Food Safety Notes

FOOD SAFETY

Objectives

• Understand the basic concepts of food safety.
• Identify the different types of food hazards that affect food safety.

Types of Food Hazards

• Hazard: A property that may cause food to be unsafe; anything that may cause injury or illness.
• Physical Hazard
• Chemical Hazard
• Biological Hazard

Food Safety Concerns

• Foodborne illnesses
• Food contaminants
• Pesticide exposure
• Environmental effects

Biological Hazards

• From substances produced by living creatures such as humans, rodents, pests, or microorganisms.
• Hazards that pose the greatest food safety threat to the consumer.

Chemical Hazards

• Intentionally added chemicals (e.g., Permitted food additives that may be a chemical hazard due to improper use).
• Allergens - components in food that cause allergies
• Examples of Allergens:
  • E300
  • E102
  • E124
  • E133
  • E132
  • E111

Biological Hazards (Continued)

• Bacterial pathogens (Salmonella sp, Clostridium sp)
• Viral pathogens
• Parasites (roundworms, liver flukes, tape worm)
• Virus Structure

How Bacteria Contaminate Products

• Healthy people have bacteria in their nose, mouth, intestines, and on their skin.
• Products can be contaminated directly by our hands or by sneezing or coughing.
• Many insects introduce bacteria to products.

Bacteria Growth Requirements

• Water (i.e., Moisture)
• Nutrients (carbohydrates, nitrogen, etc.)
• Temperatures of $5$ to $50$°C
• pH of $5-9$
• Many do not require oxygen to grow

Where Bacteria are Found

• On our skin, nose, ears, and mouth
• In our stomach
• In soil
• On plants and vegetables
• In water
• In air

Bacteria Contamination Methods (via Pests)

• Flies transfer bacteria whenever they land on something.
• Cockroaches often live in drains and feed on rotting garbage. They carry bacteria on their legs and contaminate products and equipment that they may crawl over.

Foodborne Illness Defined

• Foodborne disease or food poisoning
• Any illness resulting from the food spoilage of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as toxins.

Foodborne Illness: Bacteria and Viruses

• The most common cause of food poisoning.
• The bacteria and viruses that cause the most illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths are: Salmonella, Listeria, E.coli, Norovirus, Campylobacter and Clostridium perfringens.

Foodborne Illness: Symptoms and Consequences

• Symptoms of food poisoning include diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, fever, cramps.
• Other serious consequences include kidney and liver failure, brain and neural disorders, reactive arthritis, cancer and death.

Foodborne Illness: Allergens

• Food allergy is an abnormal response to a food triggered by your body's immune system. Allergic reactions to food can sometimes cause serious illness and death.
• The foods that most often trigger allergic reactions are:
  • Milk
  • Eggs
  • Fish (e.g., bass, flounder, cod)
  • Crustacean shellfish (e.g. crab, lobster, shrimp)
  • Tree nuts (e.g., almonds, walnuts, pecans)
  • Peanuts
  • Wheat
  • Soybeans

Foodborne Illness: Molds, Toxins, and Contaminants

• Some cases of food poisoning can be linked to either natural toxins (such as those in some mushrooms and pufferfish) or chemical toxins (such as pesticides or melamine).
• While some molds are desirable in foods (such as blue cheese), other molds can produce toxins that cause illness.

WHO's Five Keys to Safer Food

1. KEEP CLEAN
2. SEPARATE RAW AND COOKED
3. COOK THOROUGHLY
4. KEEP FOOD AT SAFE TEMPERATURE
   • Danger zone: $5$°C - $60$°C
   • Cook to: $70$°C
5. USE SAFE WATER AND RAW MATERIALS

Controlling Microbial Contamination

• Disinfection/Sanitation - alcohol, chlorine, Iodine, Peroxide, Quaternary amines or phenolics
• Filtration (membrane filtration)
• Radiation (UV light, gamma irradiation)
• Preservation (e.g., Benzyl alcohol)

Achieving Safe, Clean & Fresh Food

• CLEAN PERSONNEL
• CLEAN PLANT
• CLEAN EQUIPMENT
• CLEAN METHODS