When it comes to human survival, food safety is just as important as food itself. Foodborne illnesses affect over 600 million people a year, leading to 420,000 preventable deaths. Better education and advances in technology have made a big difference, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. This is where World Food Safety Day comes in.
Held every year on 7th June, World Food Safety Day aims to raise awareness of food safety issues and promote collaborative solutions for improving food safety standards. While many of these efforts are focused on poorer countries, the UK is far from perfect. Britain sees 2.4 million cases of foodborne illness every year, with around 180 of these proving fatal.
If you work with food, you have a responsibility to do everything you can to prevent the spread of disease. This means maintaining impeccable hygiene standards and monitoring food supplies for signs of contamination. There’s a lot to think about, so we’ve compiled this handy guide. Here are the most common risks and the steps you can take to avoid them.
What does the law say about food safety?
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) was set up in 1999 in order to protect public health relating to food. Its main job is to enforce the Food Safety Act 1990. This is the primary piece of legislation covering all businesses that make or serve food for public consumption. Under this law, every food business has three principle responsibilities:
- Not to include or remove anything from food that would result in it being unsafe to eat
- To ensure food is of the nature and quality that consumers expect
- To label, advertise and present food in a way that is accurate and doesn’t mislead the consumer
What are the most common food risks?
Food poisoning is the general term for illness caused by the consumption of food contaminated with germs. There are six main bacteria and viruses that can cause food poisoning- Listeria, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Hepatitis E, E.coli, and Norovirus. There are also risks associated with parasites such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia and Tapeworms.
These usually occur for one of the following reasons:
- Undercooking or inadequate reheating
- Improper storage
- Handling by someone who is ill or hasn’t washed their hands
Consumption of food after its use by date
Most cases of food poisoning are unpleasant but ultimately harmless. However, young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems can suffer severe long-term damage. Some of these illnesses are also contagious, meaning that individual cases can turn into larger outbreaks – as we have seen this May with the shocking Devon tap water contamination.
How can I reduce the risk of food poisoning?
Food safety is an area in which basic precautions can make a big difference, and are essential for businesses to practice. These are known as the 4Cs:
- Cleaning and disinfecting food areas, and disposing of food waste at regular intervals.
- Cooking meat thoroughly, ensuring that it’s hot all the way through before serving.
- Chilling food properly and reducing the amount of time it spends out of the fridge as much as possible.
- Avoiding cross contamination by separating raw and cooked foods, using different equipment for raw and cooked foods and ensuring that staff wash their hands after handling raw food.
Additionally, personal hygiene is of utmost importance for food handlers working in the food industry to ensure safe food preparation. The Key points are:
- Effective and frequent handwashing.
- Wearing suitable, clean clothing.
- Hair tied back or covered.
- Avoiding jewellery and watches.
- Fitness for work – ensure food handlers are not suffering from any diseases likely to be transmitted through food such as skin infections, diarrhoea or sickness.
These measures also apply to food in transit. Make sure that any food you are transporting is stored in appropriate packaging and kept at a safe temperature, and that raw and cooked foods are separated throughout the journey.
Training is vital
Food safety is an aspect of health and safety that affects the public directly. This means that the burden of responsibility is greater, and the consequences of getting it wrong are especially severe.
Even if nobody is seriously harmed, the bad publicity that comes with an outbreak of food poisoning is enough to put many restaurants out of business. It’s not enough to teach your staff the rules. You need to make sure that they’re following them to the letter. This is where we can help.
From basic hygiene to allergy awareness, we offer a comprehensive range of food safety training courses. Our online modules can be completed in as little as 30 minutes, or we can provide in-person training at a convenient location. We can also help you to design a robust food management system to ensure that safety standards are maintained long after we’re gone. Give us a call to get started.
