Food Contamination Safety Management: Importance, Prevention Systems, And Control Measures

Importance of Prevention Systems and Control in Food Management

Hygiene and the management of the food have become a necessary demand these days when the food industry is concerned. Hence, the maintenance of the safety of food and the hygiene is an important requisite for the entrepreneurs in the food industry for sustainability n the market of food and also in the competitive market (Kumar et al., 2013). The International Organization for Standardization developed ISO 22000 Standard for maintaining and managing the food safety and the security too. It also specifies the important needs of the management of food and this includes interactive communication, prerequisite programs, System Management and HACCP principles. This system displays and monitors and control food hazards at all levels of the supply chain of food; be it while the supply of ingredients is done or the preparation of the food, packaging, storage or even transportation (Vladimirov, 2011).  

Chemical Contamination

This type of contamination occurs when the food goes in contact with the chemicals and those are the chemical which can easily lead to food poisoning. The chemical components that are responsible to cause contamination includes toxic metals, pesticides, cleaning product, sanitizers, and preservatives.  

Proper Storage and safe equipment’s: the chemicals should be stored in original container to avoid the accidental misuse and the leakage of these chemicals into food. The packaged chemical should be labeled properly and clearly so that it can be identified easily to prevent the contact with the food. The utensils should be kept in good condition and clean and maintain regularly the packaging of the food should be checked appropriately. The metallic container for storing and cooking food should be controlled. The chemicals used for cleaning or avoiding the insects and disease causing animals should be used according to the instructions or recommendations.

Proper cooking: food should be washed and cooked properly to eradicate the chemical substances (pesticides) used during the plant growth (Rather et al., 2017).

Avoid using plastic containers: various studies have been conducted on the toxic compounds such as Bisphenol A (BPA) that may cause health problem like cancer and obesity. To prevent chemical contamination the use of plastic container should be limited or stopped. Various plastic container with label “BPA free” also not safe to use.  Items which are singly used like containers of plastic are not designed for re-usage again. Hence, the food should always be stored in the containers which are safe to use (Hussain, 2016).

Effective Temperature Control Systems

Other preventable measure: some of the aspects should be considered while cooking includes the sanitizing solutions should be tested regularly, the food should be washed under cold running water, and hands should be washed properly while processing the food.

Food can be contaminated by some physical objects generally named as foreign bodies. This type of contamination occurs when the real objects help in the contamination of the food. There are times when the food is physically contaminated, that time the food is biologically contaminated too (Caraveo et al., 2013). The reason behind this is that the contamination may store bacteria which are dangerous. Example: Fingernail.

Hair: The hair should always be neatly tied in a bun while working. Today, many of the hoteliers use hair cap to tie the bun in order to not let the hair fall into the food.

Metal or Glass: When the kitchen products are not at all maintained like the broken crockery and utensils, the physical food contamination can occur. Such type of utensils should be thrown out as soon as they are broken.

Pests: Animals like rats and cockroaches leave their droppings and because of that the contamination of the food might happen. Flies can also drop itself accidentally into the food and make it contaminated (Hutchinson, 2017).

Jewelry: There should not be any jeweler worn when the food is getting prepared.

Dirt: It is not noticeable if the dirt goes into the food. It also can contaminate the food overall. But maybe not on the bigger level.

Storage of the food: the food products should be cooked immediately after purchased at proper temperature. Cooking is the most favorable method to avoid most of the contaminations. All food products that are recommended to keep in low temperature should be stored in refrigerator below 40 degree. The refrigerators should be properly cleaned and sanitized at regular intervals to prevent the accumulation of physical contamination.

Other controls: One should not wear nail polish or the artificial nails while processing food or cooking the food because this may leads to contamination. That should be avoided at highest priority to improve the food hygiene. Nails should always be kept short and clean so that the contamination could be prevented. Fingernails wearing should also be avoided as they can fall off in food (Inamori & Fujimoto, 2004).

Foodborne infection

Consumers sometime confused between food borne poisoning (or food borne illness) and food infection. However both have different meaning. Food infection is kind of infection caused by the ingestion of live bacteria which is present in food and grow themselves in the intestinal tract of humans. On the other hand food poisoning is a form of food borne illness which is caused by consuming the food products that contains toxins. In most of the cases of foodborne infection, the contamination is the only reason and it can be caused by bacteria like salmonella or Escherichia coli (M. & C., 2016).

Methods for Safe Storage of Food

The major symptoms of food poisoning involve:

• Abdominal pain and cramps
• Diarrhea typically lasting for 1 top 7 days
• Joint/ back aches
• Vomiting
• fatigue
• Fever
• Nausea
• When there is severe loss of water or dehydration which includes dry mouth, no urine or less (Ogori & Friday, 2014).

Bacteria: It is one of the most prevalent causes of poisoning. Some of the names which include dangerous bacteria are E coli, Listeria, campylobacter, cryptosporidium, and salmonella (Kunwar et al., 2013).

Parasites: Food poisoning is also caused by the parasites but is not as common as the bacteria. Parasites which are in contaminated food are considered to be very dangerous. Toxoplasma is the type of parasite which is seen in many of the cases.

Virus: Virus can also be one of the causes. For example, Noro Virus which is also known as Norwalk Virus is the cause of food poisoning in 19 million cases every year. (Blouw & Embil, 2005).

Causes other than microorganism: When the food is not cooked properly, storage of the food or its product not stored appropriately, if the food left out for long, the food is handled by someone who is sick and if the food items is consumed after the expiry date.

Food poison can be occurs due to the consumption of food contaminated with toxins or the chemicals which contaminate the food (Hakim et al., 2015). It has become the serious health issues which have affected people from all over the world. According to Centers for disease control and prevention, each year one in six people in America suffer with some form of food poisoning (Center for disease control and prevention, 2017).

Food poisoning is the form of foodborne illness and that is why they do have more or less similar symptoms.

The symptoms of food poisoning are more similar to the symptoms associated with foodborne infections. Such as

• Diarrhea
• Vomiting (usually lasts for 1 to 7 days)
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Fever
• weakness
• Stomach Flu can also occur in foodborne illness (Addis & Sisay, 2015).

There are several causes which make foodborne disease to occur. They are:

• Raw and undercooked poultry products like chicken, duck and turkey has the high risk of developing food poisoning
• Vegetables and leafy greens are the common source of food poisoning. Leafy greens are more likely to cause health issues because they generally consumes raw.
• Food contamination can be occurring from dirty processing equipment and the unhygienic food preparation practices.
• The fish and fish products that are not stored at the recommended temperature are ore likely to be contaminated with a toxin known as histamine which is produced by the bacteria in fish. Shellfish like clams and oysters also have higher risk of causing food poisoning. Algae consumed by shellfish produce many toxins, when these shellfish eaten by human they may cause food poisoning.
• Food poisoning can also be caused by consuming unpasteurized dairy product (Coyle, 2018).

Measures from which this infection can be controlled are as follows:

• HACCP Plan: This stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control point. It is a type of written plan which defines the process of managing the control of probable hazardous food which is at the critical control points of preparation of food processing. If Put Simply, it is a plan displaying as to how food is handled so consumers won’t get sick (Sagepub, 2014).
• Personal Hygiene: Human beings should keep the personal hygiene so that the bacteria which can cause food poisoning to be reduced or mitigated. Human beings can do certain things like they can wash their hands after visiting the washroom, at the time of preparation of food, in between working with the raw vegetables and ready to eat foods, in between raw species like pork, chicken, seafood and also after engaging in some other activities which can contaminate hands.
• Cleaning Measures: If no samples are needed for the laboratory testing, the surfaces of the food service establishment must be cleaned and not infected for preventing the probability of the cross-contamination. The surfaces where the food touches like door handles, hand wash stations and wait for areas etc. should be kept especially clean. The beach water of chlorine is impactful for disinfection in a huge variety of the surfaces.
• Temperature Control: The time of monitoring and controlled temperature of food records controls probably hazardous foods specified in 15ANCAC 18A .2600. Records must be made available for the review by local environmental health program at the request.
• Storage Temperature: The hard work is done for estimating the processing of food at the time in which food implicated is being developed. The temperature of the food at the time of processing and storage must always be measured for the good quality food (Khatoon et al., 2017).
• Training measures: the World Health Organization encourages the adaption of the global health messaged on the local level. The projects which are educational are being implemented at the level of the community. The training programs are translated into 30 different languages and WHO also created the five keys training with tips on an adaptation of the training program for various groups.
• Cooking: most of the pathogens or microorganisms are heat sensitive and they cannot survive in very high or very less temperature. Cooking the food at optimal temperature and for enough time ensures that most of the bacteria are killed. The food while cooking should be covered properly to avoid any contamination.

The agents that spoil foods are as follows:

• Bacteria: These can be found anywhere like in the air, water, animals, humans, , and foods. There are various kinds of the bacteria which are of different shapes when seen via microscope. Many of them are of rod shape. Mostly the food which is contaminated with bacteria remains undetected as the food mostly seems and tastes as usual. The bacteria which are harmful can cause food poisoning and such bacteria are known as pathogenic. There is the rapid growth of bacteria and it can also multiply in minutes. It grows at the different rates in different temperatures. Mostly the temperature range is of 5-60 degrees C which is known as the danger zone for the food (Rawat, 2015).

Source: (Hkedcity 2018)

• Moulds: Moulds are bigger and larger as compared to the yeasts or bacteria. These are the members of the fungi family. Fungi are the living thing but not the plant or the animal. Moulds and mushrooms etc grow by engrossing nutrients from the nearby surroundings. These are made of fibers like hair and spores. They grow mostly on the upper surface of the food. For E.g. Cheese or bread etc. They multiply by producing the spores with travel in air. Moulds can easily grow toxins which are harmful and known as mycotoxins. These mycotoxins are poisonous (Sahu & Bala, 2017).
• Yeasts: These are small single-celled fungi. They are active and have warmth in them and they grow in food in the atmosphere of moisture. This can easily grow with no oxygen and are responsible for spoilage of food which contains high sugar like jam, or sugary yogurts etc. When a cork of the bottle is popped out that means that that bottle has the yeast infection. They grow or multiply by budding phenomena as they spend out the little bud which grows and then it breaks to form a new yeast cell (Ledenbach & Marshall, 2012).
• Enzymes: These are the type of proteins which creates a speedy chemical reaction. They are inactive until the food is yielded or any animal is slaughtered. They are very sensitive toward heat and they are inactive when kept at the low temperature. For e.g. Freezer. When the veggies are cut, the tissue of the plant releases some of the enzymes which react chemically with the plant compounds in the presence of the oxygen for producing the brown pigments. This type of reaction is known as enzymatic browning.

Source: (Google, 2018)

The reaction makes the food unattractive and restricts the shelf life of fruits and vegetables.

There are various methods by which foods can persevere. Some of those methods are mentioned below.

Drying: Drying is the oldest method of food preservation and it is also a great way of saving herbs, fruits and vegetables and meats. Since the very inception times, people are using the sun and the atmosphere as the technique of preservation for the removal of the moisture. This is the practice which is used in the whole world. For example: In the southern part of Italy, it is especially known for tomato drying and India is known for drying the chilies, mangoes and other spices (Olurankinse, 2014).

Hygiene and Management of Food Safety

Salting: This is the subcategory of the method “Drying”. The major difference is that the salt is added to the products, majorly in meat and fish for drawing the moisture. This process reduces the content of the bacteria and it makes the food to be used for later as well. When the salt is added to the protein of animal, it turns it a little bit leathery. There is some popular food also made in such traditions as beef jerky and dry salted cod (Pal & Devrani, 2018).

Canning: The foods which are canned are in need to be the heart. The technique of canning was incepted by the chemist from France in the year 1795 and was then used for preserving food for the army of Napoleon. This is the very popular method of the preservation of the foods such as fruits and vegetables and also meats. In this process, the equipment is sterilized in the simmering water for just a few minutes.  Then they are to be filled with the foods like jam. Then for the final process, the jars are put in the pot of filled water and covered and let it boil. This process goes on for 10 minutes. When these jars are cooled, they are seal packed (Krishnan, 2014).

Pickling: The major difference between pickling and canning is that one needs two things for pickling. One is salt and the other one is acid. Firstly, the product is soaked in the brine with the salt. When the salt is picked up in particular enough amounts, it is shifted to the jar which is filled with Vinegar. This is the time when the canning methods are used.

Refrigeration: This process works on the basis of the principle that the activity of the bacteria and enzyme are kept on the temperature which is fairly low. This can be applied to the perishable goods like milk, fruits, veggies etc. The refrigerator is also set on the particular temperature and goes into action when there is a rise in the temperature. Foods are to be covered to be free from the moisture. Covering the foods will also avoid the flavor picking from other foods. They should be wrapped with cellophane or aluminum foil.

Freezing: In this method, bacteria’s are not able to develop and grow and also the enzymes are not activated. The food which is frozen always contains bacteria and enzymes which lies in the latent state and that is why it is necessary for the food to be at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius. The multiplication in the bacteria and enzymes happen for bringing oxidative changes as soon as food begins to defrost.

Food Poisoning and Foodborne Illness

Sugaring: Sugar helps in preparing the jam, jellies and other food. They all have a high quality of foods. Water is not made available to the microorganism and hence, food will not spoil. Although, mould might grow on the surface of the food in case of the sterility is not managed.

Pasteurization: It is the process of the processing of the heating of the liquid or food for killing the bacteria named pathogenic in order to make the food safe for eating. By doing this the bacteria will be killed and it will help in reducing the disease to be transmitted like fever, tuberculosis, polio etc. It is significant that foods might get contaminated even when they go through this process.

Sterilization: In this process, this is done with the moist heat and the temperature should generally be at 110 to 130 C with the timing of 20 to 40 min. Example: The foods which are canned should be sterilized in the autoclave at about 1210C for 20 min.

UHT Treatment: HT means a significantly very small treatment which is done at the temperature of approximately 1400C for very few seconds. This will result in the minimal heat damage for the product properties. Now UHT treatment is only possible when in flow through equipment. Hence the product is sterilized before it gets transferred to pre-sterilized jars in the atmosphere which is sterile (Living, 2009).

Benzoic Acid: It is the form of the sodium salt which consists of the chemical foods preservative. Sodium Benzoate is a common preservative in acidic foods like pickles, fruits etc. Yeats is too inhibited by benzoate on a greater extent compared to the moulds and bacteria (Tanchev & Prokopov, 2007).

Freezing: freezing is although considered a good method to kill the heat sensitive bacteria but it also has issues like loss in texture. The water in the intercellular spaces of fruits and vegetables freezes and the ice crystals are formed which leads to rupturing of adjacent cell wall. During freezing the natural pigments like chlorophyll in vegetables also lost.

Canning: during the canning process the freshness, flavor, appearance has been reduces. For example the apple slices preserved by canning reduce its freshness by 86 %, flavor by 72 percent and appearance by 76 %.

Acid preservation: by using the acid such as benzoic acid also impacts the freshness and the quality of the food product.

Drying method: if the apple slices are processed by drying methods it reduces its freshness by 95 %, flavor by 93 %, and appearance by 97 percent . One of the study conducted on effect of freeze drying of garlic shows that the freeze dried sample had the maximum moisture loss about 59% (Puranik et al, 2012).

Symptoms and Causes of Food Poisoning

Acid preservation: by using the acid such as benzoic acid also impacts the freshness and the quality of the food product.

Identify the population: Firstly, the evaluation step is to identify the population that is: people who participated in the program and the selection of the sample are done.  Each country has a planned workout which is accessible via a computer network and keyword search is conducted.

Develop the survey: The extension programming materials are being reviewed for the identification of the food handling and preservation of the food practices. Such materials involve goals and concepts, suggestions for the teaching, fact sheets, master in transparency and leader information of the supplemental. The interview of handling of food has 16 questions which relate to the respondents who handle food before participating in the program.

Data Collections: There are surveys which are conducted by the telephones. Trained interviewers called the people who participated within 10 weeks period. There are in total five attempts which are made by the respondents.

Results: The major scores of the before and after handling of food behaviors are compared with each other and the tests are used for determining if the differences are important. Example: Handling of food program participants are reported safe practicing food handling behaviors in a very high percentage of the time after attending these programs (Vas, 1976).

This is the tool for safety which controls and maintains the temperature from causing any damage to the veggies, fruits, and other eatables. If it is not analyzed in a proper way, the result will always be poor and polluted and the food will always look infected

Source: (Google, 2018)

1. Firstly, identify the temperature which is needed for various products. Such as meat and seafood needs to be chilled on the lowest temperatures while the raw materials need the average temperature.
2. Determine the procedures of the temperature for meeting the standard of temperatures.
3. The controlling should be proper and monitored properly for making sure that the required temperature is achieved.
4. Then the list of the temperature is formed for the efficient storage of the dairy products, meats and seafood etc (FoodStandards, 2002).

It is significant for storing the food in the proper way so that it can be sued multiple times for meeting the need in return for saving time, wastage of food and availability. There are a few methods which are used for safe storage of the food which is as follows:

Temperature Control: For the better storage of the food, the manager of the chef must always beware about the temperature which is maintained for various products. Example: Meat products need very chilled temperature while veggies need average temperature.

Labeling: The labeling of food has greater importance for the storage of food. The food should be labeled with their expiry dates so that they are not to be used in a hurry situation by mistake.

Food Preservation Methods

Use By date: This is related to the labeling of food as well. If the products are used by seeing at their dates and expiry dates then the storage of food could be done in a very positive manner.

Stock Rotation: It is very significant for the manager to be having the proper inventory management stock. FIFO stands for first in first out and considered as a stock rotation system can be used to store food. The items with soonest best before or the use by dates placed at front and the items with furthest dates at back. FIFO maximizes and ensures the freshness and minimum waste. FIFO should be used for the older stock so as to utilize it for the first time and new can be stored that would decrease the results of spoilage of food for the image building of the restaurants and also to the customers.

Conclusion

This report focuses on the food safety management. Food safety is important because people eat all kinds of food in the restaurants and if the food is not properly utilized and made, it can create food poisoning. The causes and the symptoms are also discussed in the report of food poisoning and foodborne infections. There are a few methods by which the foods can e stored and preserved safety so that it can avoid wastage. These methods are mentioned in the report. Food causes bacteria, yeasts, and moulds. The definitions and their infections are also discussed in the report. It is very important to eat healthy food as it has all the nutrients which our body needs (Hoffman, 2015).

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