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.. Temperature controls for Salmonella: Control point, Target. Cooking poultry, mince and rolled/stuffed meats — Core temperature of 75°C (or a documented time-and-temperature equivalent). Cold holding — 5°C or below. Hot holding — 60°C or above. Reheating cooked food — Rapidly to 75°C. Cooling cooked food — 60°C to 21°C within 2 hours, then 21°C to 5°C within a further 4 hours. 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 they can grow to dangerous levels. Keep cold food cold, hot food hot, and move food through the zone quickly. Keep cold potentially hazardous food at or below 5°C. Keep hot food being held for service at or above 60°C. Cool cooked food from 60°C to 21°C within two hours, and from 21°C to 5°C within a further four hours (the FSANZ 2-hour/4-hour cooling guide). Minimise the time high-risk food spends at room temperature during preparation. Record fridge, cool-room and hot-holding temperatures so you can show the controls are working. Symptoms of Salmonella infection Salmonellosis usually appears 6 to 72 hours after eating contaminated food and typically lasts several days (commonly around 4 to 7 days). It matters for two reasons: staff who are unwell must not handle food, and recognising a possible outbreak lets you act fast. Most people recover without treatment, but Salmonella can be serious for vulnerable groups. This is general information, not medical advice — anyone who is seriously unwell, dehydrated or not improving should seek medical care via their doctor or Healthdirect. Common symptoms: diarrhoea (sometimes with blood), fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and headache. Onset is typically 6–72 hours after exposure; illness usually lasts several days. Higher risk of severe illness in young children, older adults, pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised. A food handler with these symptoms must not work with food and must report it to their supervisor. Several similar illnesses linked to the same food may signal an outbreak — keep records and contact your local council or state food regulator if you suspect one. Food handler hygiene, health and training People spread Salmonella as readily as equipment does. Standard 3.2.2 generally requires food handlers to maintain personal hygiene, wash hands thoroughly at the right times, and not handle food while suffering from a foodborne illness or symptoms such as diarrhoea and vomiting. Since December 2023, Standard 3.2.2A has also required many food service, catering and retail businesses to have a certified food safety supervisor and to ensure food handlers are trained — check which category your business falls into. Effective handwashing — soap, warm running water, around 20 seconds, and thorough drying — is one of the cheapest and most effective Salmonella controls you have. Wash hands after handling raw poultry, meat or eggs, after using the toilet, and before handling ready-to-eat food. Exclude staff with diarrhoea or vomiting until they have been symptom-free for at least 48 hours (confirm the exact rule with your regulator). Cover cuts and sores with a brightly coloured waterproof dressing. Do not let staff handle ready-to-eat food with bare hands where your program requires utensils or gloves. Meet your Standard 3.2.2A obligations for a food safety supervisor and trained handlers, and train all staff so they understand why these steps matter, not just what to do. Worked examples: Prepping raw chicken safely: A kitchen portions raw chicken on a dedicated, colour-coded board and knife, and never rinses it in the sink because splashing spreads Salmonella around. After the task, staff clean and then sanitise the board, knife and bench, and wash their hands thoroughly before touching any ready-to-eat food. The cooked chicken is probed to 75°C in the thickest part rather than judged by colour. Checklist: Poultry, meat and eggs sourced from approved suppliers and received cold. Raw high-risk food stored sealed and below ready-to-eat food. Separate, colour-coded boards and utensils for raw and ready-to-eat food. Poultry and minced/rolled meats cooked thoroughly (target 75°C in the centre) and verified with a probe. Cold food at 5°C or below; hot-held food at 60°C or above. Cooked food cooled using the 2-hour/4-hour guide. Handwashing enforced after handling raw food and before ready-to-eat tasks. Sick food handlers excluded until symptom-free for the required period. Raw-egg products avoided or made with pasteurised egg and kept cold. Food safety supervisor and handler training in place per Standard 3.2.2A. Temperatures, cleaning and corrective actions recorded. Common mistakes: Judging cooked chicken by colour instead of probing to a safe core temperature (target 75°C). Rinsing raw chicken in the sink, spraying Salmonella across the kitchen. Using the same board or knife for raw poultry and salad without cleaning and sanitising. Storing raw meat above ready-to-eat food so juices drip down. Making raw-egg mayonnaise or aioli from shell eggs in large batches held at room temperature. Letting a food handler with diarrhoea or vomiting keep working. Leaving cooked food to cool slowly at room temperature, deep in the danger zone. Assuming a good supplier means ingredients are Salmonella-free — treat all raw poultry as contaminated.