Preparing and Supporting Young People with Food Preparation, Food Safety and Hygiene

Young people should be given information and advice about food safety, as this will reduce the risk of food-related illness.

First and foremost, nutrition (food) and hydration (drink) are essential for life itself. But eating and drinking also has many other functions, and it is important that we understand and maximise the positive impact that it can have on a young person’s overall wellbeing.

1. When a diet is healthy it can also have significant benefits for physical wellbeing. For example, increased energy levels and reduced risk of many serious health conditions (e.g., heart disease, diabetes);
2. Consuming food and drink that is enjoyable can improve mental wellbeing. They can boost mood and bring great pleasure, especially when someone eats/drinks what they like, how they like it and when they like;
3. For some people, food is an important part of their religious or cultural identity.

When needs and preferences have been understood, an appropriate and proportionate assessment of any identified food and drink related risks must be carried out if there is an issue.

Staff should always encourage a young person to eat or drink. However, everyone has days where they feel unwell, or just don’t feel like eating or drinking much.

Everyone has the right to refuse food or drink.

If a young person has capacity to make this decision it should always be respected.

However if there is a problem with a young person’s eating patterns then medical advice and the young person’s social worker should be consulted particularly if:

• There are symptoms and signs that the person’s refusal is linked to illness;
• The person is already underweight;
• They repeatedly refuse to eat or drink;
• Refusing to eat or drink is affecting medication;
• Refusing to eat or drink is impacting on an existing health condition e.g., diabetes;
• They experience significant weight loss.

Eating disorders

An eating disorder is a mental health condition where the young person uses the control of food to cope with feelings and other situations.

The most common types of eating disorders are:

• Anorexia nervosa - trying to control weight by not eating enough, exercising too much, or both;
• Bulimia - eating way too much then taking drastic action not to put on weight, for example being sick;
• Binge eating disorder - eating large amounts of food until feeling uncomfortably full.

Another less common type of eating disorder is ARFID (Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). This is when someone avoids certain foods and/or limits how much of it they eat.

Possible reasons for ARFID are:

• Negative feelings over the smell, taste or texture of certain foods;
• A response to a past experience with food that was upsetting, for example, choking or being sick after eating something.

Eating disorders require medical attention and support. Young people with an eating disorder should have an allocated medical or mental health professional that you can reach out to if you are concerned that there has been a deterioration in their condition.

Young people should be given information and advice about food safety, as this will reduce the risk of food-related illness.

Staff may wish to signpost people to the guidance for the general public from the Food Standards Agency.

Staff are responsible for making their own decision about whether to risk eating or drinking something that has been prepared by a young person they are supporting, when that person has not followed good food safety methods.

Effective handwashing is an essential part of food safety and hygiene.

Hands must always be washed:

1. Before touching or handling any food;
2. After touching raw meat, poultry, fish, eggs, unwashed vegetables and any packaging used for raw foods;
3. After going to the toilet;
4. After touching or emptying bins;
5. After any cleaning;
6. After touching a cut or changing a dressing;
7. After touching your hair, face, blowing your nose, sneezing or coughing;
8. After using medical equipment;
9. Before and after handling medication;
10. After touching dirty linen and clothing;
11. After handling animals or their feeding bowls.

To wash hands effectively, see below.

Source: Food Standards Agency.

Hand gels and waterless soaps

Hygienic hand rubs and gels can be useful when used as an additional precaution but should never be used as a replacement for effective handwashing.

It is good practice to keep hair tied back when preparing food.

It is good practice to remove watches or jewellery when preparing food (except a plain wedding band).

You should not smoke, drink, eat or chew gum while handling food. 

You should avoid touching your face or nose, or coughing and sneezing over or near food, and wash your hands if you do.

Food should be stored in line with the storage instructions on the product packaging.

In a fridge, raw meat, poultry, fish and eggs should be stored below ready-to-eat food, unwashed fruit and vegetables.

Put frozen food in the freezer as soon as possible after purchase.

Left over hot food should be cooled before putting it into the fridge or freezer for later consumption (if safe to reheat).

If any items are out of date, or incorrectly stored, they should not be used.

Open products do not need to be labelled on the date that they were opened, unless the person wants to do this. However, cooked foods and other raw and ready-to-eat food that has been opened should be covered using lids, foil or cling film.

If fridges or freezers are faulty, staff should report this so it can be repaired or a replacement offered as soon as possible.

Staff and young people should clean food preparation areas before and after using them.

Staff should encourage or support the person to keep all their food preparation and storage areas clean. This includes fridges, work surfaces, chopping boards, sinks etc. It also includes bins.

When you are cleaning, remember to move food out of the way. This is to prevent dirt, bacteria or cleaning chemicals from getting onto food.

Try to allow surfaces to dry naturally. Drying naturally helps prevent bacteria being spread back onto surfaces from any towel/cloth used for drying.

Cloths used on floors must not be used on other surfaces. Take care when cleaning floors so other surfaces are not contaminated by splashing.

Separate chopping boards should be used for fresh and raw ingredients.

Fruit, salad and vegetables should be washed in clean water.

Do not wash raw meat or poultry.

Remember to wash your hands after handling raw meat or its packaging.

Take extra care with how you throw away packaging and food waste from raw food. If packaging from raw food touches work surfaces, make sure you clean them.

Before cooking food, make sure that it is safe to use (e.g. still in date), that the food preparation area and any equipment is clean (see above) and that you have washed your hands.

Food should be cooked in line with the product instructions or recipe being followed.

Ovens and grills should be preheated to ensure they are the correct temperature.

Acrylamide is a chemical that is formed naturally when some foods are cooked at high temperatures (above 120C) such as by frying, roasting, baking, grilling and toasting. It has the potential to cause cancer.

It is therefore important not to over-cook foods that can be high in acrylamide:

• Raw potato products e.g., chips;
• Bread products e.g., bread, toast;
• Sweet bakery products e.g., cakes, biscuits;
• Savoury bakery products e.g., crackers, breadsticks.

Staff should discourage people being supported from eating any of the above if they have been over-cooked.

Harmful bacteria can grow in food that is not properly defrosted. 

Unless the product instructions say otherwise, food should be thoroughly defrosted before cooking. 

Ideally, food should be defrosted in the fridge. This takes time, so good planning is important.

Keep meat/poultry separate from other food when it is defrosting, to prevent cross-contamination.

Once the food has been defrosted you should use it immediately (within one day).

Some foods need to be treated with extra care to make sure they are safe to eat.

Eggs

Eggs can contain harmful bacteria.

Cook eggs and foods containing eggs thoroughly until they are steaming hot.

If serving eggs or egg dishes lightly cooked (e.g., soft boiled or in fresh mayonnaise or mousse), try to use either pasteurised egg, or British Lion code or equivalent assurance scheme eggs.

Use eggs within the ’best before’ date. 

Store eggs in a cool, dry place.

Rice

Rice can contain spores of a type of harmful bacteria that may not be killed by cooking or reheating.

When you have cooked rice, make sure you keep it hot until serving or chill it down as quickly as possible and then keep it in the fridge. 

Dried pulses

Dried pulses can contain natural toxins that could make people ill unless they are destroyed by the proper method of soaking and cooking.

Follow the instructions on the packaging on how to soak and cook dried pulses.

Fish

Certain types of fish, such as mackerel, tuna, anchovies and herrings, can cause food poisoning if not kept at the correct temperature.

Fresh fish, should be stored between 0°C and 4°C. Frozen fish should be kept frozen until it is going to be used.

Shellfish

Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for preparation and storage of shellfish.

Crustaceans and molluscs such as prawns and scallops will change in colour and texture when they are cooked. For example, prawns turn from blue-grey to pink and scallops become milky white and firm.

Before cooking mussels and clams, throw away any with open or damaged shells. To check that a mussel or clam is cooked, make sure the shell is open and that the mussel or clam has shrunk inside the shell. If the shell has not opened during cooking, throw it away.

Do not put dirty laundry or laundry baskets on work surfaces.

Ideally, medicines that need to be refrigerated should be stored separately from food.

Fit for work

If staff are not ‘fit for work’, do not allow them to support with food preparation or send them home. With the young person’s consent, throw away any unwrapped foods they have handled.

Upon their return, consider any need for further training to prevent another incident.

Training

All staff handling food must have undertaken appropriate food safety training. This should be refreshed regularly.

Quality assurance and monitoring

The manager should carry out quality assurance checks to make sure that the staff team supporting the young person are preparing, storing and cooking food safely.