A WHO report says, each year 1.8 million people die due to diarrhoeal diseases and most of the cases happen due to contaminated water or food. More than 200 known diseases get transmitted through food. Illness may occur within 1 to 3 days of eating a contaminated food. Sickness could even develop in a span of 20 minutes or up to 6 weeks later. The common symptoms of foodborne illness include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain and sometimes flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache and body ache. Food-borne illness, otherwise known as food poisoning, happens when a person is sick from eating food which has been contaminated with a harmful microorganism that could be a bacteria, parasite or virus.
Most healthy people will be able to recover from a food-borne illness within a short time but, however, some may develop chronic, severe or even life-threatening health conditions. The high-risk group includes pregnant individuals, young children, older adults, and people with weakened or compromised immune systems.
The most important key to avoid food poisoning is to handle food safe. Proper handling and food processing are vital to serve up a delicious and food safe for consumption. At food establishments, manufacturers must always be concerned with food safety. Proper food handling practices must be followed by all food handlers on ground. Four simple steps- clean, separate, cook and chill can help you at your home as well. Here, are the food safe handling practices detailed in. Also, focused on, are the safe handling practices for fruits and vegetables.
Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill
The 4 basic safety rules that apply across any food handling area are these.
- Clean – Do you think any area around is free of microorganisms? Not even your skin is! Pathogenic bacteria are there everywhere. The key is to keep them away from you and your food. Clean, clean and clean! Clean your working area, utensils, food service equipment and your hands primarily. When holding fresh produce and after preparation, wash your hands and arms thoroughly with soap and water. Keep kitchen surfaces clean in order to protect the processing operations from cross-contamination. Handwashing is an indispensable step to prevent contamination. Wash your hands while handling raw meat and then shifting to handling raw fruits or other foods to prevent cross-contamination.
While preparing the raw foods, the following will help. Remove damaged and bruised areas and wash the produce thoroughly under clean running water. Scrub firm produce like potatoes and cucumbers and rinse under cool water.
Wash produce that needs peeling thoroughly before peeling, as microorganisms can transfer from the rind to the edible portion. For harder-to-clean produce such as broccoli and cauliflower, soak them in cold, clean water for one to two minutes. After washing with potable water, apply a sanitizing agent if needed. For delicate fruits like raspberries, which bruise easily, place them in a colander and rinse gently with clean water. Do not use soap or detergent on foods. Dry produce with a clean paper towel or cloth. The detailed process for cleaning fruits and vegetables appears below.
For meat, poultry, and seafood, the USDA advises against washing, as these products are already cleaned during processing. Washing them increases the risk of cross-contamination. Eggs are also washed before packaging, so additional washing is unnecessary. Washing these can increase the risk of cross-contamination. Eggs are also washed before getting packed. The cooking temperature is the vital part of handling this class of foods.
- Separate – The main route of pathogenic microorganisms is cross-contamination. Cross-contamination may occur when handling raw produce, perishable food, utensils and finished products and keeping them without separation. Raw foods such as meat, poultry, fish and even fresh fruits and vegetables should be stored separately from minimally processed foods and ready-to-eat foods. The equipment used such as cutting boards and knives should be different for each category of foods and must also be maintained separately.
- Cook – Color and texture are not reliable indicators of food safety. Instead, use food thermometer to ensure the safety of meat, poultry, seafood and egg products for all cooking methods. All these foods must be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature to destroy any harmful bacteria. Cooked foods will stay fresh longer only if maintained at the safe right temperature.
- Chill – Temperature is the primary and most important factor for keeping food safe. Perishable foods must be stored in cold temperatures with quicker cooling within 2 hours at 4 ° C or below to inhibit the growth of spoilage microorganisms. Storage below the freezer temperatures, can stop microbial and enzymatic reactions that can spoil food. Other important safe practices include safe thawing and correct storage times and temperatures.
Practices for handling fruits and vegetables
The risk of foodborne illness from fresh fruits and vegetables is higher because people often eat them raw or with minimal processing. Once microorganisms contaminate fresh produce, removing them completely becomes difficult.
difficult to wash off. Hence, it is vital that contaminants are avoided on the first hand! Washing with clean running water, can help reduce the number of microorganisms on fresh produce by about 99%. But cannot ensure the complete removal of pathogens. Storage of fruits and vegetables under the right temperature control and appropriate cleaning and sanitatizing practices can reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Have a look here through the important practices that can help control microbial hazards across various stages such as – purchasing and receiving, storage, food handler, preparation and service.
Purchasing and receiving
- Safe and trusted sources should be chosen to purchase the produce. Also, maintain the produce safe right from the receival through the service.
- Follow supplier recommendations, if any regarding the handling, storage temperatures, shelf life etc.
- Avoid receiving any damaged materials.
- Ensure that all records with respect to the purchase of fresh produce are maintained.
Storage
- Store raw materials separately to prevent contamination and cross-contamination.
- Keep washed or cut produce separate from unwashed and uncut produce.
- Store all foods at least six inches above the floor.
- Maintain all fresh produce at the appropriate storage temperature.
The table below provides the recommended storage temperatures and shelf lives of common produce items.
Food Handler
- Wash your hands thoroughly with soap warm running water before and after handling fresh produce.
- Avoid bare hand contact while preparing and serving fresh produce. Make sure to use gloves or tongs.
- Ensure if ill, food service employees do not work.
Preparation
- Wash, rinse and sanitize all equipment including all sinks, utensils, cutting boards, slicers and all food preparation surfaces before and after handling fresh produce. Designate specific cutting boards and utensils for fresh produce.
- In case of produce like, cabbage, lettuce, berries and tomatoes, remove outer leaves, stems and hulls.
- Wash fresh produce under running, potable water before use. Take care in case of washing sensitive produce such as berries, grapes etc. Wash these immediately before use.
- Use food grade soap or detergent on fresh produce.
- Rinse fresh produce under running tap water. Spray or Scrub firm fruits and vegetables such as potatoes and carrots under running tap water, if possible, to remove any dirt and mud.
- Do not soak or store produce in standing water or ice.
- To reduce microorganisms and pathogens, wash fresh produce with potable water and then treat it with a sanitizing agent.
- Use chlorine in the wash water for produce such as apples, nectarines, plums, cherries, grapes, leafy greens, peppers, tomatoes, peas, melons, cabbage, green onions, cucumbers, and zucchini.
- Maintain the temperature of the wash water between 12.8 °C and 48.9 °C, as chlorine works most effectively within this range. If the wash water is colder than the produce, plant and human pathogens can be drawn into the fruit, where chlorine cannot remove them.
- Prepare the disinfectant solution by adding a measured amount of chlorine to potable water. The concentration of chlorine solution will vary with the type of produce.
- The table shows recommended chlorine solution concentration for some of the fresh produce. A minimum contact time of 1 minute is required to ensure all the pathogens are killed. Chlorine test strips can be used to test the chlorine concentration.
- Chlorine is most effective when pH of water is maintained between 6 and 7.
- Rinse produces with clean potable water following chlorine treatment and air-dry in a clean and closed area.
- Wash water must be changed frequently as it gets dirty and new crop is added. Also, record all the practice – date, time, chlorine concentration (ppm), water temperature, contact time etc.
- Also, refer the manufacturer’s instructions on the sanitizing agent that is used.
- Label and date all the foods.
Service
- At the service, present small batches of fresh produce and monitor the temperature of the service unit and the food.
- Fresh produce should not be placed directly on ice. New batches should be placed in a new container.
- Use appropriate utensils.
- Throw away fresh fruits and vegetables which have not been refrigerated (5°C or below) within two hours of cutting, peeling or preparation.
How can Food Safety Works help?
We deliver training sessions on food safety and allied subjects; webinars involving pioneers across various domains and conduct certification courses recognized by the FSSAI for food handlers. We can help identify and resolve food safety issues, provide knowledge on the right practices of food handling across the food chain and standardize the food safety management system.
Who we are?
We at Food Safety Works have a team of experts with over 200+ years of collective experience.
Started as “Quality and Food Safety Consultants” in 2009, the company was established to bridge the knowledge gap in the industry about Food Safety Management Systems. We take a 360-degree view of food safety, starting with design, implementation, and monitoring.
