I believe the five main areas lie in supply, cleanliness, cooking, preservation and personnel.

Supply-All food that is ensured is fresh and safe, and food that does not meet standards should be disposed of.

This step is important to minimize food hazards. Raw materials and ingredients can be contaminated with harmful bacteria, toxins, and chemicals (e.g., pesticides). Schools should ensure that food ingredients, as well as utensils, are supplied only by suppliers with valid licenses, and these suppliers should be required to provide supporting documentation. In selecting appropriate suppliers, schools should pay attention to handling, packaging and transportation. Schools should consider suppliers who are able to comply with the school's policy on healthy and sustainable environmental development.

Schools should select food suppliers in a fair and open manner. Suppliers should be selected through competitive quotation/tender exercises at regular intervals, preferably not exceeding three years. Schools should not select lunch vendors as a result of donations or favors of any kind (e.g., free, reduced-price sponsorships, cash rebates, gifts, favors, or catering services). The cost of food and the increased risk of food hygiene and safety that may result from a casual choice of vendor is ultimately borne by the students and parents who pay for the food.

Cleanliness - Ensure that food areas are clean and that staff maintain good standards of personal hygiene.

Wash fruits and vegetables by rubbing or rinsing under clean running water. All kitchen equipment must be carefully cleaned and washed, rinsed and dried with detergent after using reusable containers. Tables at which students are seated should be thoroughly cleaned before and after meals.

Cooking - Ensure that food is thoroughly cooked.

Cooking is a very important step in ensuring microbial food safety. If food is not cooked thoroughly, bacteria (e.g., E. coli, O157 in beef) may survive.

Preservation-Keep food at the proper temperature.

If you leave food out for a long time, you must monitor its temperature. This is because changes in temperature may allow harmful bacteria to grow and increase the chances of a diner getting sick from food poisoning. School meals are usually hot and should be left out for at least an hour, and usually for several hours. 4?C to 60?C is the temperature at which bacteria thrive, so keep refrigerated foods at or below 4?C, frozen foods at or below -18?C, and hot foods above 60?C.

Personnel - All food workers in schools need to be "on the job" to ensure that their food is safe for consumption. Food workers need to be "properly trained" and complete a number of different training programs.