Food Safety
The FAO Pakistan Office has launched its e-Learning course on Food Safety based on the manual of the same name. This is a self-paced e-learning course available free of charge by registering via email.
The course has been developed mainly for professionals in the food preparation and handling sector (street vendors, restauranteurs, etc) although the course covers information useful to various audiences including households and students.
The course is divided into nine main Topics. Through the interactive features, you will be actively engaged as the course introduces the basic concepts of Food Safety in Pakistan. The course will guide you through easy to follow and friendly lessons. At the end of the course you will be able to assess your overall understanding of the topics covered. You may stop the course at any time and resume where you left off.
Duration: 1 hour
Course objectives:
After taking this course you will:
• Understand the basic concept of food safety
• Identify hazards that cause unsafe food and food borne illnesses
• Describe the conditions that lead to food contamination and food spoilage
• Explain the methods that help improve food safety during production, handling, storage and preparation
• Understand the importance of good personal hygiene
• Describe methods of food hygiene, preventing food contamination and increasing shelf life
• Define general guidelines for food handlers and street food vendors
• Understand the concept of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) and its principles
• Describe guidelines for:
Cleaning and sanitizing kitchen utility items and accessories
Making drinking water and fresh fruits and vegetables safe for human consumption
Topics covered:
Topic 1: What is food safety?
1. Define food safety
2. Food safety practices
3. Food control
4. Codex
5. Recap and resources
Topic 2: Food hazards and food borne illnesses
1. Food hazards
2. Categories of food hazards
3. Food borne illnesses
4. Food poisoning
5. Recap and resources
Topic 3: Food contamination and spoilage of food
1. Food contamination and food spoilage
2. Factors affecting pathogen growth
3. How factors (FATTOM) affect pathogen growth
4. Conditions leading to unsafe food
5. Recap and resources
Topic 4: Improving food safety during production, handling, storage and preparation
1. Food production and good practices
2. Procurement of quality raw ingredients
3. FIFO
4. Guidelines for food storage: non-refrigerated food
5. Guidelines for food storage: Refrigerated food
6. Guidelines for defrosting frozen food
7. Guidelines for cooking and reheating stored food
8. Effective pest control measures
9. Recap and resources
Topic 5: Personal hygiene and good hand washing technique
1. Personal hygiene practices
2. Good hand washing technique: 5 Steps
3. Double hand wash
4. Recap and resources
Topic 6: Maintaining food hygiene and increasing shelf life of food
1. Food hygiene
2. Kitchen hygiene
3. Cleaning food preparation premises
4. Increasing shelf life of food
5. Recap and resources
Topic 7: Food safety measures for food handlers and street food vendors
1. Food safety measures for street food vendors
2. Recap and resources
Topic 8: Hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) and its principles
1. What is HACCP?
2. HACCP principles
3. 12 Steps for developing an effective HACCP Plan
4. Implementing a HACCP plan
5. Recap and resources
Topic 9: Cleaning and sanitization
1. Importance of cleaning and sanitizing
2. Solutions for sanitization of kitchen surfaces and equipment
3. Safety of drinking water
4. Disinfectants for drinking water and for fresh produce
5. Things to note: Disinfecting water and fresh produce
6. Preparing sanitizers from bleach for food establishments
7. Recap and resources
Closing the session
1. The food safety quiz
2. Conclusion
Note: The course also contains resources regarding food safety during COVID and the COVID-Related FAO/ WHO Guidelines for Food Businesses.
Assessment:
At the end of the course you will take a short quiz of ten scored questions to check how well you have understood the content.
Useful Resources:
Links to additional reading resources are available throughout the Course.
Languages:
The Food Safety e-Learning course is currently available only in English.
The Urdu version will be available in Spring 2021.
You must register to receive the course files.
Please click here and complete the web form.