What is food safety?
WARM UP
Tick the actions which you think might contaminate food.
☐ Touching your eyes, mouth, ears, nose, or hair
☐ Smoking
☐ Using the toilet
☐ Sneezing and coughing
☐ Handling raw food
☐ Taking out the trash
☐ Touching a pet or other animal
☐ Touching any dirty surfaces
Food safety
Ensuring the safety of food is a shared responsibility among producers, industry, government, and consumers. Food safety involves the safe handling of food from the time it is grown, packaged, distributed, prepared, and stored to prevent food-borne illnesses. Safe food is food that is free not only from toxins, pesticides, and chemical and physical contaminants, but also from microbiological pathogens, such as bacteria, parasites, and viruses that can cause illness.
Food sanitation
Everyone involved in food production, food processing, food preparation, and food service must have essential information about basic microbiology, how food becomes contaminated, and the importance of personal hygiene and good work habits. Workers who understand why food sanitation is so important are more likely to use safe practices.
A food handler is anyone who works in a food business and who either handles food or surfaces that are likely to be in contact with food.
Food handlers have specific responsibilities related to their health and hygiene and for doing whatever possible to make sure that they do not make food unsafe or unsuitable to eat. They must wear clean outer clothing, not eat, smoke, sneeze, blow, or cough over unprotected food. They must wash their hands before they start handling food, immediately after smoking, coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief, eating, drinking, smoking, and using the toilet.
These standards of sanitation are just as important and valid in home kitchens, as most cases of food-borne illnesses actually begin at home.
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1 The Golden rule for food storage is: "Keep food clean, keep cold food cold and hot food hot and keep food covered".
DO
1 What are the correct steps to follow in food preparation?
☐ Chill – refrigerate promptly
☐ Clean – wash hands and surfaces often
☐ Cook – cook to the right temperature
☐ Separate – don’t cross-contaminate