Eduqas Level 1/2 Hospitality and Catering (5409) · Spec 1.3.2
HACCP and food safety systems
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. It is a system that finds hazards, sets controls, checks them and keeps records.
- A food safety system based on HACCP is a legal requirement for food businesses. It is not only for large restaurants: a small cafe or a B&B needs one too.
- HACCP is built on 7 principles. The first five go in this order: hazard analysis, critical control points, critical limits, monitoring, corrective actions.
- The main hazard types are microbiological (bacteria on raw chicken), chemical (cleaning spray in a sauce) and physical (a hair in a dessert). Allergens are also treated as a hazard.
- A critical limit is a measurable value that separates safe food from unsafe food, such as a core temperature of 75 °C for cooked meat. Monitoring checks it. A corrective action is what you do when a check fails.
- Hot food on display below 63 °C may be kept for no more than 2 hours, once only. After that it is thrown away. Cooked food for the fridge should be cooled as quickly as possible, within 90 minutes.
Key terms
- Hazard
- Anything that could make food unsafe to eat.
- Critical control point
- A step in the process where a hazard must be controlled, such as cooking or chilled storage.
- Critical limit
- A measurable value that separates safe from unsafe, such as 75 °C core temperature.
- Monitoring
- Checking that a control point is staying within its critical limit, such as reading the fridge display each morning.
- Corrective action
- What you do when a check fails, such as throwing away food left in the danger zone.
- Food probe
- A thermometer with a metal stem, pushed into the thickest part of food to read its core temperature.
Common mistakes
- Giving a vague instruction such as 'cook it thoroughly' as a critical limit. A critical limit has a number you can measure.
- Mixing up monitoring and corrective action. Reading the fridge display is monitoring. Throwing away warm food is the corrective action.
- Thinking records are only kept when something goes wrong. They are kept every day, as proof the system is working.
- Thinking HACCP only applies to large restaurants.
Exam tip
Use the exact words of the system in your answer: hazard, critical limit, monitoring, corrective action. Name the hazard, give the measurable limit, say how it is checked, then say what happens if it fails.
Free practice questions
8 questions, 11 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
What does a HACCP system do in a food business?
- Question 2 · True or false[1 mark]
True or false: Only large restaurants need to follow HACCP.
- Question 3 · Fill the gaps[1 mark]
HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical ___ Point.
Word bank: Cleaning · Check · Control · Cooking
- Question 4 · True or false[1 mark]
True or false: Cooked food for the fridge should be cooled as quickly as possible, within 90 minutes.
- Question 5 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which one is a critical limit?
- Question 6 · Matching[3 marks]
Match each example to the type of hazard.
- Question 7 · Choose more than one[2 marks]
Which TWO are corrective actions?
Choose 2.
- Question 8 · Put in order[1 mark]
Put the first five HACCP principles in order.
Use the arrows to put these in the right order, first at the top.
- 1Critical control points
- 2Hazard analysis
- 3Critical limits
- 4Monitoring
- 5Corrective actions