Lunch club volunteer role specific training

Training 3: understanding food safety (6 minute read)

This module includes some general information to help you ensure that the food you serve is safe. Understanding food safety is a vital part of your voluntary role, particularly as older people are more vulnerable to food poisoning.

What kinds of foods do people eat at the Re-engage lunch club?

Food served at the lunch club is prepared and delivered by an external, professional caterer and the food should be hot on arrival.

Please notify the lunch club coordinator immediately if you notice any problems with the food on the day of the lunch club.

All the food served at lunch is free from the 12 main allergies according to the Food Standards Agency, but some of the food may contain milk and eggs.

The following guidance is taken from the government’s food safety website where you can read useful information about food preparation.

Storing food safely

If you are providing a dessert for a lunch club, it’s important to keep the food safe. Please make sure that you store any food with a ‘use by’ date, this should only be fruit and dairy products, in your fridge.

It’s also important that you keep chilled food out of the fridge for the shortest time possible during preparation, cool cooked food at room temperature and place it in the fridge within one to two hours.

Although the hot food at lunch clubs is provided by caterers, it’s important that all lunch club volunteers know how to store food safely.

Frozen food should be defrosted in the fridge overnight or in a microwave on the ‘defrost’ setting shortly before cooking. Please avoid defrosting frozen food at room temperature as this can lead to the spread of harmful bacteria.

More information on how to chill, freeze and defrost food safely.

Cleaning

You should wash your hands before you prepare, cook, or eat food.

Take care to keep all utensils and dishes clean before preparing food. This is to avoid cross-contamination. You should use different utensils, plates and chopping boards when preparing ready-to-eat foods and raw foods that require cooking. Remember to wash them thoroughly between tasks to avoid the spread of harmful bacteria. 

You should also wash or change dish cloths, tea towels, sponges, and oven gloves regularly. It's important to let them dry before you use them again. This is because dirty, damp cloths allow bacteria to breed.

More advice on how to clean effectively in the kitchen and prevent harmful bacteria from spreading onto food.

What to do if someone has an allergy or intolerance

Preparing for someone with food allergies and intolerances can be worrying if you’re not used to doing it. The lunch club coordinator will be able to let you know in advance if any of the older guests or volunteers in your group have special dietary requirements.

It’s important that you keep any allergens separate from other foods and that you double-check the ingredients lists on pre-packed foods for allergens. Avoid adding toppings or decorations to dishes which might otherwise appear safe.

Clean work surfaces and equipment thoroughly to remove traces of anything you might have cooked before, to avoid cross contamination.

If someone is allergic to something, and you have served them a food they can’t eat, simply taking it off their plate isn’t enough. Even a tiny trace can be enough to cause an allergic reaction.

More information on planning an allergy friendly meal at home.