One of the fundamental aspects for a food handler is hygiene in the preparation and/or handling of food. But are we clear about what food hygiene is? Intuitively, we all associate it with the personal hygiene of the food handler; and, although this aspect is correct, it is not enough to ensure that the food that reaches the consumer is suitable and not dangerous for their health.
Proper food safety prevents food poisoning in consumers as it establishes the rules and regulations to follow in terms of food hygiene.
What is food hygiene?
Food hygiene is a discipline focused on ensuring that food maintains , in addition to its organoleptic qualities (flavor, aroma, texture, etc.), its food safety, that is, that it is safe for health . Hence the great sanitary importance of food hygiene, especially for those who handle food.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines food hygiene as the “set of conditions and measures that must be present at all stages of production, storage, processing, transportation, conservation and domestic cooking of food, to guarantee the safety of food.”
Food hygiene is the main factor involved in the origin and prevention of foodborne illnesses. Therefore, companies must ensure and document that food handlers have adequate and ongoing training in food hygiene, in accordance with their work activity.
Likewise, consumers must know how to choose and recognize the quality of food, as well as how to preserve and handle it properly, to avoid contamination and loss of quality.
Why do foods spoil?
Foods can be altered by three different mechanisms:
Natural decomposition
This mechanism involves enzymes that are found naturally in living plants and animals. These enzymes accelerate the degradation processes at the cellular level, causing the loss of various nutrients in the food (mainly loss of vitamins and water) and also changes in the external properties of the food, such as appearance, texture, taste, smell and colour.
To prevent food from spoiling, certain storage and handling guidelines must be followed, such as checking the temperature of the freezer (-18ºC) and the refrigerator (4ºC) to ensure that the temperature is adequate. In addition, food must be placed in specific areas, as some vegetables spoil more if stored at temperatures that are too low. Meat, on the other hand, should be in the coldest part because it needs lower temperatures. Foods such as rice, cereals or pasta should be stored in jars with airtight seals to prevent air from entering.
Contamination by microorganisms
These alterations are the most dangerous because of their consequences and because alterations are not usually visible to the naked eye. The bacteria that can contaminate food are very numerous and constitute a real danger to health, especially for children, the elderly and people with a weak immune system.
To avoid contamination by microorganisms, we must take extreme care with the hygiene of the person handling the food (wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly) and keep raw food separate from cooked food. In addition, we must bear in mind that temperature is the most important factor. Above 70ºC, most harmful microorganisms die, and below 5ºC they are inactivated and remain dormant.
Any culinary practice that involves abrupt heat treatment of food leads to changes in the characteristics of said food and sometimes causes food toxicity.
To avoid incorrect culinary practices, we must handle food correctly kuwait whatsapp number and not subject it to inappropriate processes, respecting the temperatures and times for each process. For example: The pasteurization temperature is always below 100ºC, since higher temperatures irreversibly affect the physicochemical characteristics of the product (in the case of liquid foods, they are subjected to temperatures between 72ºC - 85ºC for 20 seconds).
Workers in a food factory
Conditions that guarantee adequate food hygiene
The premises where food circulates must be clean and in good condition, with adequate layout, design and dimensions to avoid contamination.
Food must be transported in clean and suitable containers. Effective cleaning between loads and keeping food at the right temperature (when necessary) is required.
Facilities and equipment that come into contact with food must be kept clean and must be designed to minimize contamination and allow adequate cleaning and sanitization.
Food waste must be deposited in containers with lids that are easy to clean and disinfect .
Sufficient supplies of potable water must be available . Ice must be made from potable water.
Personnel who come into contact with food must follow strict hygiene measures. Food handlers are considered to be all those persons who, due to their professional activity, have direct contact with food during its preparation, manufacture, transformation, transport, distribution, sale, supply and service. Companies must guarantee adequate and ongoing training in food hygiene.
shelves of vegetables in the fresh food section of a supermarket
Food safety
Food safety consists of ensuring the availability of safe products to the final consumer.
To ensure good safety measures, establishments must follow the rules included in Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.
Hazard Analysis and Control Points
The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is a document that every food company must create in order to collect all the procedures carried out on food in order to detect any danger it may suffer, from the moment it enters the establishment until it reaches the final consumer. The purpose of this document is to avoid the danger, eliminate it or reduce it to acceptable levels.
Most common food infections and poisonings
As we have seen, proper food safety prevents food poisoning. Within these, we can establish two distinctions: food infection and food poisoning.
Foodborne illness is caused by the ingestion of live microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses or parasites. The microorganism is alive in the food and multiplies in it before it is ingested.
However, in food poisoning what we ingest are foods contaminated with toxins .
The main pathogens that cause foodborne illness are: bacteria ( Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter jejuni ), viruses (hepatitis A, norovirus and rotavirus) and parasites ( Trichinella spiralis, Anisakis simplex ). While the toxins involved in food poisoning can come from bacteria ( Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus ); chemicals present in chemical products, disinfectants, pesticides and metals such as lead, zinc or cadmium; and toxins present in plants, fungi and shellfish.
The symptoms of infections and food poisoning are similar. Both can cause headaches, vomiting, abdominal pain, cramps, diarrhea or dehydration.