food safety and microbe control

8/3/2019 Food Safety and Microbe Control

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FOOD SAFETY AND MICROBE CONTROL

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the issue

Nowadays, we always heard about

the news that related to food poisoning.

Even some of the case caused death.

According to the news reported, school

children are the highest number of victims

of food poisoning. Food poisoning is when

somebody gets sick after eating foods or

drinks that already contaminated. Symptoms

occur suddenly within 48 hours after eating.

Some of the common symptoms are nausea,

abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

1.2 Purpose of the project

This project is about searching for a

restaurant or food stall around UPSI to

investigate how the foods are prepared. My

friend and I chose a burger stall in front of

the campus. The day was raining during that

time. Investigators that involved in the

project are the students of Food Science and

Nutrition course. We gathered all the

information by taking pictures, observing

and interviewed the seller.

2.0 EXPERIENCES

2.1 The hygiene of the maker

When we arrived at the burger stall,

there is only one person that in charge in

making the burger. But then, after a few

moments, there came another person to help

him. One in charge in grilling the burger

meat whiles the other ones in charge in

wrapping the burger. The person that

wrapped the burger was having flu at that

time. He always wipes her nose by using the

towel on his shoulder. When he wrapped the

burger, he did not cover his hands by using

gloves. We did not know whether he had

washed his hand before or not. He held the

bread just like that. This will allowed the

microbes easily transferred from his hands

to the bread.


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Besides that, when he saw that the slices of

tomato were finished, he just carried the

slices of tomato from the kitchen in his

hands without wearing gloves as well. My

friend and I were wondering why he did not

put all the slices in a container which make

them easily to be carried.

The other person washed his hand

before he started his job but he wiped his

hands at the towel that hung at the stall. That

towel was seems a bit dirty. Still, the

microbes from the towel have chances to be

transferred to his hands. When he openedthe egg, his fingers were dipped in the egg.

Other than that, he took out the burger meat

from its packet by his hands without

wearing gloves.

At least, he wore an apron while he grilled

the burger meat. Both of them also did not

talk much to prevent the molecules of saliva

dropped on the burger.


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2.2 Environment

The burger stall is run in an open air.

In front of the stall is a road for the vehicles

like cars, buses and motorcycles. So, it is

exposed to the smokes from the vehicles.

The road is very busy all the times. There is

a dustbin under the table where the burgers

are wrapped. The dustbin should be put far

away from the table. The microbes from the

dustbin can be easily transferred through the

air since they are very near to each other.

Besides that, there was stagnant water and

rubbishes in front of the stall while at the

back of the stall is a corridor where people

pass by. This environment is not suitable in

order to run a burger stall.

2.3 Utensils used

The maker used a turner to flip the

burger meat. After using it, he put it aside of

the metal plate used to grill the burger meat.

At the edge of the plate, there was some dirt

such as residues of oil. Other than that, the

knife he used to open the packet of burger

meat was placed wherever he wanted.


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2.4 Food storage

Even though each material has its

own container but it is not covered well.

The containers of vegetables were opened

widely. The cap of the bottles of chili sauce

do not closed well. There still has a chance

for the microbes to enter to spoil the food.

The burger meat did not placed back into thepolystyrene container for them to keep cold.

3.0 FACTORS AFFECTING

MICROBIAL GROWTH

3.1 Water activity

Bacteria need quite a bit of water to

survive. The amount of water available for

microbial growth is measured in terms of

water activity, aw. Most bacteria require at

least aw of 0.90 while yeasts and molds

require awof 0.80 and 0.70 respectively. At

low water activity, microorganisms die

because water inside the cell diffuses out in

order to balance the osmotic pressure.

3.2 pH of the medium

Microorganisms live in certain range

of pH of medium. Most bacteria cannot

survive at pH values less than 4.5. Yeasts

can live between the range pH of 3.0 and 8.5

while molds can live at pH between 2.0 to

11.0. These wide range enable yeasts and

molds to survive in environments that not

suitable for bacteria. The pH level changes

the ability of microorganisms to transport

molecules in and out of the cell. In an acidic

environment, the saturation of proton (H+) in

the membrane makes the cations difficult to

move in or out. At alkaline environment,

hydroxide (OH-)

ions saturate the membrane,

thus prevents the movements of anions in or

out of the cell.


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3.3 Temperature

Microorganisms cannot survive at

very low or high temperature. They die in

low temperature because of a slowing down

of reaction rates during metabolism and

decreasing of fluid in cell membrane which

slow down transport of nutrients into the

cell. On the other hand, they die in high

temperature because of inactivation of

enzymes, as well as denaturation of cell

structural components.

4.0 WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO

ENSURE FOOD SAFETY AND

CONTROLLING MICROBE?

4.1 To ensure that the body get enough

food nutrition

The human body requires nutrients

to stay alive and maintain health. The

essentials nutrients must be obtained from

food since the body cannot synthesize them.

Other than that, nutrients are needed to form

body structures such as organs, bones and

skin, to serve as regulators of bodyprocesses on a molecular and biological

level and to provide energy. If the food that

consumed by human are contaminated, it

will affect all the biological process in

human body.

4.2 To prevent from foodborne illness

and other diseases

Food borne illness is any illness

resulting from the consumption of

contaminated food, as well as natural toxins

such as poisonous mushrooms. When we get

infected, the body will be weak for several

days. This will end after all the toxins in the

body are flushed out of the body. In rare

cases, food poisoning can result in kidney or

joint damage.

5.0 WHAT IS HAPPENING IN

FOOD INFECTION?

5.1 Foodborne illness

Food poisoning and food infection

are different although their symptoms are

similar. Food poisoning is caused by eating

food that contain contains a toxin or poison

due to bacterial growth in food. The bacteria

that excreted the toxic into the food may be

killed but the toxin they produced causes the

illness or digestive upset to occur. Food

infection is the second type of foodborneillness. It is caused by eating food that

contains certain types of live bacteria which

are present in the food. Once the food is

consumed, the bacterial cells themselves

continue to grow and illness will result.


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Salmonellosis is an example of foodborne

infection. Salmonella live in the intestinal

tracts of humans and animals and are

continually passed from person to animal,

animal to person and person to person in a

continuous cycle. The prime sources of

Salmonella contaminants of our food supply

come from the animals intestines. Rodents,

cockroaches and flies also carry Salmonella.

Salmonellosis is caused when we eat foods

that contain Salmonella. These bacteria

continue to grow and multiply in the small

intestines. The result of illness is appearing

eight to 24 hours after we eat the

contaminated food. Salmonellosis is

characterized by an abrupt onset of diarrhea,

nausea, abdominal pain, prostration, chills,

fever and vomiting. These symptoms vary in

intensity from slight to severe. The

symptoms rarely cause death except to

infants or the elderly who may rapidly

dehydrate.

6.0 HOW WOULD YOU AVOID

FOOD CONTAMINATION?

As we know, food contamination

refers to the presence of harmful chemical

and microorganisms in food that can cause

illness. Cases of food poisoning, especially

in school is increasing in our country.

Depending on the type of infection, people

can even die as a result of food poisoning.

That is why it is very important to take steps

to prevent food poisoning. The question is

how to prevent food contamination? There

are few aspects that are important to prevent

food contamination; the food processing, the

way to serve, store and handle foods, and

also the kitchen utensils that being used. The

hygiene of these aspects must be observed to

prevent contamination which can cause food

poisoning.

6.1 Food processing

Food processing is the methods or

techniques used to transform raw ingredients

into food in home or by the food processing

industry. Processing contaminates are

generated during the processing of food. In

factory or in our kitchen, food processing

can be a major source of contamination.

Areas used for processing need to be kept

scrupulously clean or cross-contamination

can be easily occur, especially with meat

products. Heating, fermentation, drying and

cooking are examples of food processing.

To avoid contamination when cooking raw

meat, make sure that food from animal

sources is cooked thoroughly or pasteurized.

Using a thermometer is recommended. Cook

beef to at least 160F and fish to at least


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140F. Cooking meat such as chicken meat

in optimum temperature will eliminate the

presence of a microorganism such as

Salmonella.

6.2 The way to serve and handle the

food

A good way to serve and store food

also can prevent contamination in food.

Food that is stored incorrectly can be a

source of transferring bacteria and other

contaminants from one food to another. This

is a very tricky area because often people

don't think that some foods could be a

source of contamination but are unaware

that cross-contamination has occurred. One

of the important things to do is to keep foods

separated. At all times, keep raw meat, raw

eggs and poultry away from cooked food,

fresh fruits and vegetables. Do not place

cooked meat back onto the same plate that

held the raw meat. Reheat leftovers

thoroughly before serving. Leftovers that

have been reheated poorly can still contain

active food pathogens. Moreover, if

leftovers have gone bad, no amount of

reheating will make them safe. Any signs of

discoloration, sliminess and growth of mold

are signals to discard or compost the

leftovers. Do not keep leftovers for long and

never reheat leftovers more than once.

During preparation and serving, protect food

from insects and animals. Never leave

cooked food at room temperature for more

than two hours. This is due to the bacteria

growing in food. Food contamination

from bacteria occurs much faster in warmer

weather.

6.3 Kitchen utensils that are being used

Any prepared food must be using

clean kitchen tools such as knife, spoon,

cutting board and plate. When using cutting

board, choose nonporous surface cutting

board such as plastic, marble or pyroceramic

because it is easier to clean than wood. Use

one cutting board for fresh product and

bread and a separate one for raw meat,

poultry, and seafood. This will prevent

bacteria on a cutting board that is used for

raw meat, poultry, or seafood from

contaminating a food that requires no further

cooking. To keep all cutting boards clean,

wash them with hot, soapy water after each

use, then rinse with clear water and air dry

or pat dry with clean paper towels. All

plastic and wooden cutting boards wear out

over time. Once cutting boards become

excessively worn or develop hard-to-clean

grooves, they should be discarded.


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6.4 Personal hygiene

Staphylococcal food poisoning can

be prevented by careful sanitation methods

such as washing hands and cleaning work

areas. Hence, we should wash our hands

often and always before cooking or

cleaning. Always wash them again after

touching raw meat. The hygiene of hands

while preparing foods is very important.

This is due to the bacteria that can transfer

to food from our hands. Bacteria have their

own population explosion going. They can

reproduce every 20 minutes. The number of

bacteria on our body is greater more than we

imagine. Our hands do all sorts of things.

Our hands gather bacteria with each job they

do. We can remove many of these bacteria

by washing our hands and scrubbing our

fingernails. We were recommended to wash

our hands with soup about 20 seconds or

more to eliminate the bacteria.

7.0 HOW TO SOLVE THE

PROBLEM?

Nowadays, food safety becomes one

of the major concerns of public health.

Concerns of cleanliness and freshness often

discourage people from eating outside fast

food. There are few things that can be done

to increase the awareness of food safety

among the vendors and public.

7.1 Slow talk with the owner

In order to advise other person about

some of their mistakes, it should be done in

good manner to prevent different

misunderstanding towards us. We can talk

with the owner to express our feeling about

their food preparation. Other than that, we

want to share them some information

regarding the importance of food safety for

consumers and ways to increase the safety

level of the foods. This is also one of the

way to prevent embarrass towards the owner

as we talk directly to him without known by

the public.

7.2 Distribute pamphlet about food

safety and microbe control

This is one of the simplest ways to

increase the awareness on food safety

among the public and vendors. All of the

important information about food safety can

be packed into one piece of paper. This

activity also can be done everywhere at

anytime. The arrangement of colours and

information can attract the public to read the

pamphlet.


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7.3 Report the case to the Ministry of

Health

If the problem still has no changes,

we can report the case to the Ministry of

Health to handle this problem. Some peoples

do not trust the ability or take it easy when it

comes to students activity. The Ministry of

Health can carry out mystery shopping. This

is a way used to measure quality of food or

to gather information about product and

services. The mystery consumers specific

identity is generally not known by the owner

that being evaluated. They perform specific

tasks such as purchasing products and

asking question. Then they will run legal

action towards the owner if there is any

problem.

7.4 Organize food safety campaign

Other than that, we can organize

food safety campaign for the vendors in this

area to train them about how to keep the

food safe to eat. May be some of them do

not know how to control food safety in a

proper way. In this campaign, they will be

exposed with the serious effect ofuncontrolled food hygiene to the consumers.

A guest speaker from the Ministry of Health

is invited to deliver talk about this matter.

8.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, food safety is very

important in our daily life. Diseases can

transmit to the other person through the food

that contaminated. To prevent this things

happen, we should make sure that the foods

are stored in proper way. Besides that, any

equipment used to prepare food must be

cleaned and sanitized very well. The public

should cooperate together to overcome this

problem. It is impossible for us to keep the

food fully clean from bacterial infection but

we can take precaution to reduce the

bacterial infection in the food.

food safety and microbe control

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