Food safety is the  practices and procedures that preserve the quality of food and prevent contamination and foodborne illnesses.

A Food Borne Illness

A food borne illness, also known as food poisoning, is a disease transmitted from food, to people. If two or more people have the same symptoms, after eating the same food, it is considered a food borne-illness outbreak. It must be reported, investigated, and confirmed to be considered an outbreak. Millions of people contract a food-borne illness each year, but many go unreported.Young children under the age of 5 are at a greater risk for a food-borne illness. Their immune systems are still developing and they cannot fight off an infection. Food poisoning is often accompanied with diarrhea, which can cause dehydration. Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps.

Clean

 

  
Bacteria can easily spread from one surface to another.You must keep hands, utensils, equipment and surfaces clean and sanitized to prevent cross-contamination.

Wash your hands!

   

• After using the restroom
• Touching your hair, face, or body.
• Sneezing, coughing, or using a tissue.
• Eating, drinking, smoking, or chewing gum.
• Handling raw meat, chicken, or seafood.
• Taking out the garbage.
• Handling money.
• Leaving and returning to the prep area.
• Touching anything that could contaminate hands.

Wash your utensils!

Make sure your utensils are cleaned, rinsed, and sanitized.

Wash your surfaces!

Make sure surfaces are wiped clean with a sanitized cloth.

Seperate

 Beware Of Cross-Contamination 

Cross-contamination occurs when microorganisms are transferred from one food surface to another.You don't want your fresh fruits and vegetables to come into contact with raw meat, poultry, or fish. 

Keep food separated

•  Meats, poultry, and fish should always be packed separately from fresh fruits and veggies at the check out counter.
• Use separate cutting boards for fresh produce and raw meat, poultry, or fish.
• Use separate utensils for cooked and raw foods.
• Store raw meat, poultry, and seafood on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator to prevent dripping juices on other food. 

Cook

Time-Temperature abuse happens anytime a food remains too long at a temperature that is favorable to the growth of food borne microorganisms. The temperature range is between  41˚F and 135˚F degrees. This range is called the danger zone.Therefore, you need to keep cold foods cold, and hot foods hot..

 Cooking Food

Food needs to be cooked to the appropriate temperatures to kill pathogens. Temperatures are different for each foods. A thermometer is your most important tool to cooking foods to an accurate temperature.

Holding Food

Hold hot food at 140˚F  or higher.

Chill

Keep cold foods cold!
 Get perishable foods into the fridge or freezer within two hours.

Refrigerate Leftovers promptly.
Bacteria can grow in perishable foods within two hours. Cold temperatures slow the growth of pathogens. Leftovers should be refrigerated within 2 hours.

Cool hot foods quickly.
 You need to get food through the danger zone very quickly. Food needs to be cooled from 135 to 70 degrees within 2 hours. Then from 70 to 41 degrees within the next 4 hours. Divide warm foods into several clean, shallow containers so they will chill faster.

Information

 For more information, you can visit these sites.
Fight Bac

FoodSafety.org

USDA

FDA

CDC

Resources

FoodSafety.gov/clean


FoodSafety.gov/seperate

FoodSafety.gov/mistakes

FoodSafety/Savvy

 ServeSafe 6th Edition Coursebook Pg 4-2