How should food be bought and stored to keep it safe and fresh?
Buying and storing food safely: checking food on purchase, the safe fridge and freezer temperatures, stock rotation, correct storage of different foods, and safe freezing and defrosting.
A focused answer on buying and storing food safely for OCR GCSE Food Preparation and Nutrition (J309), covering checks on purchase, safe fridge and freezer temperatures, stock rotation, storing different foods and safe freezing and defrosting.
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What this dot point is asking
OCR wants you to know how to buy and store food safely: what to check on purchase, the correct fridge and freezer temperatures, how to arrange food to prevent cross-contamination, stock rotation, and safe freezing and defrosting.
Buying food safely
Safe storage temperatures
Putting chilled and frozen food away first and quickly keeps it out of the danger zone ( to degrees C), where bacteria multiply fastest.
Storing food correctly
- In the fridge: store raw meat and fish covered on the bottom shelf so juices cannot drip onto ready-to-eat food; keep cooked and ready-to-eat foods on higher shelves, all covered; store dairy and eggs as directed. Do not overfill the fridge, so cold air can circulate.
- Dry goods (flour, rice, pasta, tins, sugar): keep in a cool, dry, sealed cupboard, away from damp and pests.
- Fruit and vegetables: keep in the salad drawer or a cool, airy rack; some fruit ripens at room temperature.
Stock rotation
Freezing and defrosting
You can freeze food to extend its life, ideally up to its use-by date; label and date it, and freeze in suitable portions. When using frozen high-risk foods such as raw meat and poultry, defrost them fully in the fridge (not at room temperature, which lets the outside warm into the danger zone while the centre is still frozen) before cooking, and cook them thoroughly until the centre is above degrees C. Do not refreeze food that has been defrosted unless it is cooked first.
Try this
Q1. State the correct temperature for a domestic fridge. [1 mark]
- Cue. Below 5 degrees C.
Q2. Explain what stock rotation means and why it is used. [2 marks]
- Cue. First in, first out: put newer items behind older ones so older stock is used first, reducing waste and keeping food within its use-by date.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of OCR exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
OCR 20196 marksDescribe how a person should store food safely after a supermarket shop, from arriving home to using it later in the week.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark free-response question.
On arriving home, put chilled and frozen food away first and quickly, into a fridge running below 5 degrees C and a freezer at minus 18 degrees C, so it spends as little time as possible in the danger zone.
In the fridge, store raw meat and fish covered on the bottom shelf so juices cannot drip onto ready-to-eat food, and keep cooked and ready-to-eat foods on higher shelves, all covered. Practise stock rotation (first in, first out): put newer items behind older ones and check date labels, using food before its use-by date.
Store dry goods (flour, rice, tins) in a cool, dry, sealed cupboard, and keep fruit and vegetables in the salad drawer or a cool rack. Freeze items needing longer life up to their use-by date.
Top-band answers (5 to 6 marks) cover the correct temperatures, fridge placement to prevent cross-contamination, stock rotation, and suitable storage for different food types.
OCR 20214 marksState the correct temperature for a fridge and a freezer, and explain why these temperatures keep food safe.Show worked answer →
A 4-mark structured question.
A fridge should run below 5 degrees C and a freezer at minus 18 degrees C.
A fridge below 5 degrees C is below the danger zone (5 to 63 degrees C), so harmful bacteria grow very slowly, slowing spoilage and keeping high-risk food safe up to its use-by date. A freezer at minus 18 degrees C is so cold that bacteria become dormant (they stop multiplying, though they are not killed) and the food keeps for months.
Markers reward the two correct temperatures and the explanation that the fridge slows bacterial growth (below the danger zone) and the freezer makes bacteria dormant.
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