Hygiene for food businesses

Cooking and chilling are both essential to make sure the food you serve in your food business is safe to eat, and to prevent food poisoning.

Cooking food in your food business

Thorough cooking at the correct temperature kills harmful bacteria in food. You must not serve food that is not fully cooked. You should serve cooked food immediately or keep it hot until serving. If you're cooking food in advance, cool and chill it quickly.

It is important to make sure that you fully cook:

• poultry
• pork
• rolled joints
• products made from minced meat, such as burgers and sausages

These foods must not be served pink or rare, as they could harbour bacteria if undercooked. These foods should be steaming hot all the way through. 

Whole cuts of beef and lamb, such as steaks, cutlets and whole joints, can be served pink or rare as long as they are fully sealed on the outside.

Chilling food in your food business

Chilling food to the correct temperature stops bacteria from growing. The Food Standards Agency recommends chilling food at 0-5 degrees Celsius. Chilling food below 8 degrees Celsius is a legal requirement.

You must keep some foods chilled to keep them safe. For example:

• food with a 'use by' date
• food that you have cooked and not served immediately
• ready-to-eat food such as prepared salads

Guidelines for chilling food

You should always:

• check chilled food on delivery to make sure it is cold enough
• refrigerate chilled food immediately
• cool cooked food as quickly as possible before chilling
• keep chilled food out of the fridge for the shortest time possible during preparation
• avoid overloading fridges
• regularly check the temperature of your fridge and refrigerated display units