Best Practice for Maintenance of Food Hygiene Standards in Early Childhood Centres

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1 Best Practice for Maintenance of Food Hygiene Standards in Early Childhood Centres The main purpose of an early childhood kitchen is to provide safe, healthy and nutritional meals for children. The Regulatory requirements for kitchen facilities are stated and referenced in this document, and have been paraphrased. Regulation 45 Premises and facilities standard: general PF15: Safe & hygienic place for children to sit and eat PF16: A sink connected to hot water supply A means of hygienically washing dishes Best practice is to have a commercial dishwasher. If this is not possible and a domestic dishwasher is used this should have a temperature activated sanitising cycle set at 65 C or higher. Ensure the length of the dishwasher cycle is compatible with the timing of the service of food eg. the cycle is not too long, and check the water temperature of the fast cycle option if this is likely to be used. Centres that hand wash dishes must have adequate detergent and water which is at least 43C. Rinsing dishes with clean boiling water is essential; submerge dishes in a container of boiling water for 30 seconds, remove and allow to drain and air dry. A means of cooking and/or heating food A means of keeping perishable food at a temperature below 4ºC and protected from vermin and insects.

2 Storage and food preparation surfaces are undamaged and easily maintained. Surfaces do not attract dampness or bacteria, e.g. cracks. PF17 Kitchen and cooking facilities are designed to prevent unsupervised access by children eg. use of safety devices, location. Regulation 46 Health and safety practices standard: General HS22 No children to eat alone and a staff roster ensures children are supervised while eating. Regulatory requirements for hand washing PF20 Hand washing is designed and located in a safe place for children and encourages children to use it.

3 HS13 The temperature of water that children use is no more than 40 C. Public Health recommends 38 C Soap is easily accessible, paper towels to dry hands are best practice for early childhood environments. Recommendations for kitchen design We recommend a dedicated hand washing sink in the kitchen, as poor hand washing is a major source for cross-contamination and the spread of illness. It is ideal to have a small sink in a separate location in the kitchen. However a double sink or waste master is sufficient. Hand washing recommendations Use flow soap and paper towels. (Alternatives such as a roller towel, air dryer or individual towels are much harder for children to use correctly). Training on orientation for staff Reminder stickers / posters on wall or whiteboard Personal reminders to staff on as needed basis Regular item at staff meetings A written procedure or implementation process given to staff

4 Policy A policy is a plan that guides decisions to ensure best practice. Policy should always be designed with the point of view that the person reading it does not know about early childhood centres. Procedures/processes A procedure or process gives specific actions to achieve from your policy. Each service should have their own individual process, as all services are different in design, enrolled number of children, and food provision. Written procedures should be provided for the following food safety areas: Hand washing Dishwashing Storage of food in the fridge Stored in covered containers and cooked food is stored above raw food. Defrosting of frozen food This occurs either in the fridge or the microwave Cooling and re-heating of food Cooling; Perishable food should not be stored for more than 2 hours at room temperature or in the danger zone of 4 and 60 C. Reheating: not more than once and thoroughly heated through. Washing of fruit and vegetables All fresh fruit and salad vegetables washed in water prior to eating Monitor cooking of high risk foods (chicken and red meat) Steps are taken to ensure the internal temperature of high risk foods reaches 75 C. Use of temperature gauges means food can be easily checked and monitored, without over cooking the meat. Alternatively juices must run clear from these meats, with no pink be visible in the middle of the largest pieces.

5 Recommendations to minimise cross contamination: Staff Training on orientation Provision of written information to parents on issue Communication process and action plan when illness identified Reminder stickers / posters / pamphlets on walls, whiteboard per issue Personal reminders to staff on as needed basis Regular item at staff meetings A written procedure or implementation process given to staff A procedure for children to wash hands after toileting A procedure for children to wash hands before eating A procedure for children to clean hands and face after eating It is important that staff, parents and children do not increase the risk of cross contamination and bring pathogens into the food preparation area. Kitchen Staff On-going Training We recommend the cook attends a basic food hygiene course on employment and either a refresher session on food hygiene or a second training as the manager identifies is necessary. We recommend internal audits of Food Safety Standards on an annual basis.