ServSafe Review Notes

High Points from ServSafe 1

How Foodborne Illnesses Occur

• Biological contaminants

  • Bacteria

  • Viruses

  • Parasites

  • Fungi

How Foodborne Illnesses Occur: Chemical Contaminants

• Cleaners

• Sanitizers

• Polishes

• Deodorizers, first aid products, health and beauty products

• Equipment/dishes not rated for food use

• Pesticides

How Foodborne Illnesses Occur: Physical Contaminants

• Metal objects such as staples or shavings (from opening cans)

• Bandages

• Glass

• Dirt

• Natural objects (e.g., fish bones in a fish filet, pits – cherries, olives)

• Hair

Ways Food Can Become Unsafe: Five Major Risk Factors

• Purchasing from unsafe sources

• Improper cooking: not cooked to a high enough temperature to kill pathogens, not reheated to a high enough temperature

• Improper holding of food (i.e., at the wrong temperature)

• Using contaminated equipment

• Practicing poor personal hygiene

Ways Food Can Become Unsafe

• Time-temperature abuse: Numbers 2 & 3 from the previous list, also includes improper cooling. Pathogens grow most rapidly between $70$ and $125°F$ ($21- 57°C$).

• Poor Personal Hygiene

  • Coming to work ill

  • Coming to work dirty

  • Not covering burns, cuts, bug bites, etc.

  • Touching face, sneezing/coughing

  • Improper handwashing

• Cross-contamination

  • Using soiled equipment for a new task (using a cutting board for meat, then vegetables with no cleaning and sanitizing in between) which can result in the transfer of pathogens

• Improper cleaning and sanitizing

  • A three-step process: wash, rinse to rid of any soap residue, and sanitize

TCS Food Characteristics: FAT TOM

• F -- Need Food: either protein and/or carbohydrate

• A – Acidity: pH $4.6$ to $7.5$

• T – Time: keep food out of the temperature danger zone – less than $4$ hrs (max time)

• T – Temp: temperature danger zone $41-135°F$ ($5-57°C$)

• O – Oxygen: some microbes need it, others do not

• M – Moisture: High in moisture

• Most susceptible foods: RTE (Ready To Eat)

Populations at Risk

• Elderly

• Preschool age

• Pregnant women

• Immuno-compromised individuals

Government Agencies Involved in Keeping Food Safe

• FDA

• USDA

• CDC

• US Public Health Service

• State and local regulatory authorities

Biological Contaminants

• Bacteria

• Viruses

• Fungi

• Parasites

Biological Contaminants: Common Symptoms and Onset Times

• Common symptoms of foodborne illness:

  • Diarrhea

  • Vomiting

  • Fever

  • Nausea

  • Abdominal cramps

  • Jaundice (yellowing of skin and eyes)

• Onset times:

  • Depend upon the type of foodborne illness

  • Can range from 30 minutes to 6 weeks

• Pathogen: can cause illness or produce toxin

Major Bacteria That Cause Foodborne Illness

• The FDA has identified three types of bacteria that cause severe illness and are highly contagious:

  • Salmonella Typhi:

    • Source: people

    • Prevention: hand washing, cooking; affects RTE foods

  • Shigella spp.:

    • Source: feces

    • Prevention: exclude workers with diarrhea, shigella; handwashing; control flies; affects foods easily contaminated by hands or contact w/ contaminated H2O

  • Enterohemorrhagic and shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli:

    • Source: cattle intestines, infected people

    • Prevention: cook to proper temp; exclude workers with diarrhea, E coli; affects: undercooked ground beef, affected produce

• Others involved in food:

  • Bacillus Cereus

  • Listeria monocytogenes

  • Clostridium perfringens or botulinum

Major Viruses That Cause Foodborne Illness

• The FDA has identified 2 viruses that are highly contagious and can cause severe illness:

  • Hepatitis A

  • Norovirus

• Food handlers diagnosed with an illness from hepatitis A or Norovirus must NOT work in an operation while they are sick

• Viruses:

  • Require a host

  • Don’t grow in food, but can be transmitted by food

  • Typically fecal-oral route

  • Not destroyed by normal cooking

• Prevention: good personal hygiene

Major Viruses That Cause Foodborne Illness: Prevention

• Both are linked with RTE food

• Wash hands

• Avoid bare-hand contact with ready-to-eat food

• Purchase shellfish from approved, reputable suppliers

• Exclude staff who have been diagnosed with either virus

• Proper handwashing

Parasites

• Require a host to live and reproduce

• Source: Seafood, wild game, and food processed with contaminated water, such as produce

• Prevention:

  • Purchase food from approved, reputable suppliers

  • Cook food to required minimum internal temperatures

• Fish that will be served raw or undercooked must be frozen correctly by the manufacturer

Fungi

• Yeasts, Mold & Mushrooms

  • Some molds and mushrooms produce toxins

  • Throw out moldy food, unless mold is a natural part of the food

  • Purchase mushrooms from approved, reputable suppliers

Biological Toxins

• Naturally occur in certain plants, mushrooms, and seafood

• Seafood toxins:

  • Produced by pathogens found on certain fish (Tuna, bonito, mahi mahi)

  • Histamine produced when fish is time-temperature abused

  • Occur in certain fish that eat smaller fish that have consumed the toxin

• Symptoms and onset times vary

• General symptoms:

  • Diarrhea or vomiting

  • Neurological symptoms

  • Tingling in extremities

  • Reversal of hot and cold sensations

  • Flushing of the face and/or hives

  • Breathing Difficulty

  • Heart palpitations

Deliberate Contamination of Food

• FDA defense tool: ALERT

  • Assure:

    • Make sure products received are from safe sources

  • Look:

    • Monitor the security of products in the facility

  • Employees:

    • Know who is in your facility

  • Reports:

    • Keep information related to food defense accessible

  • Threat:

    • Develop a plan for responding to suspicious activity or a threat to the operation

Food Allergens

• A naturally occurring protein in a food or ingredient some people are sensitive to: When enough of an allergen is eaten, an allergic reaction can occur

• Symptoms

  • nausea

  • SOB/wheezing

  • hives/itchy rash

  • swelling body/face

  • vomiting

  • diarrhea

  • abdominal pain

• Can be mild or severe; severe – anaphylaxis à death

• What are the common food allergens? There are 8.

• To prevent avoid “cross contact”

Sick Cook Wreaks Havoc: Case Study

• Sixteen guests and 3 catering staff members got sick after eating food from a catered event. Within one to three days after the catered event, reports began to come into the local regulatory authority.

• Those who had gotten sick reported very similar symptoms. Each had experienced stomach cramps, fever and diarrhea. Three people went to the emergency room.

• The specific food was never identified. But the regulatory authority confirmed that the outbreak was likely caused by the catering company’s lead cook. He was not feeling well the day of the event. He also failed to properly wash his hands throughout his shift and he had prepped the food served at the luncheon.

• What could have been done to prevent the outbreak?

• What bug do you think caused it?

• How could this be prevented in the future?

How Food Handlers Can Contaminate Food

• Each letter on the picture represents a way a food handler might contaminate food

• What would you associate with each letter? A through H

To Keep Food Safe: Personal Hygiene Program

• Management needs a Personal Hygiene Program

• Focus on the following:

  • Create personal hygiene policies; for example washing hands should take about 20 seconds

  • Train food handlers on personal hygiene policies and retrain them regularly; let them know when to wash hands

  • Model correct behavior at all times

  • Supervise food safety practices

  • Revise personal hygiene policies when laws or science change; when can hand antiseptics be used?

Handling Wounds, Cuts, or Burns

• Must be covered to prevent pathogens from contaminating food and food-contact surfaces

Single-Use Gloves

• Should be used when handling ready-to-eat food

  • Except when washing produce

  • Except when handling ready-to-eat ingredients for a dish that will be cooked

• Must NEVER be used in place of handwashing

• Must NEVER be washed and reused

• Must fit correctly

• To use correctly:

  • Wash and dry hands before putting gloves on

  • Select the correct glove size

  • Hold gloves by the edge when putting them on

  • Once gloves are on, check for rips or tears

  • NEVER blow into gloves

  • NEVER roll gloves to make them easier to put on

• When do you change them?

Bare-Hand Contact with Ready-to-Eat Food

• Must be avoided:

• Some jurisdictions allow it but require:

  • Policies on staff health

  • Training in handwashing and personal hygiene practices

• NEVER handle ready-to-eat food with bare hands when you primarily serve a high-risk population

Work Attire

• Food handlers must:

  • Wear a clean hat or other hair restraint

  • Wear clean clothing daily

  • Remove aprons when leaving food-preparation areas

  • Remove jewelry from hands and arms before prepping food or when working around prep areas

• Food handlers must NOT:

  • Eat, drink, smoke, or chew gum or tobacco When:

    • Prepping or serving food

    • Working in prep areas

    • Working in areas used to clean utensils and equipment

Improperly Cooked Chicken Has Consequences: Case Study

• A group of preschool children were on a field trip to the local pumpkin farm for their annual fall outing. Twenty-five children and three chaperones became ill after a stop at a family-owned restaurant.

• Regulatory authorities determined that chicken used to make chicken sandwiches was not fully cooked. It seemed that the cooks at the operation had a difficult time keeping up after the school bus arrived. As a result, the cooks rushed the cooking process. Most of the children became severely ill and had to be hospitalized. The chaperones recovered quickly.

• What should the cooks have done differently?

• What caused the outbreak?

• Why did the children become so much sicker than the adults?

• What repercussions will the restaurant face as a result of this incident

Cooking Food

(Specific temperatures for each food type are not provided in the transcript)

• Ground meat

• Ground chicken

• Stuffed pasta

• Fish

• Eggs

• Roast beef

• Steak

Managing a Buffet: Major Points of Control

• Food

• Utensils

• People