Why food safety is important?

Food safety is a scientific term that refers to the preparation and storage of food so that food borne disease are prevented.  The routines to be followed to avoid potential health hazard situations are described in this discipline.  The broad spectrum of this field includes the safety between market and industry as well as the safety between the consumer and the market.  Food additives, food hygiene, food labeling, pesticide residues etc are some of the important issues of food safety.

How to achieve food safety?

According to food safety authority, a good level of safety can be established in this field if each and everyone concerned try to:

  • Obey the law
  • Avoid possibility of food poisoning
  • Eat only healthy food in the recommended manner

 

Food safety authority opines that adhering to the popular and common 4 Cs of food safety will be very helpful in preventing food safety hazards. Let us see what are they? They are cleaning, cross contamination, cooking and chilling.

Cleaning

Proper cleaning of the surfaces where the food is handled, cleaning of the equipment and personal hygiene of the person handling the food material are of utmost importance in food safety. Detailed activities to be done in this regard are given below.

 

  1. Wash your hands well before beginning to handle food materials.
  2. Clean and disinfect the area where the food to be handled is going to be kept.
  3. Clear away the spillage to make sure that the surfaces and the equipment remain clean always.
  4. Avoid building up of waste.

Cross contamination

This is the condition caused by the spreading of bacteria between food, equipments and surfaces of the kitchen.  When raw food touches with other food or equipment, there is possibility of cross contamination. The following steps can be taken to avoid cross contamination.

  • Disinfect all surfaces and make sure you are clean and free from bacteria.
  • Use different equipments for different food materials like poultry, meat, fish etc.
  • Wash and clean the hands of the worker before handling raw food material and after completing the preparation work.

Cooking process

 

  • Keep the raw food and ready to eat food in different packages and in different casings.
  • Keep separate machines and equipments for raw food and read to eat food.

Cooking

Proper cooking kills bacteria.  In products like poultry, rolled joints, pork etc bacteria will remain in the middle portion even after cooking. It is always better to eat such food hot.

Chilling

Chilling with the help of a refrigerator can stop the growth of harmful bacteria.  Keep chilled food item in your refrigerator immediately as they are brought home. And remove them only when required.

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