Preventing Salmonella in a Food Business

To prevent Salmonella in a food business, control it at every stage: buy from approved suppliers, keep raw poultry, eggs and meat separate from ready-to-eat food, cook potentially hazardous food thoroughly (a widely used target is a core temperature of 75°C), keep cold food at or below 5°C, and enforce strict handwashing. Salmonella comes mainly from poultry, raw eggs and cross-contamination, so layered controls — not any single step — keep it out of food. Confirm requirements with your council or state food regulator. Key takeaways: Salmonella in food businesses comes mainly from raw poultry, raw or lightly cooked eggs, and cross-contamination from raw to ready-to-eat food.. Cook potentially hazardous food thoroughly — a widely used Australian target is a core temperature of 75°C (or a documented time-and-temperature equivalent) — and verify with a calibrated probe rather than judging by colour.. Separate raw poultry, meat and eggs from ready-to-eat food at every stage: storage, preparation, equipment and hands.. Keep cold food at 5°C or below and hot food at 60°C or above to stop any surviving Salmonella from multiplying in the danger zone.. No single step is enough — layer supplier control, temperature control, separation and hygiene, meet your training obligations under Standards 3.2.2 and 3.2.2A, and confirm specifics with your council or state regulator.. Where Salmonella comes from in a food business Salmonella is a bacterium that lives in the gut of animals, especially poultry, and is one of the most commonly reported causes of foodborne illness in Australia. In a commercial kitchen it usually enters on raw ingredients and then spreads. Understanding the main sources tells you where to focus your controls. The bacteria are invisible, odourless and do not change how food looks, so you cannot rely on your senses — you have to manage the process. Raw poultry (chicken, turkey, duck) — the single most common source; assume all raw poultry is contaminated. Raw and lightly cooked eggs — especially cracked, dirty or improperly stored eggs, and raw-egg products such as aioli, mayonnaise, mousse and tiramisu. Raw meat and offal, and unpasteurised (raw) milk and dairy. Fresh produce contaminated in the supply chain, with sprouts and rockmelon among the higher-risk items. Cross-contamination inside the kitchen — from raw food to hands, boards, knives, cloths and ready-to-eat food. Infected food handlers, who can shed Salmonella for days or weeks, sometimes without symptoms. Raw eggs deserve special attention Raw and undercooked eggs are a repeated cause of Salmonella outbreaks linked to Australian food businesses, particularly through raw-egg sauces and desserts. Standard 3.2.2 and state egg guidance generally expect businesses to handle eggs carefully and to avoid using raw egg in ready-to-eat products served to the public where a safe alternative exists. If you make raw-egg products, treat it as a high-risk process and confirm what your food safety program and jurisdiction allow. Buy clean, uncracked, stamped eggs from an approved, licensed supplier. Store eggs refrigerated at or below 5°C and use them in rotation. Never use dirty or cracked eggs, and do not wash eggs (washing can drive contamination through the shell). For raw-egg products such as aioli or mayonnaise, use pasteurised egg product, or acidify and control the recipe, and make small batches kept cold and used quickly. Cook egg dishes until firm; take extra care with food for vulnerable groups (see below). Stopping cross-contamination Even if an ingredient arrives contaminated, cross-contamination is the step most within your control. Salmonella travels from raw poultry, meat and eggs to ready-to-eat food via hands, equipment, surfaces and drips. Separation in space, time and equipment breaks that path. The goal is that nothing which touched raw high-risk food touches ready-to-eat food without cleaning and sanitising in between. Store raw poultry and meat below and away from ready-to-eat food, in sealed containers, so juices cannot drip down. Use separate, clearly identified boards, knives and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat food (colour-coding helps). Clean and then sanitise surfaces, equipment and probes between raw and ready-to-eat tasks — cleaning removes soil, sanitising reduces bacteria. Prepare raw and ready-to-eat food at different times or in different areas where space is tight. Never rinse raw chicken in the sink — splashing spreads Salmonella around the kitchen. Change and launder cloths frequently, or use single-use paper, to avoid wiping contamination across surfaces. Cooking to destroy Salmonella Thorough cooking reliably destroys Salmonella. The Food Standards Code does not fix a single mandatory cooking temperature, but a widely used Australian guidance target is a core temperature of 75°C in the thickest part, measured with a clean, calibrated probe thermometer. Recognised time-and-temperature combinations (for example around 70°C held for two minutes) achieve an equivalent reduction, but must be reliably held and documented. Poultry and any minced, rolled, stuffed or reformed meat must be cooked right through, because bacteria are carried throughout, not just on the surface. Cook poultry to 75°C in the centre — never serve chicken pink or with red juices. Cook mince, sausages, rissoles and rolled or stuffed roasts thoroughly to the centre. Verify with a probe in the thickest part, avoiding bone and the pan; colour, texture and time are not proof. Reheat previously cooked food rapidly to 75°C — do not use a bain-marie to reheat cold food. Calibrate the probe regularly and sanitise it between foods. Cold and hot holding: don't let survivors multiply Any Salmonella that survives can multiply rapidly between 5°C and 60°C — the temperature danger zone. Keeping food out of this zone is a core control under Standard 3.2.2. A small number of surviving cells may not cause illness, but given hours in the danger zone