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Food safety

• Everyone who handles food must make sure it’s safe to eat.
• You need to understand how food becomes contaminated and how to prevent it.
• The priority is to protect consumers from harm.
• Poor safety can lead to illness or even death.

Get it wrong

• Complaints
• Illness
• Food has to be thrown
• Bad reputation
• Loss of customers
• Close down
• Legal claims/fines

Get it right

• 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, diarrhoea, 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?

• Colour 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 minimise 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

What is an EHO?

• Environmental health officer

They can:

• Inspect premises
• Investigate and remove unsafe food
• Give an improvement notice
• Stop business with a prohibition notice
• Close premises
• Take to court leading to fines or even imprisonment

What is due diligence?

When everything possible is done to make sure that the food prepared was safe to eat

Why is hand washing so vital?

• 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 and waste disposal:

• Handle cleaning products with care/store away from food/ follow instructions for us
• Use special cloths for each job
• Remove rubbish regularly
• Use foot operated bins with lids
• Clean and disinfect regularly and use disposable bags

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

For more information, please Chat with us Ask The Expert.