Guidelines for Food Hygiene and Safety in School
Winsford High Street Primary
Guidelines for
Food Hygiene and Safety
In School
Prepared by:
Date for Review: October 2015
These guidelines apply to the home economics kitchen in the Chappell Building.
At High Street Primary we adhere to strict food hygiene practices in order to protect
our children from physical, chemical and bacterial contamination.
The Law
It is an offence to:
 provide food that is dangerous through contamination
 to provide food unfit to eat
 to provide food that is not of quality requested
 to falsely describe food.
The Environmental Health Officer (EHO) can visit at any time and will check on the
way food is handled in settings.
The EHO will look at the following during an inspection:
 premises
 personal hygiene
 training records
 working practices
 risk awareness – what controls are in place
 temperature controls – fridge/freezers at correct temperatures before a
cooking session.
If food safety laws are broken, the EHO can recommend prosecution and therefore
all health and safety legislation needs to be strictly followed.
To protect the safety of the food for children at High Street Primary School we
adhere to the food hygiene and safety policy.
Preventative measures
These are known as HACCP:
H = hazards, anything that can cause harm to the consumer
A = analysis – how/when/where food contamination could occur
C C P = critical control points – preparation, serving and storage of foods. This is the
last possible point that contamination can occur. For example in the case of
High Street Primary School, this would be the table the children are preparing/eating
the food they are making/have just made.
Control measures
Guidelines for Food Hygiene and Safety in School
Winsford High Street Primary
Following every cooking session it is the class teacher’s responsibility to ensure the
kitchen is left in a hygienic state (in line with HACCP measures).
The role of staff
Staff have designated jobs each session and are made aware of the implications for
notcarrying out these jobs. At the end of each cooking sessionthe completed weekly
cleaning sheets are to be filed in the Food Safety file. Staff have been advised to tie
hair back and to observe their own personal hygiene standards in line with the food
hygiene and safety policy and to ensure that the children are being taught to comply
with the same legislation.
Cleaning Procedure
It is vital that all surfaces, utensils and containers are cleaned thoroughly before and
after use. Staff are encouraged to ‘clean as they go’ making sure that equipment is
kept clean at all times.
The cleaning procedure for cleaning surfaces in our setting is:
 remove excess dirt
 clean with detergent
 rinse
 disinfect with anti bacterial spray
 rinse again
 dry hygienically.
Staff Training Procedure
All relevant staff will attend a training session about food safety (one member from
each key stage – Hannah Lewis (KS2) Alex Bullen (KS1) Melanie Burkey (EYFS)
Margaret Hardwick (TA)). Staff will review the cleaning procedures regularly in
technology team meetings to ensure they are being carried out.
Contamination
Physical Contamination
This form of contamination results from foreign objects falling into food, e.g. insects,
packaging, hair and jewellery.
To prevent this type of contamination, staff must:
 keep food covered at all times
 store food at 18” or more above the floor
 avoid wearing jewellery whilst preparing food
 tie hair back securely
Chemical Contamination
This form of contamination taints food causing a change in colour or taste, e.g. fly
spray and other aerosol cans being sprayed near food, copper pots cause tainting,
leaving food in cans.
To prevent this type of contamination, staff must:
 transfer the contents of cans into plastic containers immediately after use
 avoid spraying fly spray or other aerosol products in the food preparation area
 avoid the use of old or scratched utensils and pots.
Guidelines for Food Hygiene and Safety in School
Winsford High Street Primary
Bacterial Contamination
This form of contamination is the most dangerous and is caused by microscopic
organisms/germs in the food. There are two forms of bacteria in food – food spoilage
bacteria and food poisoning bacteria.
Food Spoilage Bacteria/Food Poisoning Bacteria
Food spoilage bacteria will make food rot or ‘go off’, this might be shown in a variety
of ways, including, but not exhausting, changes in the colour, texture, smell or taste
of the food. Any food with a possibility of having being spoiled must be discarded
immediately. Food spoilage bacteria can make people ill through food poisoning
such as Salmonella, Staphylococusalveus, E Coli and Clostridium perfringens.
Food poisoning bacteria can be transferred to food in a variety of ways:
Hands – washed before and after every task in the kitchen
Mop buckets/brooms – can contain Clostridium Perfringens
Insects – open windows should have fly screens to prevent insects being able to fly
in to the food preparation area
Dust/dirt/soil – contains Clostridium Perfringens
Poultry – contains Salmonella
Red meat – contains E Coli.
Food Poisoning
Food poisoning can cause injury and disease, legal action and/or closure of the
setting. Symptoms include: stomach ache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, possible
fever.
Food Poisoning:
Onset times and duration periods:
Disease
Salmonella
Staphyloccusaureus
Tuberculosis
Clostridium
perfringens
Onset Time
12 – 36 hours
1 – 6 hours
4 – 6 weeks
6-12 hours
Duration
1 – 7 days
6 – 24 hours
9 months
24-48 hours
Staff must be aware of the symptoms of food poisoning and of the onset times when
considering the cause of food poisoning.
Cross Contamination
Cross contamination is when bacteria is transferred from one item of food to another
via vehicles such as cutlery, hands, containers, work surfaces, chopping boards.
Staff must wash such vehicles thoroughly after use to prevent cross contamination.
Conditions for bacteria to grow
Bacteria needs food, moisture, warmth and time to grow in food. If one of these
factors is removed then bacteria are unable to grow. However, if all of these factors
are available, bacteria will grow to DANGEROUS levels very quickly.
High risk foods - high protein foods: cooked meats, cream/dairy products, poultry
and cooked rice.
Guidelines for Food Hygiene and Safety in School
Winsford High Street Primary
Low risk foods - low protein foods: salad, flour, dried foods, pickled foods.
Staff must ensure that milk and butter are kept refrigerated at all times. Milk and
butter must not be left out of the fridge or uncovered for any period of time. Milk and
butter should be returned to the fridge after use.
Food Allergies
There are eight major foods that cause allergies – these are:
 peanuts
 nuts
 milk
 eggs
 shell fish
 soya
 fish
 Sesame seeds.
In the case of an allergic reaction to foods (known as anaphylaxis) staff should:
 not move the person
 ring 999 and get paramedics immediately
 inform the emergency services that you suspect anaphylaxis
 stay with the patient
 send someone to wait for the ambulance.
PREVENTING ANAPHYLAXIS – always be aware of the EXACT contents of food,
clean hands, surfaces, utensils thoroughly.
BE AWARE OF THE OILS IN FOODS – THEY MAY CONTAIN THE EIGHT MAJOR
ALLERGY FOODS.
We are committed to equal opportunities for all irrespective of race, gender,
sexuality, disability or religion. We will monitor the impact of this policy to ensure that
no group is adversely affected.