Posts Tagged food hygiene certificate level 2

Food Hygiene Definitions Continued

 

Food poisoning
An acute illness, of sudden onset caused by the recent consumption of contaminated or poisonous food (Usually with symptoms of diarrhoea and/or vomiting)

A case of food poisoning
“A person with symptoms, usually diarrhoea and/or vomiting, who has become ill as a result of eating contaminated food and who has provided a positive specimen or is part of a confirmed food poisoning outbreak”

Outbreak of food poisoning
Two or more people with a common exposure experience a similar illness

General outbreak
Two or more cases in different households

Family outbreak
Two or more cases in the same household

Sporadic case
· Isolated cases with no connection with other cases
· Majority of cases – sporadic
· (May be part of an undetected outbreak relating to retailing or manufacture)

Carriers
Carriers are people who:
· Excrete food poisoning organisms or carry them on their bodies
· Show no symptoms
Two types:
Convalescent carrier
Recovered from illness but is still excreting organisms
Healthy carrier
Never shown symptoms but is excreting organisms

Food Hygiene Definitions

 

Safe food
Food which is free of contaminants and will not cause harm, injury or illness.

Food hygiene
The measures and conditions necessary to control hazards and to ensure fitness for human consumption of a foodstuff taking into account its intended use.  (EC Regulation No.852/2004) (It involves preventing objectionable matter getting into food).
It includes:
• Rejecting contaminated, or poisonous food or food from suspect sources

• Protecting food from contamination, including harmful micro-organisms, poisons, allergens and foreign bodies

• Preventing multiplication of bacteria to a level which would result in illness of consumers or the early spoilage of food

• Destroying micro-organisms in the food or food environment

• Discarding/removing unsafe/unfit or contaminated food

Contamination
The presence or introduction of a hazard.  (EC Regulation No. 852/2004)

Cross-contamination
The transfer of bacteria from contaminated food (usually raw) to ready-to-eat foods by direct contact, drip or indirect contact using a vehicle such as hands or a cloth.

Pathogen
Disease-producing organism

High Risk and Raw Food

High Risk and Raw Food

High-risk foods (aw 0.95 – 0.99)
• Are usually identified as food vehicles in food poisoning outbreaks
• Ready-to-eat foods which support the rapid multiplication of food poisoning bacteria
• Intended for consumption without treatment, such as cooking, which would remove or destroy these bacteria
• Usually protein (NB cooked rice-carbohydrate)
• Require refrigerated storage
• Keep separate from raw foods
Examples:
• Cooked meat and cooked poultry
• Cooked meat products, patés, liquid gravy, stew, meat pies etc. Large cans of pasteurized ham
• Dairy produce, milk(esp. raw milk), cream, custards, ice-cream, dairy based desserts, ripened soft and moulded cheese
• Eggs and egg products, mousse, hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise
• Cooked fish/shellfish and raw bivalves, such as oysters
• Cook-chill meals
• Baby foods
NB Frozen high-risk foods have the available moisture removed and are safe whilst frozen

Raw foods (intended for cooking/processing)
• Often contaminated with large numbers of food poisoning bacteria
• Risk of food poisoning if consumed without thorough cooking, heat treatment, fermentation, acidification, washing (risk from E. coli O157), curing etc.
• Keep separate from ready-to-eat foods, even if frozen(risk is probably low regarding packaged frozen raw food)

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Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 Food Safety in Catering Course and HACCP Level 3

Over the next few months I will be publishing the complete Level 2 – Level 4 Courses in Food Safety in Catering, including HACCP at Level 3

 

We are going to start with Lecture 1 of 13, covering all subjects in the Level 2 to Level 4 Awards in Food Safety in Catering.

The qualifications are:

The Level 2 Award in Food Safety in Catering/Manufacturing/Retail

The Level 3 Award in Supervising Food Safety in Catering/Manufacturing/Retail

The Level 4 Award in ManagingFood Safety in Catering/Manufacturing

Enjoy the course…