Why Food Safety?

 Socioeconomic Burden Of Foodborne Diseases: Safe food is essential to human survival and can convey risks to health and even life itself. In the United States, as many as 81 million cases of foodborne diseases and up to 9000 deaths per year have been attributable to food-related hazards. The estimated annual mortality of food and water-borne infections in developing countries amounts to 2.1 million deaths, mainly of infants and children. In the United States, the annual cost of foodborne diseases was estimated at US $2.6 billion annually, while in England and Whales food poisoning was estimated at UK $300-700 million.

Causes Of Foodborne Diseases: • Bacteria. • Viruses. • Parasites. • Fungi.

Who Is At Risk For Foodborne Diseases? • Children. • Pregnant women. • Seniors. • Individuals with compromised immune system.

Factors Affecting Food Safety: • International Trade and Globalization. (i) Rapid worldwide expansion in trade of food commodities. (ii) Complexity of food supply. (iii) Trade agreements.

• Consumer Demographics and Lifestyle. (i) Change in eating pattern. (ii) Demand for wider variety of eating experience. (iii) Aging population. (iv) Incidence of allergies. (v) Increased travel.

• New Approaches in Technology. (i) New methods of food processing and packaging means new risks e.g. irradiation, modified atmosphere packaging and active packaging. (ii) High intensity light and high pressure processing.

• Changing hazards. (i) Food hazard is defined as a biological, chemical or physical agent in a food with the potential to cause an adverse health effect. (ii) Biological hazards can come from raw materials or from food-processing steps used to make the final product. Hazardous microorganisms are called pathogens. Pathogens can cause food infection or food intoxication. (iii) Chemical hazards may be accidentally added chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides, sanitizers, cleaning compounds, inks, paints, grease, oil, antibiotics or hormones. Other chemical may be intentionally added into foods. These include artificial food colors, preservatives in preserved meats, or sulphites in dried fruit or salads. Chemical hazard may also be naturally occurring such as hypoglycin in Jamaican ackee, aflatoxin in peanuts and histamine in fish.

(iv) Physical hazards such as glass, wood, paper, plastic, metal can cause choking, injury or other adverse health effect and even death.

Cost Of Not having Safe Food: • Human illness. • Death. • Constraints on health care and public health systems. • Lost of productivity in workforce. • Recall and destruction of food. • Loss of sale to food industry. • Industry unemployment. • Legal settlement. • Business closure.

Food Safety Benefits: Food safety is an essential public health priority and is defined as the assurance that food will not cause harm to the consumer when it is prepared and/or eaten according to its intended use. Food safety involves the reduction or prevention of hazards that may occur in the food and some of the associated benefits are as follows: • Ensuring protection of human health and well-being. • Reduced nutritional diseases. • Reduced health care burden. • Positive publicity. • Access to world markets. • Compliance with the Food and Drugs Act and Regulation. • Good relationship with consumers. • Consumer acceptance and satisfaction.

Five Steps To Food Safety: (i) Cleanliness. Most microorganisms do not cause disease, but dangerous microorganisms are widely found in the soil, water, animals and people. These microorganisms are carried on hands, wiping cloths and utensils, especially cutting boards and contact surfaces can transfer microorganisms to food and cause foodborne diseases. It is therefore imperative that the following should be done:

• Wash hands thoroughly with plenty of soap and water for at least 20 seconds and dry with clean paper towel, before handling food and often during food preparation. • Wash hands after going to the toilet. • Wash and sanitize all surfaces and equipment used for food preparation. • Protect kitchen areas and food from pets, pests and other animals.

(ii) Food Separation. Raw food, especially meat, poultry and seafood and their juices may contain pathogenic bacteria, which may be transferred onto other foods during food preparation and storage. • Separate raw meat, poultry and seafood from other foods to minimize cross-contamination. • Use separate equipment and utensils such as knives and cutting boards for handling raw food. • Store food in containers to avoid contact between raw and prepared foods.

(iii) Cook Thoroughly. Proper cooking kills almost all pathogenic microorganisms. Research has shown that cooking food at a temperature of 70 ºC can make food safe for human consumption. Foods that require special attention include minced meats, rolled roasts, large joints of meat and whole poultry. • Cook foods thoroughly, especially poultry, eggs, meat and seafoods. • Foods such as soups and stews should be boiled to make sure that they have reached 70 ºC. • Reheat foods thoroughly. • Safe internal temperatures for cooking meats, for example: poultry: 76.6-82.2 C; ground beef and fresh pork: 71.1 ºC; beef, veal, lamb, roasts, steaks and chops: 62.8 ºC. (iv) Keep Food At A Safe Temperature. Microorganisms can multiply very rapidly if food is stored at room temperature. The temperature danger zone is between 5 ºC and 60 ºC. This temperature range facilitates rapid growth of pathogenic microorganisms. • Do not leave cooked food at room temperature for more than 2 hours. • Refrigerate promptly all cooked and perishable food below 5 ºC. • Keep cooked food piping hot more than 60 ºC prior to serving. • Do not store food too long in the refrigerator. • Do not thaw frozen food at room temperature. • Proper temperature settings of appliances for example: refrigerator 1.67 ºC-3.33 C; freezer: -17.8 ºC. • Safe defrosting of frozen food: in a refrigerator; under cold running water; microwave.

(v) Use Safe Water And Raw Materials. Raw materials, including water and ice may be contaminated with dangerous microorganisms and chemicals. Toxic chemicals may be formed in damaged and moldy foods. Care must be taken in the selection of raw materials and simple measures such as washing and peeling may reduce the risk of foodborne diseases. • Use safe portable water or treat it to make it safe. • Select fresh and wholesome foods. • Choose foods processed for safety for example pasteurized foods. • Wash fruits and vegetables thoroughly, especially if eaten raw. • Do not use food beyond its expiry date. • Check for damage packaging. Do not buy dented tins, leaking containers, chipped bottles, broken or pierced seals. • Avoid swollen chilled food packages and swollen cans. • Avoid food products in loose vacuum packs. • Avoid foods that are moldy, strangely colored or infected with insects. • Avoid chilled products that are not cold to touch. • Avoid frozen products that are not frozen solid. • Avoid hot foods that are not steaming hot. • Do not keep chilled or frozen foods for more than 45 minutes in a hot car. • Raw meats should be packed in a separate bag from other foods to prevent leakage and contamination of other foods. • Store foods in airtight containers. • Leftover food should be placed in the fridge as soon it has stopped steaming and used within 2 days. Beyond 2 days. Throw it out.

About the Author

Dr Pattron is a Public Health Scientist and Educator in the Ministry of Health, Trinidad.

 Dr Deryck Pattron, Ph.D,

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