Food

Safety
Food Safety
Food Safety refers to handling, preparing and storing food in a way to best reduce
the risk of individuals becoming sick from foodborne illnesses.
Foodborne illnesses are usually infectious or toxic in nature and caused by bacteria,
viruses, parasites or chemical substances entering the body through contaminated
food.
The World Health Organization have estimated that at least 600 million people all
over the world become inflicted with foodborne illnesses after consuming unsanitary
food. Of these people, at least 420,000 people die every year.
The concept of farm-to-fork (or farm-to-table) food safety is well-known in the
food industry. It tells us that food safety should be observed right from the beginning
when raw foods are just being produced up until the finished product reaches the
consumer.
4 Steps to Food Safety
Four Steps to Food Safety
1. Clean: Wash Hands, Utensils, and Surfaces Often
 Wash your hands the right way.
• Use plain soap and water—skip the antibacterial soap—and scrub the
backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails for at
least 20 seconds.
• Rinse hands, then dry with a clean towel.
• Wash your hands often, especially during these key times when germs can
spread:
 Before, during, and after preparing food
 After handling raw meat, poultry, seafood, or their juices, or uncooked
eggs
 Before eating
 After using the toilet
4 Steps to Food Safety Continued
After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
After touching garbage
Before and after caring for someone who is sick
Before and after treating a cut or wound
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After handling pet food or pet treats.
 Wash surfaces and utensils after each use:
• Wash cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and countertops with hot, soapy
water, especially after they’ve held raw meat, poultry, seafood, or eggs.
• Wash dish cloths often in the hot cycle of your washing machine.
4 Steps to Food Safety Continued
 Wash fruits and vegetables, but not meat, poultry, or eggs:
• Rinse fruits and vegetables under running water without soap, bleach, or
commercial produce washes.
• Rinse fruits and vegetables before peeling, removing skin, or cutting away
any damaged or bruised areas.
• Scrub firm produce like melons or cucumbers with a clean produce brush.
• Dry produce with a paper towel or clean cloth towel.
• Don’t wash meat, poultry, eggs, or seafood to avoid spreading harmful
germs around your kitchen.
• Produce labeled as “pre-washed” does not need to be washed again.
4 Steps to Food Safety Continued
2. Separate: Don’t Cross Contaminate
 Use separate cutting boards and plates for produce, meat, poultry,
seafood, and eggs:
• Use one cutting board for fresh produce or other foods that won’t be
cooked before they’re eaten, and another for raw meat, poultry, or seafood.
Replace them when they are worn.
• Use separate plates and utensils for cooked and raw foods.
• Use hot, soapy water to thoroughly wash plates, utensils, and cutting
boards that touched raw meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, or flour.
4 Steps to Food Safety Continued
 Keep certain types of food separate:
• In your shopping cart, separate raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs
from other foods and place packages of raw meat, poultry, and seafood
in plastic bags if available. When you check out, place raw meat, poultry,
and seafood in separate bags from other foods. 
• At home, place raw meat, poultry, and seafood in containers or sealed,
leakproof plastic bags. Freeze them if you’re not planning to use them
within a few days.
• In the fridge, keep eggs in their original carton and store them in the
main compartment—not in the door.
Four Steps to Food Safety
3. Cook to the Right Temperature
 Food is safely cooked when the internal temperature is high enough
to kill germs that can make you sick:
• Use a food thermometer to be sure your food is safe. When you
think your food is done, place the food thermometer in the thickest part
of the food, making sure not to touch bone, fat, or gristle.
• Refer to the Minimum Cooking Temperatures Chart to be sure your
foods have reached a safe temperature.
 Keep food hot (140˚F or above) after cooking:
• If you’re not serving food right after cooking, keep it out of the
temperature danger zone (between 40°F -140°F) where germs grow
rapidly by using a heat source like a chafing dish, warming tray, or slow
cooker.
4 Steps to Food Safety Continued
 Microwave food thoroughly (165˚F or above):
• Read package directions for cooking and follow them exactly to make
sure food is thoroughly cooked.
• If the food label says, “Let stand for x minutes after cooking,” follow the
directions — letting microwaved food sit for a few minutes allows food
to cook thoroughly as colder areas absorb heat from hotter areas.
• Stir food in the middle of heating. Follow package directions for
commercially prepared frozen food; some are not designed to be stirred
while heating.
4 Steps to Food Safety Continued
4. Chill: Refrigerate and Freeze Food Properly
 Refrigerate perishable foods within 2 hours:
• Bacteria that cause food poisoning multiply quickest between 40°F and 140°F.
• Your refrigerator should be set to 40°F or below and your freezer to 0°F or below.
Use an appliance thermometer to be sure.
• Never leave perishable foods out of refrigeration for more than 2 hours. If the food
is exposed to temperatures above 90°F (like a hot car or summer picnic), refrigerate
it within 1 hour.
• Leftovers should be placed in shallow containers and refrigerated promptly to allow
quick cooling.
• Never thaw or marinate foods on the counter. The safest way to thaw or marinate
meat, poultry, and seafood is in the refrigerator.
• Freezing does not destroy harmful germs, but it does keep food safe until you can
cook it.
• Know when to throw out food by checking the Safe Storage Times chart. Be sure
you throw food out before harmful bacteria grow.
Key Facts
 Food safety, nutrition and food security are inextricably linked.
 An estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall
ill after eating contaminated food and 420 000 die every year,
resulting in the loss of 33 million healthy life years (DALYs).
 US$ 110 billion is lost each year in productivity and medical
expenses resulting from unsafe food in low- and middle-income
countries.
 Children under 5 years of age carry 40% of the foodborne disease
burden, with 125 000 deaths every year.
 Foodborne diseases impede socioeconomic development by straining
health care systems and harming national economies, tourism and
trade.
Major foodborne Illnesses and Causes
Bacteria
 Salmonella, Campylobacter and enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli
are some of the most common foodborne pathogens that affect millions of
people annually, sometimes with severe and fatal outcomes. Symptoms
can be fever, headache, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
Foods involved in outbreaks of salmonellosis include eggs, poultry and
other products of animal origin. Foodborne cases with Campylobacter
are mainly caused by raw milk, raw or undercooked poultry and drinking
water. Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli is associated with
unpasteurized milk, undercooked meat and contaminated fresh fruits and
vegetables.
Major foodborne Illnesses and Causes
 Listeria infections can lead to miscarriage in pregnant women or death
of newborn babies. Although disease occurrence is relatively low,
Listeria’s severe and sometimes fatal health consequences, particularly
among infants, children and the elderly, count them among the most
serious foodborne infections. Listeria is found in unpasteurised dairy
products and various ready-to-eat foods and can grow at refrigeration
temperatures.
 Vibrio cholerae can infect people through contaminated water or food.
Symptoms may include abdominal pain, vomiting and profuse watery
diarrhoea, which quickly lead to severe dehydration and possibly death.
Rice, vegetables, millet gruel and various types of seafood have been
implicated in cholera outbreaks.
Major foodborne Illnesses and Causes
Viruses
 Some viruses can be transmitted by food consumption. Norovirus is a common
cause of foodborne infections that is characterized by nausea, explosive vomiting,
watery diarrhoea and abdominal pain. Hepatitis A virus can also be transmitted
by food and can cause long-lasting liver disease and spreads typically through
raw or undercooked seafood or contaminated raw produce.

 Parasites
Some parasites, such as fish-borne trematodes, are only transmitted through food.
Others, for example tapeworms like Echinococcus spp, or Taenia spp, may
infect people through food or direct contact with animals. Other parasites, such
as Ascaris, Cryptosporidium, Entamoeba histolytica or Giardia, enter the food
chain via water or soil and can contaminate fresh produce.
Major foodborne Illnesses and Causes
Prions
 Prions, infectious agents composed of protein, are unique in that they are associated
with specific forms of neurodegenerative disease. Bovine spongiform
encephalopathy (BSE, or so-called mad cow disease) is a prion disease in cattle,
associated with the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in humans.
Consuming meat products containing specified risk material, such as brain tissue, is
the most likely route of transmission of the prion agent to humans.
Chemicals
 Naturally occurring toxins include mycotoxins, marine biotoxins, cyanogenic
glycosides and toxins occurring in poisonous mushrooms. Staple foods like corn or
cereals can contain high levels of mycotoxins, such as aflatoxin and ochratoxin,
produced by mould on grain. A long-term exposure can affect the immune system
and normal development, or cause cancer.
Major foodborne Illnesses and Causes
 Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are compounds that accumulate in the
environment and human body. Known examples are dioxins and
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are unwanted by-products of
industrial processes and waste incineration. They are found worldwide in the
environment and accumulate in animal food chains. Dioxins are highly toxic
and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune
system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer.
 Heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and mercury cause neurological and
kidney damage. Contamination by heavy metal in food occurs mainly through
pollution of water and soil.
 Other chemical hazards in food can include radioactive nucleotides that can
be discharged into the environment from industries and from civil or military
nuclear operations, food allergens, residues of drugs and other contaminants
incorporated in the food during the process.