Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Sous vide is a method of cooking where food is vacuum packaged in a plastic pouch and heated in a temperature controlled water bath for a defined length of time.
This cooking method can present a number of food safety risks which should be recognised and controlled. These risks include the potential for survival and growth of bacteria that can grow under the anaerobic (absence of oxygen) conditions created by the vacuum packaging, e.g. Clostridium botulinum.
This factsheet is intended as a guide for restaurants and catering establishments to highlight the food safety risks associated with sous vide cooking and to provide best practice recommendations for managing these risks. This information should help to address sous vide procedures in food safety management systems based on the principles of HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points).
