Keeping Food Safe
Foodborne Illness
 Defined as a disease transmitted to people by food.
 Foodborne-illness Outbreak
 When two or more people get the same illness after eating the same food.
 Costs Involved
 Loss of customers and sales
 Negative media exposure
 Lawsuits and legal fees
 Increased insurance premiums
 Loss of reputation
 Lowered employee morale
 Employee absenteeism
 Staff retraining
Who is at risk?
Elderly people
Infants and preschool age children
Pregnant women
People with cancer or on chemotherapy,
people with HIV/AIDS, and transplant recipients
Contamination Terms
 Hazard: something with the potential to cause harm.
 What is an example?
 Contamination: means that harmful things are present in food, making it
unsafe to eat.
 Poor personal hygiene
 Time-Temperature abuse
 Cross-contamination
 Poor cleaning & sanitizing methods
 Purchasing food from unapproved suppliers
Types of Contaminants
 Biological
 Viruses
 Bacteria
 Parasites
 Fungi-mold, yeast
 Chemical
 cleaners, polishes, sanitizers, etc.
 Physical
 Metal shavings from cans, fingernails, hair, fruit pits, etc.
Proper Hygiene
 Pull back or cover hair with a hat,
 Wear clean clothing.
 Wear an apron to protect yourself from splatters.
 Remove jewelry before entering the kitchen area.
 If you have a cut, wear a band-aid and rubber glove.
Hand Washing

This should become standard routine every time you enter and exit the kitchen!
 Use as warm/hot of water you can tolerate.
 Apply a dime size of hand soap.
 Rub and lather vigorously for 20 seconds-make sure to go past the wrists and between fingers.
 Use a nail brush if necessary
 Rinse hands well.
 Dry hands with paper towel
Fact:
80% of infection diseases are transmitted by touching surfaces
that have germs on them!
What Does Bacteria Need to Grow?
FAT TOM
 F – Food – High Protein foods
 A – Acidity – Foods having a pH between
4.6-7.0 are the most potentially
dangerous (soups, cottage cheese, beef,
veal, pork, chicken, milk
 T – Time – potentially hazardous foods
should not remain in the temperature
danger zone for more than 4 hours
during the entire food handling process
 T – Temperature – Danger Zone 40140F
 O – Oxygen – Some bacteria requires O2
to grow while others require no oxygen
 M – Moisture – The amount of water
present in a food will affect its ability for
bacterial growth. Potentially hazardous
foods include raw bacon, soft cheeses,
meats, and poultry.
Preventing Hazards
 Cross Contamination
 The spread of pathogens from one surface or food to another
 Time-Temperature Abuse
 Temperature Danger Zone 40*-140*
 The longer food stays in the temperature danger zone, the more time pathogens have to
grow.
 Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot!
 Food should not be held at the temperature dangers zones for more than 4 hours!
 When in doubt, throw it out!
 Store food in coolers properly
 Seafood (top)
 Whole cuts of beef and pork
 Ground meat and ground fish
 Whole and ground poultry (bottom)
Quiz
1. If food is held in the temperature danger zone for more than _________
hour(s), throw it out.
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
2. TRUE OR FALSE It is safe for employees to work with food when they have
a sore throat and a fever.
3. TRUE OR FALSE
higher.
To hold hot TCS food safely, keep the food at 125°F or
4. TRUE OR FALSE
Cleaning reduces pathogens on a surface to safe levels.
5. Name the three forms of contamination that can cause foodborne illness.