1. EXAMINE THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS AND FOODBORNE ILLNESS.
2. REVIEW THE DESCRIPTION AND CHARTS OF POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS
3. REVIEW A MENU FOR POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS
4. IDENTIFY POTENTIAL FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS

A hazard is a food property that may cause an unacceptable health risk to consumers.

Hazards may be biological, chemical or physical.

Biological hazards include the presence of harmful bacteria, viruses or other microorganisms. Biological hazards represent 93% of the incidence of food borne illness.

• bacteria contaminants
• survival of bacterial contaminants
• cross-contamination
• other biological contaminants

Why is cleanliness not enough to prevent food safety hazards?

When customers visit a foodservice establishment, they expect safe food. The only way they can judge food safety is by observation of the facility and its employees. They notice the employee’s hands and uniforms. They also evaluate safety by visible cleanliness and general housekeeping appearances.

Cleanliness is critical if f you want to be profitable, which means that customers return to your establishment. However, visual cleanliness does not assure safe food. Since the 1940’s our food inspection has focused on the cleanliness of facilities, and yet food borne illness has increased. In 1990, the U.S. department of agricultural reported an estimated 40 to 81 million cases of food borne illness, resulting in more than 10,000 deaths each year.

Food borne illness is caused by bacteria, yeast, mold, viruses, parasites and chemical substances. Contamination during food handling is caused by people who prepare and serve the food: through bacteria and viruses in the nose and mouth and on the skin and through the urine and feces. When foodservice personal do not follow good personal hygiene and food handling practices, the pathogens are transmitted VIA foods to our customers, employees and ourselves.

The food safety process begins by indentifying the foods that are potentially hazardous. Then the critical points in processing of handling can be controlled, so that a hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced. Finally, management must establish and enforce policies, procedures and standards to ensure safety is achieved in all steps – from storage to preparation to presentation of food to the customer.

The relationship between potentially hazardous foods and food borne illness.

Any food may be potentially dangerous to a person when considering the biological, chemical and physical hazards affecting the product.

Biological hazards are caused by pathogenic or disease causing microorganisms commonly associated with human and raw products.

Chemical hazards occur when chemical substances either naturally occurring or added during processing, enter into the food supply process

Physical hazards occur when hard foreign objects that are not intended to be part of the food get into food through contamination and/or poor procedures.

Major causes of Food Borne Illness

The major causes of food borne illness are bacteria and toxins in consumed food, which are included in the following list

Biological hazards

· Bacteria

· Viruses

· Parasites

· Fungi

· Molds

· Yeast

Physical hazards

• Glass
• Toothpicks
• Non-edible garnishes
• Metal shavings
• Nails
• Staples etc.

Naturally occurring chemicals

• Fish toxins
• Ciguatera
• Scombroid poisoning

Added chemicals

· Pesticides

· Additives and preservatives

· Toxic metals

· Foodservice chemicals

How do these agents get into food?

Bacteria and toxins are transferred to the food, then on to the customer, by people, poor food handling practice, and/or equipment. Some foods are naturally contaminated, such as raw meats, unwashed produce and certain fish species and plants.

What is the most common source of illness?

Biological hazards are the source of the majority of outbreaks. Of the right conditions of time, temperature, moisture and pH exist for growth, they will thrive in many of our favorite foods (potentially hazardous foods). Pathogenic organisms like to grow in the same environments as we do; at room temperature (if given enough time), where they have moisture and a neutral pH. Potentially hazardous foods provide the right medium (food) to grow, given the proper environment (time-temperature). Once foods contaminated with pathogenic bacteria and/or viruses are eaten, the pathogens grow within the body and poison the consumer with their toxins

What can be done to prevent food borne illness?

Intensive training can alert handlers to the sources of danger. Understanding, consistent corrective action, and staff education will minimize the likelihood of food borne illness injuring your customers.

Control the food preparation process from beginning to the end:

• Food source, soil or water conditions in which the food is grown
• Processing, shipping, receiving, and storage
• Food handler health and hygiene
• Kitchen sanitation and equipment efficiency
• Cooking, holding, cooling, reheating and serving practices

Potentially hazardous foods

• Of an animal source, such as milk, fish, meat, shellfish, edible crustacean, poultry or contains any of these products.
• Of plant origin and has been heat treated
• Any of the raw seed sprouts

A partial list of food products:

Classified as potentially hazardous:

1. bacon-if it has not been fully cooked
2. beans-all types of cooked beans
3. whipped butter- because of the apparent reduced microbiological safety factor created in whipping
4. Cheese-soft, unripened cheese. Ripened, low-moisture hard cheese, such as wheels, flats, blocks, longhorns, or cheddar produced from pasteurized milk, when waxed or packaged in shrink wrap with wax or packaging intact can be safely shipped or stored for a short period of time without refrigeration, but this is not recommended. If wheels or flats are cut and repackaged for display and/or sales, thereby exposing interior surfaces to possible contamination, the cut portions as well as the remaining cheese must be held under refrigeration.
5. Coffee creaming agents-all nondairy coffee creaming agents in liquid form, except aseptically processed ultrahigh temperature (UHT) liquid coffee creaming agents.
6. eggs-fresh eggs in shells, fresh eggs with outer shell removed, peeled hard-boiled eggs and hard-boiled eggs with intact shells which have been hard-boiled and then cooled in liquid
7. garlic-unrefrigerated , fresh garlic in oil products provide the anaerobic 9oxygen free) environment required for C. Botulism
8. onions-cooked and dehydrated onions that have been reconstituted
9. pasta-all types that have been cooked
10. pastries-meat, cheese and creamed filled
11. pies-meat, fish, poultry, natural cream, synthetic cream, custard, pumpkin and pies that are covered with toppings that will support microbial growth
12. potatoes-baked, boiled, or fried
13. rice-boiled, streamed fried, Spanish and cooked rice used in sushi
14. Sauces-hollandaise and other sauces containing potentially hazardous ingredients. If these are held in the temperature range of 45 to 130, they must be discarded within four hours of preparation
15. Sour cream-if the pH is above 4.6 and/or the sour cream is combined with other food products.
16. soy protein-tofu and other moist soy protein products
17. seed sprouts-all types

New generation refrigerated foods

New generation of sous vides and map foods, as explained in the following paragraphs.

(Use-by dates, receiving and storage temperatures are very critical for these products.)

Types of packaging

Modified atmosphere packaged (map) food:

Is partially processed or lightly cooked before being put into a pouch or other container and sealed. The atmosphere in the package is usually a mix of oxygen and carbon dioxide. These foods should be received and stored at 40 degrees F. (4.4 C) or lower.

Sous vide:

Food is put in raw and sealed under vacuum; then it is heat treated. These foods should be received and stored at 40 degrees F (4.4 C) or lower

Aseptic packaging:

This is a method whereby both the food and product and the packaging are sterilized before filling and sealing. These products do not have to be refrigerated until after opened.

Ultra pasteurized:

These dairy products are not aseptically packaged and must be received and stored at temperatures of 45 degrees F (7.2 C)

UHT:

These dairy products are aseptically packaged and ultra pasteurized. They do not have to be refrigerated before opening.

BECAUSE THESE NEW GENERATION REFRIGERATION FOODS ARE MINIMALLY OR PARTIALLY PROCESSED, THEY PRESENT BOTH BENEFITS AND CONCERNS

BENEFITS:

• high quality
• labor savings
• menu flexibility
• convenience
• extended shelf life

CONCERNS:

• refrigeration may be the only barrier to pathogenic growth
• psychrophilic bacteria such as listeria and some strains of botulism may not be killed
• Competing spoilage of organism may be killed. Spoilage organism inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria by competing with them. You can see evidence of spoilage organism, whereas the presence of disease-causing organism is not noticeable
• Pathogens and their spores may not be destroyed
• An anaerobic condition is created, favoring the growth of pathogens such as C. Botulinum or listeria
• cooking may make food more favorable to pathogen growth

Our changing food chain and food safety implications

why does food safety seem to be of great concern today? it is because our evolving food chain has created new food safety problems that did not exist 10 years ago. some of these problems are a result of our demand for low food prices

Poultry and eggs

The factory raising poultry creates cramped environments, allowing salmonella to spread easily through the flocks. Then, in large processing plants the birds are mechanically handled, and feces from intestines get on the flesh and contaminate the birds. It is estimate that nearly 60% of these chickens are contaminated with salmonella. We have t o assume that each piece is contaminated and handle the poultry in such a manner as to prevent cross-contamination. Poultry must be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F to ensure that the salmonella organisms are killed.

Only recently have we had to be concerned about salmonella in fresh whole eggs. We have had to change the way we handle the eggs, keeping them chilled until ready to use to reduce risk, the use of pasteurized eggs for cooking has increased dramatically. Many classic egg recipes, such as hollandaise sauce and Caesar salad, have had to be modified to eliminate the use of fresh eggs.

Ground beef

For years we wanted low milk and beef prices. As a result, we now have E. coli 0157:h7to increase milk production, farmers gave their dairy cows antibiotics. After years of antibiotics use (no longer used for milk production), a new strain of E. coli evolved. However, this was not known until the dairy cows were put into the food chain. When milk subsides was lowered or dairy cows got old, they were sent to slaughter where they were often used in ground beef.

In processing plants, cows are mechanically slaughtered. Sometimes the intestines rupture and E. coli from the intestines gets on the carcass. The carcass is hosed off, but this does not remove all the microscopic bacteria. When the meet is ground, the bacteria become mixed in. Unless all ground meat is cooked to 155 degrees F consumers are at risk to E. coli 0157:H7 illness.

Produce

Today we enjoy a year-round supply of a great variety of produce. To achieve the required supply system, produce is imported from the third world countries. These countries which do not have the sanitary standards of the United States use the human fertilizer for growing produce. Even in the United States, filed workers are not provided with adequate rest rooms and hand washing- facilities. Therefore, it is essential that all produce be washed before processing, cutting and cooking to remove the bacteria from the surface. This will reduce the likelihood of transferring organism such as hepatitis A, Clostridium perfringens, shigella, E. coli and Bacillus Cereus through soil and human carriers.

Foodservice operators can significantly reduce the risk of food borne illness by concentrating their efforts in three areas:

• enforce employee health and hygiene practices
• follow proper temperature control and monitoring during cooking, cooling, holding and reheating foods

follow recommended use and concentrations of sanitizers