Control measure, Food Safety Glossary

Any action or activity used to prevent, eliminate or reduce a food safety hazard to an acceptable level. A control measure is any action, activity or condition that is used to prevent a food safety hazard, eliminate it, or reduce it to an acceptable level. Control measures are the practical means by which the hazards identified in a hazard analysis are actually managed. Cooking to a safe temperature, keeping food cold, cleaning and sanitising, and separating raw from ready to eat food are all control measures. Some control measures apply at specific critical control points, where control is essential and is checked against a critical limit. Others operate more generally, as prerequisite programs and good hygiene practices that reduce risk across the whole operation. Either way, a control measure only counts if it genuinely prevents, eliminates or reduces the hazard it is aimed at. In an Australian kitchen, the most important control measures line up with the Food Standards Code: cooking potentially hazardous food thoroughly, cold holding at or below 5 degrees Celsius, hot holding at or above 60 degrees Celsius, cooling within the recommended times, and preventing cross contamination through separation and cleaning. Under Standard 3.2.2A, certain businesses are expected to demonstrate control of key practices, which are essentially their main control measures. A control measure works best when it has a clear method or SOP, a way to monitor it, a defined corrective action if it fails, and a record to show it was done. A Sydney restaurant uses cooking as a control measure for its beef mince dishes, probing each batch to confirm it reaches a safe core temperature. This control measure reduces harmful bacteria to an acceptable level before the food is served, directly managing the hazard identified in its hazard analysis.