1- Hazard Analysis

Background: From Menu to Hazards in your Food Handler Certificate course covers the theory. This lesson shows you how to apply it to your own Food Safety Plan.

Objective: By the end of this lesson, you will be able to carry out a hazard analysis for the items on your menu. You will be able to:

• Name the three types of hazards.
• Find the hazards at each step of your flow diagram.
• Decide which hazards are significant.

The three types of hazards

• Biological: bacteria, viruses and parasites, for example Salmonella in raw poultry, norovirus from an ill worker, Clostridium perfringens in slowly cooled stock.
• Chemical: cleaning products, pesticide residues, natural toxins and allergens.
• Physical: glass, metal shavings, bone fragments, jewellery, packaging.

How to do it

1. Take the flow diagram for one dish or process.
2. At every step, ask: what could go wrong here? Write down each biological, chemical and physical hazard.
3. For each hazard, judge how likely it is and how severe the illness or injury would be.
4. Keep the hazards that are both reasonably likely and serious. These are your significant hazards.
5. Write the control measure for each one: cooking, chilling, sanitizing, separating raw from ready-to-eat, labelling allergens.

Example: roast chicken

Step	Hazard	Control
Receiving	Salmonella growth if delivered warm	Reject above 4 °C (40 °F)
Storage	Cross-contamination of other foods	Bottom shelf, covered
Cooking	Salmonella, Campylobacter survive	Cook to 74 °C (165 °F) internal
Hot holding	Bacterial growth	Hold at 60 °C (140 °F) or hotter

Keep this worksheet. It is the first document an inspector will ask to see.