce toxins and distinguish between exotoxins and endotoxins