More than 11,000 cases of food poisoning are reported in Australia and New Zealand each day and many of these cases are caused by unhygienic food handling practices.
If a friend of yours became ill with food poisoning from food you had prepared, do you think that would affect how regularly they ate your food? It is probably safe to assume they would avoid your cooking! That is the same way customers would react to a
CHOOKS fresh & tasty store if it sold a food product that made them sick.
All CHOOKS team members have an important role to play in maintaining a high level of
food safety standards within the store. We have put together the
food safety information below to remind you how to handle food safely and comply with CHOOKS fresh & tasty food safety standards.
General
o Personal items must not be stored in food preparation areas. Please use the lockers provided.
o Maintain a clean and sanitary work area at all times; clean up spills immediately and empty bins regularly.
o Report all sightings of cockroaches, flies and rodents to your supervisor immediately.
Food Handling & Storage
o The time that food is out of refrigeration must be kept to a minimum. Use tongs disposable gloves as often as possible when handling cooked and uncooked food – remember disposable gloves are NOT used to protect your hands – they are used to protect the food from contamination.
o Hot food must be stored in warmers above 60°C.
o Cold be stored in refrigerated equipment between 1-5°C.
o Frozen food must be stored in a freezer at-18°C.
o All equipment must be checked at least twice a day to ensure it is at the correct temperature – this must be recorded and documented.
o All delivered goods’ temperatures must be checked to ensure they are at the correct temperature – this must be recorded and documented.
o Frozen food must be thawed in refrigerated equipment – do not thaw food on the bench or in an ambient (outside) environment.
o Keep raw food separated from cooked food – always store raw food below cooked food in your cool room.
o Raw and cooked food must always be covered in your cool room.
Personal Hygiene o Report immediately to your Manager if you have any of the following symptoms: food poisoning, stomach ache, vomiting, diarrhoea, salmonella infection, boils, abscesses or skin infections on the arms and/or hands containing pus – you cannot work with food if you are suffering any of the above.
o Cover all cuts, open wounds and abrasions to the hands or fi ngers with a coloured band aid and disposable glove.
o Wear a CHOOKS fresh & tasty hat at all times – long hair should be contained with a hair net.
o Wear a clean uniform.
o Wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap and dry with a disposable paper hand towel when:
• You arrive at work
• Following your lunch break
• You have used the toilet
• After handling raw food such as whole chickens
• You have sneezed or coughed on your hands
• Before using disposable gloves
• After using disposable gloves as warm, moist gloves provide the ideal breeding ground for harmful bacteria that are naturally present on hands.
By remembering to follow these basic food handling rules, we can make sure our customers receive only the highest quality and safest products!
Continuing along the subject of health, Occupational Safety & Health (OSH) is a high priority for CHOOKS fresh & tasty and its stores. It is a vital part of our business and shapes what and how we do things in our stores every day. We are committed to providing a safe work environment for all team members.
That is why we have created a new Safety Management System (SMS) that keeps record of our OSH Plan, policies and procedures and provides many practical tools to ensure we maintain a safe workplace.
Of course our aim is to always work on improving our systems and processes by monitoring our business activities and applying changes when necessary. This is why we encourage our franchisees and team members to get involved in monitoring OSH by observing and suggesting changes in-store to reduce any chance of incidents occurring.
The SMS will be loaded onto the desktop of every CHOOKS fresh & tasty office computer. The SMS is user-friendly and is available for all team members to use and become familiar with.
As you’ve probably realised, we cannot improve our food safety or OSH without input from team members, store managers and franchisees – we need to work as a team to ensure everything we do is at the highest standard so we’re selling our customers the best product possible and staying safe in the process. If you have any questions, suggestions or would like more information about food safety or the SMS we encourage you to speak with your franchisee or store manager.
13-Feb-2008