Introduction to food safety What causes food poisoning?

Food poisoning occurs due to poor food safety, ignorance, poor training & understanding. The main symptoms of food poisoning are : Diarrhoea, vomiting, feeling sick & abdominal pain.

The Main Faults

Undercooking

Cross contamination

Cooling food too slowly

Not reheating food hot enough

Storing hot food below 63°c

The Safety Zone Remember, bacteria can't grow below 4°C or above 63°C.
The Danger Zone The danger zone is between 4°C and 63°C, this is where Bacteria can multiply

Bactiria Bactiria is one of the main causes of food poisoning

Bactiria needs certain conditions to grow, Warmth, Food & Moisture

Time Given enough time and the right conditions Bactiria can divide into two every 10 minutes, this is called Binary Fission. The best way to avoid bactiria from developing to dangerous levels is to follow simple cooking practices.

Defrost The safest way to defrost food is in the refrigirator. Do not leave it out at room temperature as this will expose the food to the Danger Zone.

Heating When reheating or cooking food make sure the core temperature of the food is above 63°c.You can use a hand held temperature probe to check that the food has reached the right temperature.

Cross contamination Cross contamination is a big one. In a professional kitchen you would need to use selected coloured chopping boards to reduce the risk.
Red: Raw meat Yellow: Cookied meat Blue: Fish Green: Salad & Fruit Brown: Vegetables White: Dairy

Hand Hygiene Another common cause of Cross Contamination is poor hand hygiene.
After handling food such as raw chicken it is essential that you not only wash your hands thouroughly and any other surface that has come into contact with the meat, including the chopping board and knife.

As you can see frome the table above, there are many types of bacteria all waiting for you to make a mistake and let them in.

Other Cross Contamination Risks Cuts, Sores, Jewellery, Hair etc...

Cuts & Sores

If you have a cut or a sore on your hand your main concern may be that you might get something in it and it will sting. Although this might be the case it is more important to realise that a cut or sore is the perfect place for Bactiria to multiply. All cuts and lesions should be covered with a waterproof dressing, preferably coloured (Blue) so that if they fall off you can see them easily.

Your Hair

You should make an effort to cover your hair or at least tie it back. Not only can hair fall out into food but your scalp can harbour harmful Bactiria and Dandruff which can result in food contamination.

Jewellery

There are many reasons you should avoid wearing jewellery in the kitchen, the most obvious reason being Rings, Bracelets & Earringsare ideal hiding places for Bacteria & Germs. Another reason to not wear jewellery is that tiny stones or small pieces can fall into food, and remember, metal gets hot very fast, so a necklace will heat up fast if you are bending down into an oven and this will burn your skin as you stand up. (Done this myself)

Allergens

Allergens are proteins which cause the bodys immune system to react and can cause severe allergic reactions and in some cases anaphylactic shock or even death

Foods that commonly contain allergens:

Nuts

Milk

Eggs

Celery

Cereals

Fish

Lupin

mustard

Crustaceans

Soya

Sesame seeds

Molluscs

As you can see, there are a lot of Red headings so far in this article. That is intentional as it highlights how many dangers there are when preparing & cooking food, and we have only scraped the surface of the dangers in this article.