Some people consider frozen food to be low risk as frozen food does not support the multiplication of food poisoning bacteria. However, low-risk foods can be stored safely at ambient temperatures so, other than dry-mix, ice cream is definitely not low risk.

Walls etc. ice cream has not, as far as we are aware, been involved with any outbreak as it will have been subject to heat treatment.

However, home made ice cream has been responsible for several outbreaks of food poisoning - even when there has been no time for multiplication.

The original concept for high-risk foods was those foods most likely to be implicated in food poisoning and which therefore had to be protected from pathogens and stored at temperatures to prevent the growth of pathogens. This certainly applies to ice cream.

We would never store ice cream with raw frozen chicken and therefore on balance I would treat ice cream as high-risk.

Not every business has the latest equipment. The temperature of some older refrigerators, ovens and hot storage cabinets may vary depending on the shelf where the temperature is taken. Tutors should emphasize that tests should be carried out to determine if there is a temperature variation. If there is a variation in refrigerators/chillers and freezers the temperature should be taken of food stored in the warmest part of the equipment. Conversely in hot equipment such as ovens the temperature should be taken of food cooked in the the coolest part of the oven.

Cooking food quickly, at high temperatures may result in high surface temperatures with undercooked core temperatures. This commonly occurs in barbecues when the outside of burgers are burnt with the inside being raw. Scotch eggs cooked in deep fat fryers set to maximum temperatures has also resulted in food poisoning.

Provided it is in good condition and well maintained a dishwasher will probably give better results than single sink washing, especially if the water is used when 'cool' or 'dirty'. As with all equipment used in commercial food premises, commercial equipment is designed for significantly harder use than domestic equipment. However, a 'domestic dishwasher' is likely to give better results than a single sink in domestic premises.

Regular handwashing, and handwashing after all unhygienic practices, is always important. However, some activities can result in millions of food poisoning bacteria being transferred to the hands. On these occasionshand washing is critical. For example, if the hands are not washed after coming into contact with faecal material, septic wounds or vomit then there is a real risk of food poisoning. As far as practicable we should reduce the need for hand washing by minimising contamination of the hands, for example, cough or sneeze into the sleeve or shoulder not onto the hands.

There is no requirement for candidates to have a knowledge of different characteristics of specific micro-organisms, for example, incubation periods, symptoms or sources of specific organisms. However, they do need to know generic information about food poisoning organisms. Furthermore, because it is a legal requirement for persons suffering from a foodborne disease to report to the food business operator they need to know which diseases are likely to be foodborne, such as, norovirus, campylobacter, E.coli O157, listeria, hepititis A and dysentery.

As far as catering, retail and dry manufacturing businesses are concerned it would usually be considered unnecessary to disinfect them on a daily basis. However, they must be kept clean, throughout the day and floors in most food rooms would be cleaned at least daily. Where there was a potential problem with listeria, for example, a factory producing ready-to-eat chilled meals then floors may need to be cleaned and disinfected, throughout the day, and at least daily.

We have never heard of a case of food poisoning being caused by contact of high-risk food with head covering or cross-contamination from hair to food. However, it is obviously bad practice to allow hats to come into contact with food or for food handlers to touch their hair and then touch food without washing their hands. Staphylococcus aureus is unlikely to be transferred in large enough numbers from either of these activities to result in food poisoning. Contrast this with the very large numbers of Staphylococcus aureus in septic cuts, spots or boils which are very likely to result in food poisoning if food handlers affected with these handle food with contaminated hands.

The type of detergent and time / temperature combination should be sufficient to disinfect dishcloths based on 65ºC.

Most spores of food poisoning organisms will survive most forms of cooking undertaken in a commercial kitchen. However, many spores could be destroyed in pressure cooking where temperatures exceed 100ºC for significant periods of time.

As far as practicable food safety training should be based on sound, scientific principles. In practice many food businesses use the same cleaning buckets, cloths and gloves etc for cleaning. Therefore, you should always start with the high-risk areas and finish with the raw food / dirty areas. This principle is applied to any equipment or surface, which makes it easier to remember for the examination on when cleaning the premises. Obviously, we would recommendusing different colour-coded cleaning materials and equipment for high-risk food and raw food areas. Even if using colour-coded buckets they should never be placed on a work surface.

It is essential that candidates are aware of foods that are most likely to be contaminated with large numbers of food poisoning organisms and those foods that you would not expect to contain food poisoning organisms. Raw foods, especially those that may have come into contact with faecal material are most likely to be contaminated, where as high-risk foods (other than raw oysters) should not be contaminated (if they are contaminated they will cause food poisoning). Candidates should be aware of the significant increase in foodborne disease in outbreaks associated with unwashed fruit and produce such as lettuce, tomatoes, melons and respberries.