Food Safety and Hygiene

by:
Romano G. Lavilla, PhD
Food Safety Matters

A large majority of reported food poisoning

cases stem from incorrect food handling and
hygiene practices within the food industry.
Every person working in the food industry has a
responsibility to prepare food that is safe and
suitable to eat.
Food safety

➢ Everyone who handles food must make sure it’s

safe to eat.
➢ Food becomes contaminated and you need to
understand how to prevent it.
➢ The priority is to protect consumers from harm.
➢ Poor safety can lead to illness or even death.
Costs associated with food poisoning

➢ Complaints
➢ Illness
➢ Food has to be thrown
➢ Bad reputation
➢ Loss of customers
➢ Close down
➢ Legal claims/fines
Benefits of food safety awareness

➢ Safe food
➢ Less wastage
➢ Happy customers
➢ Good reputation
Food hazards

➢ Anything that could cause harm

➢ Physical – jewellery, plasters, hair, machinery
➢ Chemical – cleaning products, pesticides,
poisonous plants, rat poison
➢ Microbial – bacteria, viruses, moulds
➢ Allergenic – nuts, dairy, shellfish
Microbial contamination
➢ Bacteria are everywhere
➢ Most are harmless
➢ Some used to produce food like yoghurt and
cheese
➢ Pathogenic – cause food poisoning
➢ Bacteria are very small and you cannot tell if food is
contaminated
 Where are bacteria found?

➢ Raw food – esp. meat, fish, shellfish, eggs, fruit&

veg.
➢ People – esp. skin, ears, nose, throat, hair
➢ Air and dust and soil
➢ Equipment if not cleaned properly
➢ Pests – animals, birds, insects
➢ Untreated water
➢ Food waste
How do bacteria multiply?

➢ Binary fission – doubling

➢ Time – double every 10-20 mins
➢ Warmth – 5-63C danger zone ( quickest growth
37C body temp)
➢ Moisture - water (so less likely on dried foods)
➢ Nutrients – quickest growth on high protein food
– meat, eggs, fish, milk
Food poisoning
➢ Most bacteria die when the temperature gets
above 63C or they have no moisture or food
➢ Some can form spores which protect them so
they can survive
➢ Food poisoning caused by large quantities of
pathogenic bacteria
➢ Symptoms – stomach pain, diarrhea, nausea,
vomiting.
➢ Most at risk – very young, very old, ill people,
pregnant mothers
Common bacteria

➢ Salmonella – chicken, eggs

➢ Staphylococcus Aureus – human skin, nose,
mouth, cuts
➢ Clostridium Perfringens – animals, soil
➢ Clostridium Botulinum – soil
➢ Bacillus Cereus – cooked rice
Food Borne Disease
➢ Caused by pathogenic bacteria and viruses
carried on food
➢ They don’t multiply in food, but in the person
who eats it
➢ Campylobacter enteritis – raw meat
➢ E Coli – beef
➢ Listeria – soft cheese, pate
➢ Norovirus – shellfish, raw veg.
➢ Typhoid – Untreated water
What is cross contamination?

➢ Bacteria transferred from one thing to another

➢ Raw food touching ready to eat food
➢ Knives/boards used for raw food not washed
properly before using on ready to eat food
➢ Hands and hand contact surfaces like door
handles, switches, taps
➢ These are called vehicles for contamination
transferring bacteria from one place to
another
How to prevent cross contamination
➢ Color coded boards and knives
➢ Keep raw and cooked food separate
➢ Keep food covered in storage
➢ Clean and disinfect surfaces
➢ Use disposable cloths or paper towels
➢ Wash hands regularly
➢ Good personal hygiene
➢ Good food waste disposal
High risk foods

➢Cooked meat, fish , seafood

➢Pies and meals with sauces like curry,
stew, casserole
➢Egg products like quiche and mayonnaise
➢Cooked rice
➢Dairy products, cream cakes, cream
desserts
Low Risk foods

➢Pickled in acid e.g onions, gherkins

➢High sugar e.g chocolate, biscuits
➢Dried e.g pasta, flour, packet mixes
➢High salt or fat e.g crisps
Hazard Control
➢ Businesses have to ensure food is safe by
having a safety management system to check
the hazards and put things in place to minimize
the risk.
➢ HACCP – Hazard analysis critical control point
➢ Documents and records must be kept on
temperature, training and cleaning
➢ Register with local authority
➢ Provide toilet and hand wash facilities
➢ Provide staff training and supervision
A food handler must:

➢ Keep themselves clean

➢ Keep workplace clean
➢ Protect food from contamination
➢ Have good personal hygiene
➢ Protective clothing
➢ Inform supervisor of any stomach illness, skin
problems, coughs and colds
Importance of handwashing
➢ To remove bacteria
➢ To prevent cross contamination
➢ When is it important?
➢ Before handling food
➢ After : touching raw food, going to the toilet,
smoking, sneezing, cleaning, handling waste,
handling allergens, offering first aid
➢ There must be hand wash basins, hot/cold
water, antibacterial liquid soap and paper towels.
➢ Wash front, back and between fingers, rinse/dry
Cleaning
➢ Detergent – removes dirt and grease
➢ Disinfectant – reduces bacteria to a safe level
➢ Sanitizer – combines detergent and disinfectant
➢ Hand contact surfaces – door handles, fridge
handles, taps, light switches, cooker controls,
lids on waste bins, telephones, toilet seats &
flush handles, pens
➢ Clean as you go
6 stages of cleaning
➢ Pre-clean (scrape bits into food waste)
➢ Main clean
➢ Rinse
➢ Disinfect
➢ Final rinse
➢ Dry
Cleaning schedule
➢ What needs to be cleaned
➢ How will it be done
➢ When will it be done
➢ Who will do it
Cleaning and waste disposal

➢ Handle cleaning products with care/store away

from food/ follow instructions for use
➢ Use special cloths for each job
➢ Remove rubbish regularly
➢ Use foot operated bins with lids
➢ Clean and disinfect regularly and use disposable
bags
Pests

➢ Any living creature capable of contaminating or

damaging food
➢ Rats, mice, pigeons, sparrows, starlings, flies,
cockroaches
➢ Pests contaminate food with:
➢ Bacteria, droppings, hair, feathers,
➢ They damage stock and cause food wastage
How to prevent pests
➢Keep food covered
➢Keep work areas clean
➢Make sure bins have lids
➢Empty bins regularly
➢Check food deliveries
➢Check & rotate stock
➢Keep doors and windows closed
➢Tell your supervisor if you see signs of pests
Preservation of food
➢ Food is preserved to remove conditions
microbes need to grow
➢ Drying (dehydration)
➢ Freezing
➢ Pickling
➢ Vaccum packing
➢ Sterilising
➢ UHT (ultra heat treatment)
➢ Canning
➢ Irradiation
➢ Smoking
Time and temperature control
➢ Keep high risk food out of danger zone 5-63C
➢ Keep cold food at 5C or below to slow growth
➢ Keep frozen food at -18C or below
➢ Keep hot food at 63C or above as most
bacteria will die
➢ Check temperature of deliveries & reheated
food/hot held food
➢ Core Temperature of food (centre) can be
checked with probe thermometer
Temperature continued
➢ Defrost thoroughly in the fridge
➢ Cook food so that core reaches 70C for 2 mins
➢ Keep hot held food above 63C
➢ Cool food quickly by:
➢ Dividing into smaller quantities
➢ Use an ice bath or cold water and stir
➢ Reheated food must reach 73C for 30 seconds
Stock rotation
➢ Checking dates on food deliveries
➢ Putting food with shorter shelf life at the front
➢ Use oldest food first
➢ Date marks:
➢ Best before – usually on long life things like
canned, dried and frozen food
➢ Use by – found on highly perishable food such as
meat, fish, dairy
➢ It is an offence to sell or use food past its use by
date