This section has advice on the '4 Cs' of food hygiene - cleaning, cooking, chilling and cross-contamination.
This page gives some basic practical tips for caterers on cooking meat.
For easy to use guidance on cooking controls, required as part of a written food safety management system for your business, download the Safer Food, Better Business Pack.
Cooking Times and Temperatures
Thorough cooking is very important because it kills harmful bacteria in food. If bacteria survive in food because it is not cooked properly, it could make your customers ill.
When you cook poultry, minced/chopped meat (for example burgers and sausages) and rolled joints, you should make sure that the centre of the meat reaches a temperature of at least 70°C for two minutes, or an equivalent time/temperature combination.
The centre of the meat should reach one of the following temperatures for at least the time given below:
60°C – 45 mins
65°C – 10 mins
70°C – 2 mins
75°C – 30 secs
80°C – 6 secs
The only occasion when you do not need to follow the minimum time/temperature requirements is when you are cooking whole cuts or joints of meat traditionally served pink/rare at the customer’s request, such as beef or lamb.
When reheating meat, make sure it is piping hot all the way through and do not reheat it more than once
When using a probe thermometer, make sure you always clean the thermometer thoroughly every time you use it, before and after putting it in the food
