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Warmth
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| Like most people, food poisoning bacteria don't like to be too cold or too hot - they like to be WARM. The ideal temperature for most pathogenic bacteria is 37°C, which you will probably recognise as normal human body temperature. In fact, most of the bacteria we are concerned about can multiply quickly at temperatures between 5°C and 63°C and so this is known as The Danger Zone. The Danger Zone is "the temperature range between 5°C and 63°C, at which pathogenic bacteria can multiply rapidly". |
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| The temperature of food is something that the food handler can control and good temperature control is one of the most important parts of good food hygiene. We shall look more closely at the effect of temperatures on bacteria later but, for the moment, the important point to remember is that food should be kept, either hot or cold, never just warm. It is vital that high-risk food is kept out of the danger zone as much as possible, so you should avoid: |
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