Hygiene Food Safety
Newsletter September 2020

Current Global COVID-19 stats

Are you at risk from food poisoning?

There are a number of risk from food poisoning, which can come from a number of sources. The three main sources are biological, chemical and physical forms of contamination. The most common of these are biological. And specifically bacteria.

• Small children/ babies

  Children and babies are at risk of food poisoning which is usually due to underdeveloped immune systems and a tendency to put anything in their mouths. Children like to explore their surroundings and will handle any object that is within their grasp. The risk with this is that they more than likely contain bacteria which then enter the child’s digestive system. Once there they thrive and infect this area which leads to illnesses such as food poisoning.

• Pregnant moms

  Pregnancy takes a toll on your body, draining resources and nutrients which go to our unborn child. This drain lowers the immune system.

• The elderly

  Older people are at high risk of food poisoning, mainly due to the fact that their immune systems are less capable of dealing with illness and disease. Older people often suffer from a chronic disease which can increase the risk of food poisoning.

•  Immunocompromised, especially HIV infections and cancer patients.

  This means that the immune system is less able to fight off bacteria which cause disease and infection. Individuals in this category have the greatest risk of severe illness and death from food poisoning.

These individuals fall into what is known as the “high-risk” population. This is because each person in these categories does in one way or another have lower immune systems than the general population. This is mostly a natural occurrence, especially in cases of babies, which lend their immune system from their mothers in the first few days of life. 

In addition to this, remember that our internal flora is more unique than a fingerprint. This means that you could be uniquely susceptible to the risk of food poisoning more so than others, and it could simply be due to the different composition of the bacteria in your gut.

What Are The Legal Implications of Food Poisoning?

1. The Hospital

The hospital must first diagnose you with a disease, eg. Listeriosis. This is a complicated process of examining contents of the gut, blood and faecal matter. The organism causing the disease needs to be isolated and identified.
 

2. The Bacteria

The same food product must have the organism that caused the contamination. And the source of the contamination must be identified.  Once all these parameters are put together. Either a criminal case or class action lawsuit can be lodged.
 

3. The Food

To achieve a successful claim, one must show that the food that one ate, was contaminated. And that this same contaminated food, was what made you sick in the first place. This is even more of a battle, if there had been a time delay between eating the food and exhibiting symptoms. In the case of Listeriosis, this could take up to 70 days.  Yet, it is easier to prove if other people have become sick with food poisoning by eating the same contaminated food.

Why You Need To Understand The Food Safety Pillars

In the food safety pillars course, you will learn the correct clean as you go procedure and why it is important to have  good cleaning and sanitising in place.

We will also look at how, why and when to wash your hands.

You will also learn why it is important to store raw and ready-to-eat food separately as well as the importance of the correct storage of dry goods.

You will also learn to understand why temperature control and the temperature danger zone is critical to food safety and lastly you will learn how to cool down food safely, how to defrost and reheat foods without causing potential risk to food poisoning.

The food safety pillars are the key elements in preventing food poisoning in the kitchen environment. Without these pillars, no foundation for safe food can be built.

• Cleaning & Sanitising
  • The first step in creating a food safety system is the fundamental aspect of cleaning and sanitising.
• Personal Hygiene
  • The second pillar is probably the most important in terms of eliminating cross-contamination. Hand washing and clean hands awareness are critical to food safety.
• Food Storage
  • The third pillar can be categorised into two areas 
    • • Perishable foods (Cold storage)
    • Dry goods
• Temperature Control
  • The fourth pillar of food safety is a fundamental principle in preventing the growth of bacteria and ensuring the quality of food is maintained.
• Food Handling
  • The fifth and final pillar of food safety related to how food is handled during storage and preparation. Food Handling carries the greatest risk when dealing with cross-contamination.

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