Tag: Temperature control
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Temperature Control in the Kitchen
We’ve already covered temperature control in the Danger Zone article, but here’s a little recap. Temperature control is important because bacteria grow rapidly in foods, particularly high risk foods which are left standing in the temperature danger zone. The temperature danger zone is between 5°C and 63°C (40°F-145°F). Most bacteria do not grow, or grow…
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More about food contamination
The previous article looked at how the food handler can avoid the risk of contaminating food. Now we’ll look at some other ways of avoiding food contamination. Prepared food should be safely stored at the correct temperature and removed only a short time before being required for consumption. However, even in this short “stand out”…
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Clostridium perfringens
Clostridium perfringens is found in virtually all soils, except those of the Sahara desert. It’s one of those nasty spore-forming bacteria which are hard to destroy, and is most commonly a cause of food poisoning where meat or poultry dishes have been left to cool slowly. It’s particularly associated with gravy, pies and large joints…
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How bacteria behave
As we’ve seen in the earlier articles in this series, there are a number of different types of food poisoning bacteria. These bacteria can cause food poisoning in different ways, depending on the behaviour of the type of bacteria. There are three main ways in which bacteria can act to cause food poisoning. – Some…
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Bacillus cereus
Bacillus cereus is a spore-forming bacterium and is associated with cereals and cooked rice. Once again, the way to reduce the risks of poisoning is by temperature control. If you’re saving cooked rice for another meal, don’t leave the food lingering in the temperature danger zone – chill it as quickly as possible. (For example,…
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Salmonella
Salmonella food poisoning is usually associated with eggs and poultry. Please see our article “A good egg?” where we discuss the risks in more detail. Salmonella can also be present in both human and animal intestines, so good personal hygiene can help to prevent salmonella poisoning. Wash your hands after using the toilet and after…