Food Safety Basics

Food Safety Introduction

• Food is a primary human necessity and a key commodity in national and international commerce, serving as a vital source of hard currency for various nations.
• Compromised internal and external markets can result from the production and distribution of substandard or hazardous food.
• Food contamination before consumption poses a significant concern in developing countries, where immediate dietary needs may overshadow food safety considerations.
• Developed countries primarily worry about genetically modified foods, additives, irradiation, and pesticides.
• Developing countries are often more concerned about whether they have enough food to feed their families.
• Food hygiene encompasses the necessary conditions and measures to ensure food safety and suitability throughout the food chain.
• Food safety: assurance that food will not harm consumers when prepared or consumed as intended with proper precautions.
• Food safety preserves food quality and prevents contamination and foodborne illnesses.
• Foodborne diseases impact millions annually, surpassing the combined impact of bacterial meningitis, flesh-eating streptococcus, and toxic shock syndrome.
• An estimated 6-8 million people die each year from food borne diseases.
• Food regulations and organizations help limit contamination

Source of Food Contamination

• Improper handling of food products during packaging
• Neglecting proper cooking or storage, especially for high-risk perishable items like red meats, shellfish, raw fish, eggs, dairy, and poultry

Food Contaminants

• Storing food properly and preparing it correctly protect against microbial contamination and food poisoning.
• Parasites, bacteria, and viruses are types of microbiological organisms that can contaminate food
• Viruses like the Rotavirus typically harm children and may result from neglecting to wash their hands before touching food.
• Raw vegetables, raw meat, processed foods, and some cheeses may contain parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii, which is very dangerous for pregnant women.
• Giardia lamblia is a common parasite in water supplies.
• High-risk foods, like meat, dairy, seafood, eggs, and poultry, support bacterial development.
• Common food poisoning bacteria include:
  • Salmonella found in meat, poultry, eggs, and egg products
  • Bacillus cereus found in cereals, rice, meat products, soup
  • Staphylococcus aureus found in meat, poultry dishes, egg products, cream, mayonnaise-based salads, or custard-filled desserts
• Improper food handling in the home leads to about 40% of cases of food poisoning.
• Varying symptoms of food poisoning include stomach cramps, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, or a queasy feeling in the stomach

Methods of ensuring food safety

• Microorganisms that cause illness, and are sometimes unusual, can alarm people.
• Preventing measures are easy to follow and affordable in the average households.

Examine Food

• Educate on how food changes, and learn the difference between those that affect safety and those that affect the quality that may be unsafe.
• Quality changes include rancidity, browning, drying out, ice crystal damage in frozen foods, and expiration dates on commercially produced foods
• Food should be discarded if it has off odors, visible slime, soft/moldy foods, canned foods, mold, bacteria or parasites in numbers that overwhelm an individual’s immune system

Hot and Cold Food Temperatures

• Warmth is unsafe because human pathogens grow extremely efficiently.
• Minimum of 65°C to keep hot foods at
• Hold perishable foods at or above 60°C or below 5°C
• The ‘danger zone’ for perishable food is between 5°C and 60°C. Perishable foods kept in this range for more than 4 hours should not be eaten, except fruit and vegetables
• High protein, moisture, and pH levels make perishable foods conducive to bacteria.
• Meats, cooked vegetables, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products are perishable foods. Examples of non-perishable foods are uncooked rice, commercial salad dressings, and unopened canned goods
• Different categories of food should be stored at these temperatures:
• Frozen products: -18°C
  • Ice cream and sorbet (except soft serve)
• General frozen products: -12°C
  • Any food marketed as frozen
• Refrigerated products: +4°C
  • Poultry, raw unpreserved fish, crustaceans, milk, and edible offal
• Refrigerated products: +5°C
  • Any perishable food needing chilling to prevent spoilage
• Heated products: >/+60°C
  • Any perishable food not chilled or frozen

Additional Key Points

• Minimize the time between refrigeration and cooking, serving, and processing
• Thoroughly cook poultry, eggs, raw milk, seafood, and meat

Cooking Temperatures for Raw Meat

• The general rule is to heat foods to a core temperature of 71°C because these foods are naturally contaminated with pathogens.
• Poultry should be heated to 82°C for palatability but needs to be at least 71°C for safety purposes
• Heat resistant spores (Clostridia and Bacillus) will not be killed during cooking; therefore, perishable food should not be stored within the temperature danger zone of between 5°C and 60°C
• Illnesses are caused by storage in the temperature "danger zone" of between 5°C and 60°C.
• Eggs should be thoroughly cooked to kill contaminants but can be unsafe even if they are not often visibly contaminated on the outside of the shell.
• Use eggs with cracks for baking in the oven where the heat will kill spore formers.

Cover and Refrigerate Promptly

• Cold-water-cooled containers cool faster than containers cooled only by cold air.
• Bowls no more than 3cm deep that contain hot foods cooled so they can be handled may be put in the refrigerator.

Thoroughly Wash Hands and Surfaces

• Thoroughly washing with soap and water is effective at reducing fecal contamination.
• Counter tops, cutting boards, and other surfaces should be washed with soap and water, and rinsed with water and bleach after touching raw fish, poultry, or meat.
• Plastic cutting boards should be replaced when scarred.
• Because wooden boards are porous, use caution with foods that have animal origins in normal household settings.

Re-Heat Leftover Food

• Heat treatments may decrease food borne illnesses, especially from Listeria spp, Clostridium botulinum, and Clostridium perfringens, but they do not guarantee that a hazardous food is safe.

Food Law

• The general principles of food legislation must be followed when taking action.
• Consumer protection and animal, plant and environmental protection are essentials of Food regulations.
• The “farm to fork” method is a general principle in food safety policy.
• Protecting a consumer's right to accurate information and safe foods is ensured through regulation.
• The Codex Alimentarius is a collection of international standards, guidelines, and codes of practice that contribute to promoting safe and wholesome food

Food Safety Guidelines

• Adhere to the following when looking to buy food to have safe food:
  • Do not buy expired items.
  • Do not buy damaged packaging (dented tins, leaking cartons or bottles)
  • Packages on bacon, should not have air inside
  • Do not buy products with foreign matter, insects, mold, or strange coloration.
  • Avoid swollen canned foods, or warm perishable foods
  • Do not buy hot non-steaming cooked foods, or non-solidy frozen products

Food Outlets

• Separate bags for raw chicken and meat, to prevent juices from dripping onto other food, and wash juices off food items.
• Put the food in a freezer bag or a chilly bin for longer trips.
• Take chilled and frozen food straight home, never leave food in a hot car

Cleanliness

• Keeping the cook, food handler and food preparation area clean is essential.
• Scrub the hands with water and soap for 20 seconds before cooking or handling poultry and meat
• Stay out of the kitchen if injured
• Scarf hair, keep counter tops wiped down with chlorine bleach and kitchen cleaner, clean dish cloths daily with soap and water
• Sanitize kitchen drains, and use hard smooth cutting boards
• Clean cutting boards with soap and water, sanitize with detergent and chlorine bleach and rinse with tap water
• Wash boards and utensils thoroughly, and use dedicated boards, and wash canned food lids before opening

Handle Food Properly

• Clean utensils, clean can opener blade, disassemble and clean food processors and meat grinders, do not put cooked food on unwashed plates.
• Use brine to wash fruit and vegetables.
• Do not sneeze or cough over food.
• Do not prepare food for others when vomiting or suffering from diarrhea.

Golden Rules of Hygiene

• Only get basic foodstuffs, (meat, milk, etc.) from the approved sources.
• Store cooked foods carefully as temperature control is essential.
• Cover/seal cooked foods when displaying or storing
• Keep equipment, utensils, and kitchen surfaces meticulous
• Immediately eat food after preparation
• Avoid contact between uncooked and cooked foods.
• Wash, dispose of waste properly.
• Only reheat cooked foods one time
• Don't inflate food containers by blowing in them by mouth

Personal Hygiene Practices

• Food handlers should adhere to the following customs:
  • Prior to handling food: After handling soiled objects, after blowing the nose, between handling prepared food and unwashed vegetables, following smoking and/or eating, wash hands and scrub fingernails in soapy water
  • Hands should be dried with paper towels or a hot air drier
  • Keep fingernails short
  • Avoid touching your mouth, eyes, nose, ears, or hair during food preparation
  • Keep cuts and sores covered. Wear rubber gloves if they are unhealed.
  • Wear pale colored clothing, keep hair covered to avoid falling dust and hair in the food, don't sneeze or cough over food.
  • No chewing tobacco or smoking during preparation.
  • Do not wear jewellery when handling food
  • Wear clean clothing

Key Food Prep Rule

• For safe food preparation, keep cold food cold and hot food hot

• Perishable foods should be flash frozen or refrigerated for immediate storage.

• Fridge temp must be below 5°C and -12°C

• Eggs must be cooked, so the yolks and whites are both firm.

• Do not eat raw eggs foods like home made ice cream because they contain Salmonella. Cook egg products to 71°C to kill the bacteria

• Seafood:

  • Should be cooked in an internal temperature of 63°C
  • Ground or flaked fish should be cooked to 68°C
  • Stuffed fish to 74°C

• When unable to use a thermometer, check these:

  • Fish: remove easily, the thickest parts are opaque
  • Simmer shrimp till the shells are red
  • Steam mussels and clams over water

• Ensure a regularly functional freezer thermometer and fridge.

• Headed poultry: must be stored as purchased the first day or two in wrap

• Wrap loosely so the juices wont contaminate other things

• Freeze food tightly, store in tight spaces

• Storing cartons not the door, keeps milk fresh

• Keeping sea food in the freezer until preparing, is important

• Do not overcrowd the fridge

• Check covering bags daily

• Anything suspicious or mouldy can be discarded as signs of spoilage

• Always check labels. Mayonnaise and ketchup should both be stored after.

• Dry places store vegetables, avoid storing potatoes and onions under the fridge

• Inspect chemical products for cleanliness

• Sticky sticky cans means its leaking and should replace the store brand

Protecting Against Cross-Contamination

• Following those is imperative for preventing bacteria in food.
• Never leave cooked food out for over 2 hours or at a temperature between 4°C and 60°C. Do not re-eat reheated food but reheat it
• Eat transport and move the table quickly
• Keep hot food above 74°C
• Keep salad in the fridge until serving. Leftovers should be stored for 3 days, meat should be in three inches and cut in smaller sizes

Thawing and Defrosting

• Do not leave meat out on the table, for a period, but replace with cold potable water.
• Check thawing in the microwave oven.
• Never taste suspicious food

Symptoms of Food-Borne Illness

• Bacteria contamination in cutting boards and kitchen utensils cause food contaminated food, such as chicken, are not cleaned before cooking
• Symptoms of food borne illnesses are from abdominal bacteria, such as the consumption or illness is diarrhea, fever, headache, vomiting, stool and pus.
• The time spent on each depend on the food amount
• Rare symptoms show early early in minutes, but typically not spent for days or weeks
• Parasitic symptoms take weeks and persist for 10 days

Conditions

• These are includes as the following:
  • Liver disease cause and disorders
  • Stomach problems
  • Cencer
  • Asthma and arthritis

Food Poisoning

• Food poisoning is diseases from contaminated food and WHO
• More than 250 contaminated foods can cause illness where everyone is at risk.
• Some immediate symptoms are headaches tires mess which heal
• Pregnant women and babies may die from permanent health problems. Oyster can be contracted from infections

Food Poisoning Appearance

• Food isn't change in food poisoning, if the taste.
• The food will not get a certain person
• Infants children and elderly people are cancer patients

Period of Food Poisoning

• Poison contamination that appear for illnesses
• The hours range depending in agents and injected with food (incubation period) the stomach starts too multiple from microbial cells lining the intestine walls
• Toxins that stream direct to bodies and body tissue

Poison Infection

• The amount of agent to consume for symptomps and poison with salmonella suffice to 15 to cells for consumer age

Types of Food Contamination

• The poison may be:
  • Chemistry
  • Biological
  • Bacteria

Chemical Food Poisoning

• Chemicals are in the way for foods toxic chemicals.

• Weedkiller and insecticides can harm

• Not accumulate for any body

• Accumulation and cadmium causes mercury, lead, cause high mercury in lead

• Water is reported in lead

• Some mercury has effluence

• The sea birds and cats in the area

Biological Food Poisoning

• Eating plants that contain substances is a result of eating biological material.
• Belladonna in Europe or Asia
• Consumption is a lethal dose and children
• The potato is a large quantity for cause
• Spinach is contained in oxide so eat

Bacteria Food Poisoning

• Bacteria produce chemical toxicity and disease
• Causes are direct preventive and more hygiene than bacteria

Examples of Bacterial Food Poisoning

• Organism from salmonella and bacteria
• The eating factor Bacteria The bacteria releases food
• Eating bacteria for toxin factors
• Staphylococcus bacteria
• Bacteria

Main Bacteria types

• Organism that cannot for spores
• The cause is a salmonella
• Types of foods which are heated with cream
• Heat resistance salmonella

Reduce toxicity when food handlers take what following.

• Meats
• Bacteria can destroy bacteria and cool down
• No cross contamination for cooked meats
• Foods will be stored in a food process

Staphyloccocus Food Poisoning

• Food has cell that is arranged for grapes

• Survives during oxygen

• Has rapid toxin causes hot water

• Infection Severe vomit that is followed by collapse As of 50, % of population in nose

• Staphs can transfer to wounds, and sores The means is principal contamination but food should exposure for cough and throat

• Nitrates has not effect on growth of aureus.

• Bacteria destroyed is ready cook for heat

• The food can eat and contaminate. The code can store the foods.