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Food safety, food hygiene and food security are inextricably linked. Food safety is the absence of hazards in food that may harm the health of consumers. Food safety has a critical role in assuring that food stays safe at every stage of the food chain from production to harvest, processing, storage, distribution, all the way to preparation and consumption. Food hygiene refers to the practices that prevent microbial contamination of food at all points along the chain from farm to table.

Food safety: A public health priority

Food containing harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical substances- a cause of more than 200 diseases from diarrhoea to cancers. Foodborne diseases hamper socioeconomic development, medical and health care systems, and retard trade and tourism.

What is Food Poisoning?

• Food poisoning is an acute illness, usually of sudden onset, caused by eating contaminated or poisonous food.
• The symptoms normally include abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and fever.

High-Risk Foods

• Cooked poultry
• Cooked meats
• Dairy produce
• Dishes with Eggs
• Fish and sea food
• Cooked rice
• Soups, gravies and stocks

Low-Risk Foods

• Dried or pickled foods
• Chemically-preserved foods
• Foods with high sugar content
• Food with high salt content

Important factors influencing microbial food spoilage are temperature, pH levels, and moisture of the food. Temperature range, 40°F– 40° F (Danger Zone), bacteria doubling its number in 20 min. Foods that are less acidic like milk, enable bacterial growth at higher rates than acidic foods, like lemon juice.

Food-borne hazards

Physical Hazards

• Occurs when a foreign object gets into food accidentally, or natural objects are left in food.
• Occurs in food by contamination or introduced during food handling / food processing.

Chemical Hazards

• Occur in food naturally, e.g. mycotoxins, marine biotoxins, cyanogenic glycosides, mushroom toxins
• Maybe intentionally added chemicals, such as preservatives or unintentionally added chemicals like pesticides, toxic metals, PCBs etc.

Biological hazards

• Contamination of food by microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites.
• Found in air, food, water, animals, and human body

Food infection:

• Ingestion of viable pathogens along with food leading to lodgement of pathogens in consumers’ organ(s).

Food intoxications:

• Ingestion of toxins already produced by microorganisms in the food.

Toxic-infection:

• Ingestion of microbes along with food, which then produce toxins in situ to bring about symptoms of poisoning.
• Microbes prefer warmer, wetter environments, which make moist foods hotbeds for microorganism growth

Transmission Sources:

• Consumption of contaminated food, person-to- person body contact, or aerosols.
• Consumption of food contaminated either from an infected food handler during preparation or by contact with sewage, sewage sludge or polluted water
• Consumption of fish and shellfish harvested from sewage-polluted waters
• Contamination of fruits and vegetables fertilized with sewage sludge or irrigated with sewage- contaminated water
• Consumption of contaminated water and ice, or their use in food preparation
• Consumption of raw milk, partially cooked meat, or other products from infected animal
• Contamination of kitchen shelves, utensils or food by insects like cockroaches, lizards, and flies.
• Consumption of ready to eat foods contaminated after preparation or during storage at inappropriate temperature.

Ten Main Reasons for Food Poisoning:

• Food prepared too far in advance, and stored at warm temperature
• Storing hot food below 63ºC
• Cooling food too slowly prior to refrigeration
• Not reheating food to high enough temperatures to destroy food poisoning bacteria
• Use of cooked food contaminated with food poisoning bacteria
• Under cooking
• Not thawing frozen poultry and meat for sufficient length of time
• Cross-contamination from raw food to cooked food
• Infected food handlers
• Use of leftovers

Signs of severe food poisoning:

• Bloody diarrhea
• High fever (temperature over 102°F)
• Frequent vomiting
• Diarrhea that lasts more than 3 days
• Signs of dehydration, including little or no urination, a very dry mouth and throat, or feeling dizzy when standing up

People with a Higher Risk of Food Poisoning:

Aged People: Nearly half of people aged 65 and older suffering from foodborne illness due to Salmonella, Campylobacter, Listeria or E. coli need hospitalization (CDC, USA).

Children Younger than 5 Years: Children younger than 5 are three times more likely to be hospitalized from Salmonella infection. 1 out of 7 children under age 5 with E. coli O157 infection suffer from kidney failure (CDC, USA).

People with Weak Immune System: These include persons with chronic diseases, diabetes, liver or kidney disease, alcoholism, HIV/AIDS; or under chemotherapy or radiation therapy

Pregnant Women: Pregnant women are more likely prone to suffer from food illnesses like Toxoplasma and Listeria infection etc.

What is Cross-contamination?

Cross contamination is the transfer of harmful bacteria or microbes from one food to another food via means of utensils, equipment or human hands. It also can occur when a raw food touches or drips onto a cooked or ready-to-eat food.

Two most common mistakes:

• Using the same knife and cutting board to cut chicken and vegetables without cleaning the equipment first.
• Placing a thawing piece of meat on the refrigerator shelf above the one with ready to eat/cooked meals

Preventing cross contamination

• Wash, rinse & sanitize cutting boards, knives, utensils & kitchen countertops after contact with raw meat
• Store raw meat below and away from all ready-to-eat foods in refrigerator
• Wash hands before handling food and after touching raw meat

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