Highfield Level 1 International Award in Food Safety

Course Overview

This course provides foundational knowledge of food safety principles in catering and food handling environments. Learners will understand their responsibilities, hygiene practices, and contamination prevention to ensure safe food handling.

Course Duration

• Total Qualification Time (TQT): 4 hours

Assessment Method

• Multiple-choice examination: 15 questions (30 minutes)
• Pass mark: 60% (9 correct answers)
• Distinction: 80% (12+ correct answers)

Course Content & Learning Outcomes

Unit: Food Safety Awareness

Learning Outcome 1: Understand personal responsibilities for food safety in a catering environment.

• Learners will be able to:
  • Explain the importance of food safety in catering (e.g., costs of poor practices, food poisoning risks).
  • Recognize legal responsibilities of food handlers (hygiene rules, reporting hazards).
  • Describe how to report food safety hazards to supervisors.

Learning Outcome 2: Understand the importance of personal hygiene in a catering environment.

• Learners will be able to:
  • State why personal hygiene is critical when handling food.
  • Identify good hygiene practices (handwashing, protective clothing, illness reporting).

Learning Outcome 3: Understand the importance of keeping work areas clean and hygienic.

• Learners will be able to:
  • Explain the need for clean, pest-free work areas (legal requirements, contamination risks).
  • Describe proper cleaning methods for equipment and surfaces (detergents, sanitizers).
  • State safe waste disposal procedures.

Learning Outcome 4: Understand how to keep food safe in a catering environment.

• Learners will be able to:
  • Identify contamination types (physical, chemical, allergenic, microbiological).
  • Apply safe food handling practices (preventing cross-contamination, allergen control).
  • State methods to control bacterial growth (temperature control, stock rotation, date coding).

Sample Assessment Questions (Preparation)

1. Symptom of food poisoning?
   a) Vomiting
2. Chemical hazard example?
   a) Pesticide
3. Critical handwashing time?
   c) After dealing with an ill person

Progression Opportunities

After completion, learners may advance to:

• Highfield Level 2 International Award in Food Safety
• Highfield Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering (RQF)

This outline ensures learners gain essential food safety knowledge for catering roles, aligned with international standards. The learning outcomes clearly define competency expectations.