7 - Food Safety

• Food sanitation and food safety are important concepts to understand and distinguish

Food Sanitation

• Protection from contamination.
• Involves practices that protect food from harmful bacteria, foreign bodies, and chemicals.
• Involves cleanliness of equipment, tools, and ingredients throughout all food preparation procedures.
• Prevents bacteria from multiplying to an extent that causes illness.
• Cleanliness is the primary tenet of food service sanitation.
• Begins with personal hygiene, safe handling of foods, clean utensils and equipment, and sanitary storage facilities, kitchens, and dining rooms.
• Example sanitation concerns include flies, direct hand contact with food, and vermin in food preparation areas

Food Safety

• Conditions and practices preserve food quality to prevent contamination and foodborne illnesses.
• Main umbrella of food sanitation.
• Food sanitation ensures food safety.

Foodborne Illnesses

• Sickness from consuming food and beverages contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms, chemicals, or physical agents.
• Examples of physical contaminants consist of small pebbles, paper or hair.
• Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, fever, and dehydration.
• Type and severity of symptoms depend on the pathogen and amount of contaminated food consumed.
• Individual's health status, especially for immunocompromised individuals, plays a role in foodborne illnesses

Diarrhea

• Diarrhea is the 2nd leading cause of death in children under 5 years old.
• The WHO reported 1.731 billion episodes of diarrhea in 2018, with 36 million progressing to severe episodes in children under 5 years old.
• Rotavirus is the most common cause of vaccine-preventable severe diarrhea (28% of all cases).
• Common bacterial causative agents include E. coli, Shigella, Vibrio cholerae, Campylobacter, and Salmonella.
• Diarrheal infection is typically self-limiting.
• Acute watery diarrhea is the 5th leading cause of morbidity in the Philippines (DOH, 2018).

Socioeconomic Impacts of Foodborne Illnesses

• Debilitating or fatal diseases.
• Increased cost of medical expenses.
• Lost productivity and business.
• Increased surveillance by regulatory agencies.

Sources of Food Contamination

• Raw materials or ingredients must be properly washed to remove potential residual chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers.
• Water used must be safe for drinking and meet the Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water.
• Air or dust in outdoor environments increases contamination risk for street foods.
• Applicable when food preparation area is near food disposal.
• Animals, including household pets and pests, can contaminate food and food areas.
• Packaging materials should be properly sealed and cleaned, but that can be a neglected source of contamination.
• Food handlers are the most common source of contamination.

Food Production Chain

• Food contamination may happen at any point in the food production chain.
• Perishable food products must be delivered on time.

Causes of Foodborne Illness

• Hazards that can cause harm, particularly foodborne illness or acute gastroenteritis.
• Hazards can be biological, chemical, or physical

Biological Hazards

• Includes bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi, can be introduced by infected food handlers.

Foodborne Illness Caused by Bacteria

• Certain food products require time-temperature control to limit bacteria and toxin formation

Spores

• Spores are inactive or dormant forms of bacterial cells that survive extreme environmental conditions
• They're common in the soil.
• Difficult to destroy
• Clostridium perfringens is an anaerobic bacteria found in intestines and animals that causes toxin mediated infection resulting in diarrhea with onset of symptoms 8-22 hours after ingestion
• Temperature abuse with PHF/TCS foods that are refrigerated or microwaved

Foodborne Illness Caused by Non Spore-Forming Bacteria

• Bacteria existing as vegetative cells
• Easily destroyed by heat, controlled cooking, or pasteurization.
• Examples include E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus
• E. coli produce Shiga toxins; E. coli O157:H7 transfers through contact with animal feces and can be spread by infected food handlers
• Onset caused by E.coli is 12-72 hours and lasts from 1-3 days

Foodborne Illness Caused by Virus

• More common cause of foodborne illnesses
• Viruses are smaller and cannot grow outside a living host cell and are not killed by antibiotics; only a few viral particles develop infection.
• Hepatitis A causes infectious hepatitis and has an onset of 4-6 weeks; infected contagiousness occurs one weak before symptoms and continues for 2 weeks after
• Norovirus causes gastroenteritis with brief symptoms lasting 1-2 days

Chemical Hazards

• Harmful substances that can cause illness with food, including naturally occurring allergens and human origin substances like pesticides, cleaning agents, metals, and polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)
• These hazards may be transferred by using improperly washed plates

Organomercury Poisoning

• In 1971-72, a large outbreak of poisoning caused by the consumption of seed dressed with organomercury compounds occurred in Iraq
• International assistance was requested by the Government of Iraq in investigating this outbreak

Minamata Bay Disaster

• Paper manufacturing company illegally discharged untreated toxic wastes with mercury and contaminated drinking water
• Residents who ingested contaminated water aquired Minamata disease, a neurological disorder similar to cerebral palsy affecting motor and cognitive function

Biomagnification

• Toxic burden of many organisms at the lower trophic level is accumulated and concentrated by predators at a higher trophic level causing large increases in the food chain
• DDT dose is highest in top of food chain which usually includes humans
• Increased vomiting is the most common symptom of acute chemical intoxication

Bioaccumulation

• The accumulation of a chemical within the body of an individual; example a worker exposed to lead

Toxic Chemicals

• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB's) are man-made substances used as capacitors and transformers, are fat-soluble and concentrate in fatty tissues
• Food Allergens occur naturally and cause 90% of allergic reactions
• Ciguatoxin is caused by marine algae which is stored by toxins

Bisphenol A (BPA)

• Found in polycarbonate plastic used in food containers and epoxy resins that line metal food cans
• Makes PC plastic sturdy, impact resistant
• Endocrine disrupting chemical (EDC), cardiovascular disease, DM T2, and liver abnormalities
• Europe, 2006 BPA exposures were safe and declined to regulate
• USFDA, 2009 products were safe and exposure levels are below that level that may cause death
• Canada banned BPA in 2008
• Effects are neurological and have minimal concerns for reproductive effects.

Physical Hazards

• Foreign objects such as stones, bone fragments from animals, pieces of glass, staples, and jewelry

Risk Factors for Foodborne Illnesses

• Behaviors and practices that contribute to exposure
• Risk is determined by those based on the records of patients who ate in restaurants
• Most important factors include inadequate temperature when cooling or holding food accounting for 63%

Proper Holding Temperatures

• Time and temperature are the critical factors in handling food that indicate if the food will last long
• Improper temperature and the food temperature danger zone ranges from 5°C to 57°C and permits the rapid growth of infectious and toxin producing organisms
• Time-temperature abuse occurs when food is exposed to the danger zone for more than 4 hrs

Good Personal Hygiene

• Food handlers and the most common source of food contamination
• Important for personnel to undergo training with included sanitation principles, manufacturing controls, and hygiene practicing proper hand washing techniques

Traffic Control

• Personnel and visitor access to specific food-product handling areas must be restricted.
• Personnel involved in raw product handling must not be allowed in processing or finished product areas.

Protection of Premises and Surroundings

• Outside surroundings should be evaluated for contamination sources such as vermin, bird harborage areas, drainage problems, odor problems, debris, refuse, and pollution-smoke, dust, other contaminants.

Water Quality Program

• Compliance with regulations and water standards must be verified through testing programs
• In the Philippines: Philippine National Standards for Drinking Water

Pest Control

• Adequate pest control program is necessary for sanitary operation of a food-processing or handling facility.
• Effectiveness of the pest-control program should be verified on a regular frequency.
• Central paradigm of food safety

HACCP Steps

• Conduct hazard analysis to identify physical, chemical, or biological hazards
• Determine the Critical Control Points at what levels in operation or flow of food is essential to prevent hazards
• Upper or Lower boundaries for safety and food process
• Involve a system that manages observations and measurements to observe limits to determine if CCP is under control
• Must be well designed and maintain the food safely
• Important to implement on certain food and beverage
• Proper documentation ensures effective system in place