Food Safety

FOOD SAFETY
CHAPTER 3

Objectives
How food contamination occurs
Why food contamination occurs
Identify stages of food preparation where food spoilage occurs
Describe and apply safe practices in stages of food preparation

FOOD CONTAMINATION
Section 1

Food Contamination
Food poisoning occurs when food is not prepared or cooked safely.
Some symptoms of food poisoning are vomiting, diarrhoea and fever.
Food can be contaminated by physical means, microbiological modes and enzymatic action.

Temperature of Food
Temperatures ranging from 4 to 60 degrees Celsius favour bacteria growth.
Bacteria is killed at 100 degrees Celsius and inactive at -18 degrees Celsius.
Hot food should hence be kept hot and cold food be kept cold so that bacteria is destroyed and bacteria does not grow.

Presence of Moisture
Micro-organisms require moisture to grow and would multiply quickly when moisture content is high.
People handling food with high moisture content can cross-contaminate micro-organisms from unclean hands.
Examples of food with high amounts of moisture are raw meat, seafood, vegetables and fruits.

Presence of Insects
Insects and their droppings carry many micro-organisms that are invisible to humans.
When they get in contact with food, the area would be contaminated with bacteria and become unhygienic.

Microbiological contamination
Microbiological contamination can result in foodborne illnesses.
Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhoea and fever.

Microbiological contamination

Enzymatic Action
Enzymes are substances found naturally in animals and plants. Enzymes of humans help break down food into simpler forms.
Enzymes of bacteria in raw food help liquefy the food to produce a slimy coating that causes food to spoil faster.
However, enzymatic action only affects the appearance of the food.

FOOD SPOILAGE
Section 2

Food Spoilage
Food spoilage can occur anytime such as during food handling, food preparation and food storage.
Wrong practices at any stage can introduce micro-organisms into the food.

Food Handling

Food Preparation

Food Storage

END