Food safety
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. This includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potential health hazards.
Why is it important for food safety?
It is important for people to understand how their behavior and activities contribute to the safety of food and how they can decrease the risk of foodborne illness. From processes on the farm to practices in the kitchen, human activities play an important role in food safety.
Food Poisoning
Food poisoning is an illness induced by eating food or drinks contaminated with harmful bacteria or eating food contaminated with chemicals called toxins. There are two main types of bacterial food poisoning:
Food poisoning caused by the consumption of bacteria: This type of food poisoning results from eating bacteria which multiply in the food if it is left in conditions which support the growth of bacteria.
Food poisoning caused by the consumption of toxins: Toxins are chemicals that can make you ill and are produced by certain types of bacteria. The toxin is produced in the food before it is eaten and this preformed toxin normally makes you ill very soon after eating the food.
Given the right conditions, millions of bacteria can grow on common, everyday foods. These conditions are:
Time – a single bacterium can multiply to over two million in just seven hours
Warmth – the ‘danger zone’ temperatures at which bacteria grow best are between 5ºC and 63ºC
Food – like any other living things, germs need food to grow. High-risk foods that bacteria love best include dairy products, meat, poultry, fish and shellfish
Water – bacteria need moisture to grow. This includes moisture in ‘wet’ foods such as juicy meats, sandwich fillings, soups, sauces and dressings.
For a healthy adult the probability of getting sick from contaminated food is dependent on both the type and number of harmful microorganisms present in the food. For those who are susceptible, namely the very young, and those who are sick or pregnant, where their immune systems are less effective, lower numbers of microorganisms may be required to cause illness
Symptoms of food poisoning
The symptoms of food poisoning can vary, depending on what type of bacteria has caused the infection. Symptoms can be mild or severe. When you get sick, you usually have one or more of the following symptoms:
Feeling sick (nausea)
Stomach cramps
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Fever (feeling very hot)
Headaches
Fortunately, most forms of food poisoning last only a short time - between one and three days. However you may feel sick for as long as seven or more days, and in extreme cases the symptoms can be fatal.
How do you prevent food poisoning?
Given the right conditions such as warmth, moisture and time, bacteria can easily grow on food and multiply very quickly. That’s why food that is not properly stored or thoroughly cooked can cause food borne illnesses.
There are four simple steps you can take to prevent food poisoning:
Clean – always wash your hands before and after handling and eating food, after visiting the toilet or playing with pets or animals
Cook – make sure that food is thoroughly cooked in order to destroy any harmful bacteria that might be present.
Chill – keep food cool in order to prevent bad bacteria from growing; make sure that your fridge is at the correct temperature to keep cold foods chilled – aim to keep your fridge at 5°C or below.
Separate to prevent cross-contamination – separate raw and cooked foods during storage and cooking and never let raw food, for example raw meat, come into contact with food that is ready-to-eat.
Bacteria are found throughout the environment but they concentrate where a food source is available so it is usual for raw food to come into contact with bacteria, most of which are harmless, but there are some that can cause illness.
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