Food Safety and Hygiene Name: ______
This assignment is designed to give an overview of the industrial standards for food safety and hygiene. The information in this handout comes from the Toronto Public Health department’s manual for food handler certification, which is a test you will likely need to take if you are considering a job or career in the food industry. All food preparation premises need at least one certified food handler. Having this qualification will help you if you apply for a job in this field. Should you wish to take the test, see your local health department or download the full manual.
1. The Public Health Department
This department inspects all food preparation premises. These include businesses like restaurants, cafes, hotels, hotdog stands and even schools! There is a different public health department for each region in Ontario, but they must enforce the same rules and regulations.
If the health inspector finds that a business is violating the regulations in some way, they can demand that the business improve within a certain period of time. If the business does not improve sufficiently, the owner can be fined up to $5,000 per infraction and closed down. For instance, they could be fined $5,000 for evidence of rat infestation, and another $5,000 because none of their food handlers are certified. They could also be subject to personal injury lawsuits of any amount from customers who became sick after eating there, or found something unpleasant in their food. Yuck!
2. Personal Hygiene
Good personal hygiene helps prevent food borne illnesses and is a legal requirement when working in a food preparation environment. Personal hygiene for food workers includes:
· Not smoking or chewing gum near the food prep area. Smoking can result in ash and saliva entering the food chain, and gum chewing sprays saliva into food.
· Wearing a hat or hairnet, clean aprons, and clean clothes.
· Keeping clean, and having short, clean nails, no jewelry or buttons.
· Not working if ill, or with open cuts or band-aids.
· Not biting nails or touching your face, eyes or mouth while working.
· Washing hands regularly and effectively.
3. Temperature Control
Most food poisoning is caused by temperature abuse during food preparation. This means the food was stored at or cooked to the wrong temperature.
The less time food spends in the danger zone (e.g. out on the counter), the less likely food poisoning will occur. When cooking and reheating hazardous foods, make sure you use a food thermometer to test that they reach 77 degrees Celsius inside, at which point all dangerous microbes will be killed.
4. Cross Contamination
This happens when safe food gets contaminated with pathogens (harmful microbes), chemicals or objects (e.g. used band-aids), making the food unsafe to eat. Usually, this means:
· Raw food comes in contact with ready to eat food;
· Dirty hands spread microbes from one place to another;
· The same equipment is used to handle different foods, e.g. raw then cooked foods.
5. Food Borne Illness (Food Poisoning)
There are a number of ways food can be contaminated. They include:
· Microorganisms such as bacteria or mold growing in the food;
· Spoilage (food going ‘bad)’;
· Chemical contamination- e.g. if the food comes in contact with rat poison;
· Parasites being transferred from food to humans, such as worms in meat;
· Foreign objects such as pest feces, or parts of machinery, ending up in food;
· Food handlers working while they are sick, and transferring bacteria or viruses to the food.
Sometimes, contaminated food can cause illness or death.
Microorganisms and pathogens
Microorganisms are single celled, invisible creatures. Some are beneficial to humans; others can make us sick. The ones that can make us sick are called ‘pathogens’. The most common type of microorganism that is found in food is bacteria. However, viruses, molds, yeasts and parasites can also grow in and/or be transmitted through food.
Hazardous foods
Certain foods are more dangerous than others because they provide perfect conditions for bacteria to grow, or may be more likely to be contaminated before we receive them. These include:
· All meat, fish, eggs and seafood (they have protein)—especially ground beef
· Dairy products
· Unwashed raw fruits and vegetables
· Packaged ready to eat meals
Bacteria
Bacteria grow by dividing themselves in half—in ideal conditions, every 20 minutes. To do this, they need food, a warm temperature (4-60 degrees Celsius is ideal) and a non-acidic environment. That’s why foods like oranges are not likely to give you food poisoning, although they do get moldy. Unlike bacteria, mold doesn’t mind an acid environment, but it doesn’t usually make people seriously ill.
Bacteria from contaminated food can affect consumers in two ways—by infection and intoxication.
Infection is when we eat the live bacteria, and they make us sick by multiplying inside us.
Most bacterial food borne illness causes some or all of the following symptoms: cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting. Some types of bacteria, such as e-coli, can cause more serious symptoms like kidney failure and death. The people most at risk of serious illness are the elderly and young children.
Common bacteria that cause infection are:
Salmonella—found in chicken, meat and meat products, eggs
E-coli—found in the intestinal tract and feces of humans and animals. It gets into the food through contact with raw meat (especially ground beef), contaminated water or feces.
Intoxication is when the bacteria create a poisonous substance which cannot always be destroyed by cooking. The bacteria may be dead, but the toxin or poison will still make anyone who consumes it ill.
Common bacteria that cause intoxication are:
· Staphylococcus aureus (Staph)—found in the throat, nose and skin of infected humans.
· Clostridium botulinum (causes disease called ‘botulism’)—this is often found in damaged or ‘puffy’ looking canned food. If cans look like they are bulging, throw them out. This bacterium can lead to paralysis and death—5 percent of those infected are likely to die of respiratory failure.
Parasites and Viruses
Parasites are creatures that survive by living off a host—for example, a human. They can infect humans when we eat undercooked meat or untreated raw fish, and can be transferred to food by infected food workers who don’t wash their hands after the washroom!! An example of a parasite that can be found in undercooked pork is trichinella spiralis, which is a microscopic worm that causes a painful disease called ‘Trichinosis’. Viruses can also be transmitted to food by food workers, and passed on to others.
One virus that has made whole wedding parties and cruise ships sick recently is Norwalk Virus (Novovirus), which causes vomiting and diarrhea, and can be transmitted by food handlers. Imagine a whole cruise ship contracting these symptoms!
Another example is Hepatitis A, which is often found in contaminated water supplies, especially in tropical places.
Protection Against Bacteria, 1, 2, 3
Because we know how and why bacteria grow, we should be able to keep them from growing. Because we know how bacteria get from place to place, we should know how to keep them from getting into our food.There are three basic principles of food protection against bacteria.
1. Keep bacteria from spreading.
Don’t let food touch anything that may contain disease-producing bacteria, and
protect food from bacteria in the air.
2. Stop bacteria from growing.
Take away the conditions that encourage bacteria to grow. In the kitchen, our best weapon is temperature. The most effective way to prevent bacterial growth is to keep foods below 41°F (5°C) or above 135°F (57°C).These temperatures won’t necessarily kill bacteria; they’ll just slow down their growth greatly.
3. Kill bacteria.
Most disease-causing bacteria are killed if they are subjected to a temperature of 170°F (77°C) for 30 seconds or higher temperatures for shorter times. This enables us to make food safe by cooking and to sanitize dishes and equipment with heat.
The term sanitize means to kill disease-causing bacteria.
Certain chemicals also kill bacteria. These may be used for sanitizing equipment.
Professional Cooking 6th Edition Chapter 2
Allergies
Allergies are an overreaction to a specific substance by the body’s immune system. Symptoms can be mild, including skin itching (hives), vomiting and diarrhea. They can also be severe enough to close the victim’s airways and cause death. The most common allergens are peanuts and tree nuts, eggs, seafood, milk products, and MSG/other food additives.
As food handlers, we can prevent unnecessary allergic reactions by keeping detailed ingredients lists for products, and taking care not to cross-contaminate by reusing equipment from another dish.
Test Yourself Questions: /40
1. True or false (5 marks) circle the correct answer.
The public health department:
· Checks all food preparation premises to make sure they are operating safely (T/F)
· Must make an appointment to be allowed to inspect a restaurant (T/F)
· Has the power to shut down businesses that are not operating safely (T/F)
· Are part of the police department, and can arrest people on site (T/F)
· Can fine business owners who violate food safety standards (T/F)
2. Fill in this chart to note down the personal hygiene requirements for working in a food preparation area (8 marks):
Personal Hygiene DOs / Personal Hygiene DON’Ts3. Temperature danger zone (7 marks)
The temperatures between which most bacteria are active are ______and ______degrees Celsius. They are killed at ______degrees C., and below ______degrees C. they are inactive, but not dead.
The temperature at which microbes are most active is the same temperature as ______.
Foods should be heated/reheated to at least ______degrees C in order to ______.
4. Define cross contamination. (3 marks)
5. Give your own example of how it could happen when preparing food (1 marks)
6. Food Poisoning/Food Borne Illness (12 marks)
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1. A “Pathogen” is:
a- a type of bacteria
b- a type of virus
c- any microorganism causes illness
d- chemicals that cause illness
2. “microorganisms” include:
a- two types of bacteria
b- bacteria, viruses, yeasts, molds and parasites
c- chemicals and foreign objects
d- parasites and bacteria
3. “hazardous foods” include:
a- raw meats, fish, eggs, and unwashed raw vegetables
b- cooked meats and dairy
c- meals purchased ready to eat
d- all of the above
4. Bacteria require the following conditions to multiply:
a- an acidic and dirty environment
b- moderate warmth, food, water, non-acid
c- food workers without gloves on
d- warmth, food, oxygen
5. “e-coli” could be found in:
a- undercooked hamburgers
b- raw beef
c- human or animal feces
d- all of the above
6. A puffy, bulging can of pineapple could indicate:
a- Stahylococcus Aureus (Staph)
b- Clostridium botulinium (‘boltulism’)
c- Salmonella
d- Trichinosis
7. Undercooked pork is sometimes associated with:
a- Stahylococcus Aureus (Staph)
b- Clostridium botulinium (‘boltulism)
c- Salmonella
d- Trichinosis
8. One type of bacteria that can cause intoxication is:
a- Stahylococcus Aureus (Staph)
b- E-coli
c- Salmonella
d- Trichinosis
9. A parasite:
a- Survives by living off a ‘host’
b- Can live in humans or animals
c- Can pass from food handlers to food through unwashed hands
d- All of the above
10. Hepatitis A is a type of:
e- bacteria
f- fungus
g- virus
h- parasite
11. An example of cross contamination is:
i- Cutting raw chicken and cake with the same knife
j- Preparing salad after using the bathroom and not washing hands
k- Undercooking hamburgers
l- Both letters __ and ___
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