Safe Buying, Storing, Preparing and Cooking
How to keep food safe from the shop to the plate: use-by and best-before dates, fridge and freezer temperatures, the danger zone, avoiding cross-contamination, and cooking and reheating food to a safe temperature.
Justify the choices, the way you are assessed
Free interactive practice on the decisions the assessment actually asks you to justify.
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Keeping food safe
Keeping food safe means handling it carefully from the shop to the plate. If food is bought, stored, prepared or cooked in the wrong way, harmful bacteria can grow and make people ill. This module looks at safe buying and storing, and safe preparing and cooking. The temperatures given follow current food safety guidance.
Food safety terms
Learn these four terms before you study safe food handling.
Use by or best before?
The two dates on food packaging mean different things.
Learn the key temperatures
Learn these temperatures from current food safety guidance. A fridge should be below 5 degrees Celsius, and a freezer about minus 18 degrees Celsius. The danger zone, where bacteria grow fastest, is from 5 to 63 degrees Celsius. Food should be cooked and reheated to at least 75 degrees Celsius, and reheated only once.
Match the storage rule
- storing raw meat at the bottom of the fridge
- covering food with a lid or wrap
- using separate chopping boards
- using older food before newer food
- so its juices cannot drip onto other food
- to keep out dirt, pests and drying air
- to keep raw and cooked foods apart
- so nothing is left to go off at the back
Match the cooking rule
- cooking chicken until it is piping hot
- checking food with a temperature probe
- defrosting frozen meat in the fridge
- washing your hands before cooking
- to kill harmful bacteria inside it
- to check it has reached a safe temperature
- so it thaws slowly and stays cold
- to remove bacteria from your skin
Spot the mistake
A cook uses the same knife to cut raw chicken and then a cucumber, without washing it in between. What food safety mistake is this?
- Cross-contamination, moving bacteria from the chicken onto the cucumber.
- Cooking food to the wrong temperature.
- Using food past its use by date.
- Reheating food too many times.
Choose the safe actions
Select the TWO actions that help keep food safe.
- Cooking chicken until it is piping hot all the way through.
- Storing raw meat at the bottom of the fridge.
- Leaving cooked rice out on the worktop overnight.
- Using the same board for raw meat and salad.
Prepare food safely
Put the steps of preparing food safely in order, earliest first.
- Wash your hands with soap and water
- Clean the work surfaces and boards
- Keep raw and cooked foods apart
- Cook the food thoroughly before serving
Complete the safe practice
When you get home from the shop, raw chicken should go straight in the _____. You should always _____ your hands before you handle any food. Raw and cooked foods should be kept on separate chopping _____. Leftover food should only ever be reheated _____. Raw meat is stored at the _____ of the fridge so it cannot drip onto other food.
Measure the danger zone
The danger zone runs from 5 degrees Celsius up to 63 degrees Celsius. How many degrees wide is the danger zone?
Find the unsafe actions
Tap the TWO actions that are UNSAFE.
- Leaving cooked food warm on the side for hours
- Storing raw meat at the bottom of the fridge
- Using one knife for raw chicken and then salad
- Washing your hands before cooking
Safe or unsafe?
Decide whether each action is safe or unsafe.
- Reheating a portion of soup until it is piping hot, one time only
- Eating chicken three days after its use by date
- Keeping the fridge running at 8 degrees Celsius
Explain safe food handling
Explain how to store and cook food safely to stop harmful bacteria growing. Give examples of good practice.
- Describe how to store food safely in the fridge and freezer
- Describe how to prepare food safely and avoid cross-contamination
- Explain how to cook and reheat food safely