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1. Module 1. Food safety and the law

   Everyone who handles food at work has a legal duty to keep it safe. Your employer must make sure you are trained, instructed or supervised in food hygiene to a level that matches your job. This course gives you that training.

   What you will learn

   • Explain why food safety matters to customers and to the business.
   • Name the main food laws in the UK, and who enforces them.
   • Describe your duties as a food handler and your employer's duties.
   • Explain how food hygiene ratings work.

   Key points

   • Food safety is a legal duty for everyone who handles food at work.
   • Environmental Health Officers from the local council inspect and enforce the law.
   • Training must match the job, and the business must be able to prove it.
   • Inspection results feed the hygiene rating that customers see.

   Based on: Food Safety Act 1990; Food Safety (Northern Ireland) Order 1991; Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013; Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (retained in UK law); Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland guidance.

2. Module 2. Food safety hazards and contamination

   A hazard is anything in food that could harm the person who eats it. There are four types, and your job is to stop each one getting into food.

   What you will learn

   • Name the four types of food hazard and give examples of each.
   • Explain the three ways cross-contamination happens.
   • Use separation, colour coding and cleaning to prevent it.
   • Prevent physical and chemical contamination.

   Key points

   • The four hazards are microbiological, physical, chemical and allergenic.
   • Keep raw and ready-to-eat food apart at every stage: delivery, storage, preparation and display.
   • Use separate or colour-coded boards, knives and cloths, and clean and disinfect between tasks.
   • Store chemicals away from food, in their labelled containers, and never mix them.

   Based on: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (retained in UK law); Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland guidance.

3. Module 3. Bacteria, food poisoning and temperature control

   Most food poisoning is caused by harmful bacteria growing in food kept at the wrong temperature. Controlling temperature is the single most important thing you do in a kitchen.

   What you will learn

   • Explain what bacteria need to grow and why the danger zone matters.
   • Recognise high-risk foods and the most common causes of food poisoning.
   • Apply the key temperatures for cooking, cooling, chilling, hot holding and reheating.
   • Use and check a probe thermometer.

   Key points

   • The danger zone is 5°C to 63°C. Keep high-risk food out of it.
   • Cook to a core temperature of 75°C (or 70°C for 2 minutes), and check with a clean probe.
   • Hot hold at 63°C or above. Chill at 5°C or below (8°C is the legal maximum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
   • Cool food quickly and reheat it only once. Scotland requires 82°C when reheating.

   Based on: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (retained in UK law); Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland guidance.

4. Module 4. Personal hygiene and fitness to work

   People are one of the main sources of harmful bacteria and viruses in food. Clean hands and reporting illness protect your customers more than anything else you do.

   What you will learn

   • Wash your hands correctly and know when you must.
   • Follow the rules on clothing, hair, jewellery and personal habits.
   • Know which illnesses you must report and when you can return to work.

   Key points

   • Wash your hands in the handwash basin, with soap, for at least 20 seconds, and dry them with a paper towel.
   • Gloves do not replace handwashing. Change them between tasks.
   • Wear clean protective clothing, tie back your hair, remove jewellery and cover cuts with a blue waterproof plaster.
   • Report diarrhoea or vomiting before work, and stay away from food until 48 hours after symptoms stop.

   Based on: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (retained in UK law); Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland guidance.

5. Module 5. Cleaning, waste, pest control and premises

   A clean kitchen removes the dirt, grease and food debris that bacteria and pests need. Cleaning and disinfection are two different jobs, and you need both.

   What you will learn

   • Explain the difference between cleaning and disinfection.
   • Follow the six-stage clean and a cleaning schedule.
   • Handle waste safely.
   • Spot the signs of pests and know what to do.

   Key points

   • Cleaning removes dirt and grease. Disinfection reduces bacteria to a safe level. You need both, in that order.
   • Always follow the dilution and contact time on the label.
   • Clean as you go, and follow the written cleaning schedule.
   • Report any sign of pests to your manager straight away. Never set traps or poison yourself.

   Based on: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (retained in UK law); Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland guidance.

6. Module 6. Food allergens

   For someone with a food allergy, a tiny amount of the wrong ingredient can cause a severe reaction or death. Cooking does not remove allergens, so the only protection is accurate information and careful handling.

   What you will learn

   • Name the 14 allergens that must be declared.
   • Explain the difference between an allergy, an intolerance and coeliac disease.
   • Know what the law requires in the UK.
   • Answer allergy questions safely and prevent cross-contact.
   • Respond to a severe allergic reaction.

   Key points

   • There are 14 allergens that must be declared by law.
   • Never guess. If you are not sure, say so and ask.
   • Allergen information can be written or verbal; if it is verbal, a written notice must tell customers to ask.
   • Cleaning removes allergens; disinfectant alone does not.
   • For anaphylaxis, call 999 straight away.

   Based on: Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 (retained in UK law); Food Information Regulations 2014 and the matching regulations in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland; Natasha's Law; Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland guidance.

7. Module 7. From delivery to service, and HACCP basics

   Food must be kept safe at every step, from the moment it arrives until it reaches the customer. Your workplace's food safety management system, based on HACCP, sets out how.

   What you will learn

   • Check deliveries and reject unsafe food.
   • Store food correctly in the fridge, freezer and dry store.
   • Explain the difference between use-by and best-before dates.
   • Serve and display food safely.
   • Describe the seven principles of HACCP and your part in them.

   Key points

   • Reject chilled food above 8°C (above the recommended 5°C in Scotland) and frozen food above −18°C.
   • Raw food at the bottom of the fridge, ready-to-eat food above, and first in, first out.
   • Never use food after its use-by date.
   • HACCP means finding the critical steps, setting limits, checking them and recording the checks honestly.

   Based on: Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 (retained in UK law); Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland guidance; Safer Food Better Business, Safe Catering and CookSafe.

HygieneReady certificates confirm completion of training. They are not a regulated qualification. Definitions of the key terms are in the glossary.