Special Events Food Safety

Safe food practices help to keep our community healthy and prevent illness. Event organizers and vendors serving food and beverages to the public at special events must review and follow the safe food practices on this page. You can also watch the food safety for special events video.

On this page:

• Keeping foods safe
• Making food
• Water and ice
• Cooking and heating
• Safe cooking temperatures
• Displaying and serving food
• Equipment for food
• Handwashing stations
• Food handler hygiene
• Washing dishes
• Cleaning and sanitizing
  
• Storing and removing waste
• Pest control
• Keeping washrooms clean
• Closure
• Food safety video

All food offered or sold must be prepared in a kitchen inspected by Public Health.

Keeping foods safe

• Do not use unpasteurized drinks like raw apple cider or raw milk. 
• Protect your food at all times. Keep food covered and away from contamination. 
• Use clean, safe (potable) water to prepare food. 
• Always keep your food preparation and food service areas clean. 
• Use a tent or canopy over outdoor food areas. 

Transporting food

• Keep food at safe temperatures during transport.
  • Cold items should stay cold (4°C or below), and hot items should stay hot (60°C and above).
  • This applies to all hazardous foods. Hazardous foods include milk, cheese, eggs, meat, poultry, fish, and seafood.
• Use a refrigerated truck. Check that the truck can keep food cold (4°C or below).
• Use coolers with ice to keep food cold. Ice should cover the top, bottom and sides of food items. Store coolers in the shade with the lid closed.
• Use heat-retaining containers to keep food hot. Examples include hot holding units and insulated containers.
• Do not leave food in the sun or a hot car.
• Check food temperatures with thermometers.

Making food

• Wash your hands with clean water and liquid soap before and after touching food. 
• Keep raw meats, poultry and fish and their juices separate from other foods.
• Thaw food in the fridge or cooler, never at room temperature. At room temperature, bacteria will grow. Cooking will not kill certain types of bacteria. 
• Prepare food in an inspected kitchen before the event. This includes chopping ingredients, marinating, mixing and other forms of food processing. 
• Use different utensils for raw meats and ready-to-eat foods. Raw meat juices can spread bacteria to ready-to-eat food which can cause illness.
• Marinate food in the refrigerator or cooler to prevent the growth of harmful bacteria. 

Water and ice

• Use clean water from an approved and tested source for ice and steam.
• Use tongs or scoops to handle ice. Tongs or scoops used to dispense ice must be stored in a clean container and not directly on the ice.
• Store ice in a clean, covered container or in the original package to prevent contamination.
• If ice is used to keep hazardous food cold, make sure an adequate supply of ice is readily available.

Cooking and heating

• Cook food thoroughly. Use a probe thermometer to check if it’s done.Cook to safe cooking temperatures. 
• Eating meat, poultry or fish that is raw or not fully cooked could cause food poisoning. 
• Heat sauces and gravies to boiling. 
• Steam tables, chaffing dishes, display or drawer warmers etc. are not considered cooking equipment and are not to be used for reheating food. 
• All meats must be thoroughly cooked and reheated to the correct internal temperature. 

Safe cooking temperatures

• Pork: 71°C (160°F) 
• Whole Poultry: 82°C (180°F) 
• Poultry Pieces/Ground: 74°C (165°F) 
• Ground beef: 71°C (160°F) 
• Fish/Seafood: 70°C (158°F) 
• Egg Dishes: 74°C (165°F) 
• Mixed Dishes: 74°C (165°F)

Keep cold food cold

• Cold hazardous food must be kept at 4°C (40°F) and below.

Keep hot food hot

• Hot hazardous food must be kept at 60°C (140°F) and above.

Danger zone

• Hazardous food is food that can grow bacteria that can make you sick. Examples include meats, seafood, milk, cheese, cut fruit, cut vegetables, cooked rice or pasta, etc.
• Bacteria that causes food poisoning grows quickly at temperatures between 4°C (40°F) and 60°C (140°F). This is the danger zone. Food must be kept out of the danger zone.
• Probe thermometer(s) must be available to check the internal temperature of hot and cold hazardous food.
• When in doubt, throw out hazardous food that has been in the danger zone for more than two hours.

Using a thermometer

• Use an accurate probe thermometer to check the internal temperature of cooked and reheated food for at least 15 seconds.
• Insert the probe thermometer in several spots. Check the center and thickest spots of the food.
• A probe thermometer should not touch bone to avoid inaccurate temperatures.
• Wash and sanitize the probe thermometer between uses to prevent cross contamination. Cross contamination is the accidental transfer of a hazard from one food to another. For example, bacteria from raw chicken to a salad.
• Accurate thermometers must be provided in all hot and cold storage units such as coolers, refrigerators, freezers, warmers and display units.

Displaying and serving food

• Use clean, disposable plates and utensils for customers.
• Keep foods covered.
• Keep cold hazardous foods on ice or serve from the cooler or refrigerated unit.
• Bring extra clean utensils if you can’t wash them at the event. Do not re-use utensils that are contaminated.
• Keep back-up cooking utensils such as spoons, tongs, ladles and ice cream scoops wrapped and in a clean container.
• Protect food with covers or sneeze guards. Cover with a lid, plastic wrap, aluminum foil or wrap items individually.
• Individually pre-packaged food must be served from the original container.
• Dispense condiments safely by providing containers with self-closing lids, dispensers or individual packages.
• Disposable utensils must be stored pre-wrapped or in a clean container. Cutlery must be stored with handles upright and cups must be handled from the bottom.
• Use tongs, serving spoons, ladles and spatulas to serve food.
• Food samples should be offered in single portions by using individual sample size portions.
• Provide samples in a way that prevents customers from touching other samples.

Equipment for food

• Use clean storage containers and display stands.
• Store food in food grade containers.
• Racks, shelves or pallets that are used to store food must be designed to protect the food from contamination and must be readily cleanable.
• Bring enough cutting boards, utensils and tables to prepare and serve food.
• Keep your work areas clean and well-lit.
• Bring extra supplies of paper towels or cloths for cleaning and sanitizing.
• All equipment and surfaces that touch food must be smooth, non-absorbent and easy to clean.
• Garbage bags must not be used to store or cover unwrapped food.
• All equipment must be in good working condition.
• Have an adequate supply of power and equipment to keep food safe, such as propane, warming fuel and generators.
• If there is a power disruption, make sure a backup supply of power is available.

Handwashing stations

Hand washing is important to prevent the spread of disease and cross contamination of food.  

Important: Hand sanitizers cannot be used to replace a proper handwashing station. 

All food handlers must wash their hands properly with clean water and liquid soap. This must be done before and after handling food, before putting on gloves, after taking off gloves and after using the washroom, smoking, handling garbage, handling cash, sneezing, coughing or blowing your nose. Wash hands as often as necessary to maintain clean hands. 

Any booth not providing a temporary or a self-contained portable handwashing station with the required supplies will be closed and/or operations suspended.

Food handler hygiene

• Wear clean clothes, aprons and hairnets.
• Do not eat or smoke near food areas.
• Avoid working if you are sick.
• Gloves do not replace proper hand washing. Use gloves if you have sores or cuts. Change gloves after every task. Wash your hands between glove changes.

Washing dishes

Equipment and utensils must be washed following these steps:

1. Scrape and remove excess food
2. Wash in hot soapy water
3. Rinse under hot running water
4. Sanitize in a 100ppm chlorine/bleach solution. 200ppm QUAT sanitizers, or 25 ppm iodine sanitizer can also be used. Use only food-grade sanitizers
5. Air dry

If you are not dishwashing at the event:

• Have an adequate number of clean back-up utensils. 
• Store utensils in a clean, washable container. Separate clean and dirty utensils. 
• Utensils that are not washed on-site must be washed, rinsed and sanitized in an inspected kitchen.
  

Methods for washing dishes

• Two-sink dishwashing method (printable resource)
• Three-sink dishwashing method (printable resource)

Cleaning and sanitizing

• Have an adequate supply of safe, potable water and cleaning supplies.
• Have clean cloths and/or sponges.
• If cloths are stored in a sanitizing solution, the solution must be changed when dirty.
• Keep cleaning chemicals and sanitizers labeled and stored separate from food.
• Use the correct test strips to confirm the strength of the sanitizing solution. For example, a chlorine test strip for chlorine/bleach sanitizer.

Storing and removing waste

• Have an adequate supply of garbage bags and containers.
• Use strong, washable, leak-proof garbage bins.
• All liquid waste such as cooking oil or wastewater must be contained in a leak-proof container or bucket.
• Plan for proper disposal of all liquid waste. Do not dump water, oil or grease into sewers, onto grass, etc.

Pest control

• Keep food safe from bugs, mice, rats and other animals.
• Store food securely in containers with lids.

Keeping washrooms clean

• The event organizer is responsible for providing washroom facilities.
• Washrooms must be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. There must also be toilet paper available.
• Handwashing stations must be equipped with liquid soap in a dispenser, paper towels and potable water.
• Remove garbage waste from washrooms as often as needed. 

Closure

• Vendor booths may not open or will be closed if there is a health hazard. A health hazard is any condition that could lead to illness or injury.
• Vendor booths without proper hand washing will be required to stop operating.

Food safety video

Watch this video to help you further understand food safety practices at special events.

To translate this video using the auto-translate feature, click on the "Settings" icon, select "Subtitles/CC," and then select "Auto-translate" to pick your desired language.

This page was adapted from materials created by Wellington Dufferin Guelph and Toronto Public Health agencies.