Food safety hazards
Food safety hazards
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The food we eat and the beverages we drink- Including water- can become contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites, toxins or chemicals that can cause food-borne disease or food poisoning. Most people have experienced at least intestinal upset at some time in their lives from eating food or drinking a beverage that was improperly stored or prepared, insufficiently cooked, or was otherwise contaminated.
Food Safety Hazards
Food Safety Hazards
A Food safety hazard is a biological, chemical or physical agent or condition of food with the potential to cause harm or an adverse health affect when the food is eaten.
Food borne illnesses are defined as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. Myriad microbes and toxic substances can contaminate foods. There are more than 250 known foodborne diseases. The majority are infectious and are caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Other foodborne diseases are essentially poisonings caused by toxins, chemicals contaminating the food. All foodborne microbes and toxins enter the body through the gastrointestinal tract and often cause the first symptoms like nausea and vomiting. Every person is at risk of foodborne illness.
Food Safety hazards can be classified as:
Biological such as microorganisms
Chemical such as chemicals, pesticides, cleaning agents and allergens
Physical foreigh objects that are not supposed to be in the food, such as timber, glass, packaging material and naturally occuring objects- bones, dust and grit.
Physical Hazards
Physical Hazards
Physical Hazard means the foreign objects that comes to food from raw, preparation and final stages of food manufacturing can cause illness to the humans.
Physical hazards which can be found in food include:
Objects naturally present in the food (animal hair, bone chips, leaves etc.)
Objects occuring in agriculture (dirt, manure, leaves, etc. )
Objects added during processing (glass, plastic, hair, metal, etc.)
Reducing physical hazards is relatively simple in most hospitality businesses as they are physically visible in the food. They are normally controlled by procedures such as a visual inspection of food and good kitchen procedures sucg as a no wood or no glass policy, and keeping the food covered.
Chemical Hazard
Chemicals such as Pesticides, Cleaning agents, etc. can be present in foods when the foods are cultivating, harvesting, manufacturing will cause harm or an adverse health affect when the food is eaten.
Chemical hazards which can be found in food include:
Naturally occuring poisonous chemicals ( poison plabt such as rhubarb leaves and mushrooms, poisonous animals such as puffer fish, algal blooms, mould toxins, etc. )
Chemical added via water
Agricultural chemicals from soils, plants and animals (pesticides, antibiotics, dips, heavy metals, etc. )
Biological Hazard
Hazards which live within food can occur from multiple sources. These microorganisms (commonly called "germs") are so small they can only be seen under a microscope. Not all microorganisms are harmful to humans. Pathogens are the microorganisms which cause harm to humans when they reach a high level in food. They are a major concern in food processing because they cause most food borne illness outbreaks. It can occur any stage of food processing.
Bacteria e.g. salmonella, staphylococcus aureus, bacillus cereus
Viruses e.g. hepatitis A, influenza
Yeast
Moulds
Protozoa e.g. Guardia
Most food poisoning illness is a result of these microorganisms growing in food. When food is in moist, warm conditions, they multiply to an ineffective dose which makes a person ill.
Allergenic Hazard
Allergenic Hazard means the allergic response of body even after eating some foods. It is an adverse reaction to food mediated by immune system.
Some people have an allergic to certain ingredients or parts of food. Common allergens include:
soybean and their products
sesame
cereals containing gluten
milk and milk products
sulphites
egg and egg products
peanuts and their products
crustaceans and their products
fish and fish products
Most food poisoning occurs due to the continued growth to dangerous levels of microorganisms, particularly bacteria, in food. Food handlers should know about food poisoning bacteria and the conditions they require for growth, to ensure food borne illness is avoided.
It is important to be aware of the different types of food safety hazards which may pose a significant risk to the safety of your customers. Situations when food safety hazards are likely to pose a significant risk are:
handling "potentially hazardous foods" which are susceptible to microorganisms contamination and growth. These are low acid, high protein foods such as meat, eggs, poultry, seafood and dairy items.
handling raw food and fresh foods
handling food with your hands, rather than using equipment
cooking food- food needs to be cooked thoroughly to kill microorganisms
chilling food- food needs to be chilled quickly to reduce the growth of microorganisms
defrosting foods
reheating foods
displaying food on buffet or self service
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