The nine clusters involved nine males and 13 females aged between6 and 70

Chicken including scallion oil chicken, spicy chicken or chicken in wine sauce

• Cross-contamination of food during preparation
• Preparing food too early in advance
• Food stored at improper temperature

• Review the food preparation work flow to identify the risk of crosscontamination and design a food safety plan to eliminate the risk.

• Use designated tools and equipment for handling raw foods. Clean and disinfect utensils, equipment and working area regularly.

• Store and handle raw food and cooked or ready-to-eat food separately to avoid cross-contamination. Use separate food preparation areas for handling raw, cooked and ready-to-eat foods.

• Cook food thoroughly (the core temperature of the food should reach at least 75°C for 30 seconds) and serve cooked food as soon as possible.

• Pre-cooked food that will be used later should be stored at either above 60°C or 4°C or below.

• Pre-cooked food subjected to cold storage should be cooled from 60 °C to 20°C within 2 hours; and from 20°C to 4°C inside a chiller within the next 4 hours.

• Plan the production schedule to avoid too early production before sale and prolonged storage of food at room temperature. Two rounds of preparation – one morning session and one afternoon session – are preferred in order to cater for the demand during lunch and dinner hours.

• The management should provide training to food handlers so that they can fully understand the risk of cross-contamination in handling raw food and observe good personal hygiene (e.g. proper and frequent hand washing).

Food business can refer to Ready-to-eat Food ─ General Hygiene Advice for Food Businesses.