Food Hygiene - Food Poisoning
So what is food hygiene?
Food hygiene is the action taken by food handlers to ensure that food is handled, stored, prepared and served to reduce the risk of food poisoning occurring.
How can we define Food Poisoning?
An illness that is caused when we consume contaminated food or drink with the main symptoms being diarrhoea and vomiting, either separately or together often accompanied by stomach pains and nausea.
Food poisoning can affect us all and can be extremely unpleasant , although not usually life threatening there are groups which tend to be more at risk of serious illness and even death. These groups are:
Infants
Pregnant Women
Elderly People
Those with weakened Immunity due to illness.
The symptoms of food poisoning usually appear within 2 hours of digesting the food however depending on the bacteria can take up to 72 hours and continue for up to a week or more in serious circumstances.
It is difficult to get any real idea of how many cases of food poisoning cases there are every year as not everyone will report it or the effects might be so mild that they may not even notice, (this is especially true if alcohol is involved). Recent years have seen an average of 90,000 cases recorded in the UK but the true figure is thought to be in excess of 6 million.
However with this in mind it is estimated that food poisoning costs the economy £1 billion every year with 8 million working days lost annually due to absence.
Recorded cases of food poisoning are slowly decreasing since about the mid-nineties which could be attributed to a number of factors such as better systems, increased public awareness and the vaccination of hens in this country.
A study carried our by the Food Standards Agency in 2001 found that across 4881 fresh and frozen chicken samples across the UK. This survey found Salmonella contamination levels had reduced to 5.8% (80% in 1979). Unfortunately, the same survey found 50% of the chicken samples were contaminated by Campylobacter, which is now the most commonly reported.
Food Hazards
All food handlers must be aware of hazards that could contaminate our food and pose a risk to consumers. There are 3 main types.
Biological (Bacteria, toxins and viruses)
Bacteria are small living organisms – 25,000 could quite easily be accommodated on the point of a needle and are by far the most common cause of food poisoning today.
Viruses are tiny particles, smaller than bacteria and require the use of a microscope to identify them. They only grow in living tissue and therefore cannot grow in food. Viruses can be reduced by using the same practices as bacteria that will be identified later on.
Chemical (Cleaning Chemicals, Insectides)
Occasionally other poisons cause problems in food. Chemical poisons such as insectides can find their way into the food and toxic metal may enter the food while being processed.
Poisonous plants including toadstools and poisonous toxins produced by moulds can cause illnesses if eaten. Under certain weather conditions shellfish accumulate toxins from algae blooms on the sea water.
Physical (Undesirable substances in food)
Hair, glass, metal shards, egg shell and insects are all examples of physical hazards. Physical hazards in the main have the advantage of being easy to spot and therefore do not usually cause any harm. Glass is obviously the exception here and has the potential to be very harmful.
Finished? Try some sample test questions here. (Answers can be found in the download section)