FOOD SAFETY
Suzette DeCastro, MS, RD, LD
Walden University
Environmental Health
Purpose of this service based
project




Introduction to concepts and principles on how to
serve safe food
Understanding the food safety risks faced in food
service establishments
Identifying risks in food service and finding ways
to reduce them
maintaining quality food services in ones
operation as well as keeping customers and
employees safe.
Learning Outcomes





Will Recognize the importance of food safety
Will Recognize the risks associated with high risk
populations
Will Avoid potential hazards to food safety
Will Understand the process of how food
becomes unsafe
Will understand prevention measures to keeping
food safe
Food Borne Illnesses




A disease transmitted to people by food.
Two or more people get the same illness after
eating the same food.
Each year CDC estimates 1 in 6 or 48 million
people will get sick from unsafe food.
128,000 are hospitalized and 3000 persons die
from food borne illnesses (National Restaurant
Assoc, 2005)
Foodborne Active Surveillance Network, United States, 1996–20092
Costs of Food Borne Illnesses




Illnesses cost the US billions of dollars each year.
Associated costs are medical, lost productivity,
and death.
Serious Health Issue according to the Economic
Research Service of the USDA
Each year 6.9 billion in costs are associated with
five bacterial pathogens
Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria
monocytogenes, and types of E. Coli.
(CDC, 2011)
Rates of lab confirmed infections
Figure 2. Changes in incidence of laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections, United States, 20091 compared with 1996–1998
•FOODNET SURVEILLANCE in 1996, CDC has
seen important declines in infections caused by six of
the seven bacterial pathogens tracked—Yersinia, Shiga
toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157,
Shigella, Salmonella, Listeria, and Campylobacter.
•Salmonella, the most commonly diagnosed and
reported food borne illness, continues to be a challenge.
The incidence of Salmonella infections has declined by
only 10% since FoodNet surveillance began.
(CDC, 2011)
•Rates of infection were substantially higher for Vibrio in 2009
than in 1996–1998.
•Rates of infection were at least 25% lower for Shigella, Yersinia,
Campylobacter, and Listeria than they were a decade ago.
•
•Rates of infection with STEC O157, which causes one of the
•most severe forms of foodborne illness, decreased by 25% in
2009 compared with the most recent 3 years, reaching the lowest
level since 2004.
(CDC, 2011)
Table 2. TOP five pathogens contributing to domestically acquired foodborne illnesses
Pathogen
Estimated number
of illnesses
Norovirus
5,461,731
Salmonella,
nontyphoidal
Clostridium
perfringens
Campylobacter
spp.
Staphylococcus
aureus
Subtotal
1,027,561
965,958
845,024
241,148
90% Credible
%
Interval
3,227,078–
8,309,480
644,786–
1,679,667
192,316–
2,483,309
337,031–
1,611,083
72,341–
529,417
58
11
10
9
3
91
Populations at High Risk for
Food borne Illnesses
The Elderly
 Infants and pre-school age children
 Pregnant women
 Persons with diagnosed medical condition
that have a compromised immune system
such as AIDS patients and cancer patients
(National Restaurant Assoc, 2005)

Safe Internal food temperatures
• CLEAN
Clean your hands with soap and warm water before
handling food. Clean surfaces before preparing food on
them.
• SEPARATE
Separate cooked foods from ready-to-eat foods. Do not
use utensils on cooked foods that were previously used
on raw foods and do not place cooked foods on plates
where raw foods once were unless it has been cleaned
thoroughly.
(CDC, 2011)
Safe Internal Food temperatures
• CHILL
Chill foods promptly after serving and when
transporting from one place to another. Keep your
refrigerator at 40°F or below. Keep hot foods hot and
cold foods cold.
• COOK
Cook foods to a safe internal temperature (see chart).
Use a meat thermometer to make sure foods are cooked
to a safe temperature. Color is not an indicator of
doneness.
( CDC, 2011)
Safe food temperatures
• If a public health official contacts you to find out more about an
illness you had, your cooperation is important.
• In public health investigations, it can be as important to talk to
healthy people as to ill people. Your cooperation may be needed
even if you are not ill.
•For more information on preventing food borne illnesses
• visit FoodSafety.gov , the federal gateway for food safety
information.
(CDC, 2011)
• SAFE FOOD TEMPERATURES
•REPORT: Report suspected food borne illnesses to your local
• health department. The local public health department is an
important part of the food safety system.
•Often calls from concerned citizens are how outbreaks are first
detected.
( CDC, 2011)
THE FDA FOOD CODE
is issued by the FOOD and Drug Administration. It outlines the
federal governments recommendations for food safety regulations
for the food service industry.
Health inspectors from state health departments conduct food
service inspections of food service establishments.
Self- Inspections- A well managed food service operation have
frequent self inspections to keep food safe. (CDC, 2011)
FOOD Safety Regulations &
Standards
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)
was signed into law by President Obama on
January 4th, 2011.
It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by
shifting the focus of federal regulators from
responding to contamination to preventing it.
(FDA, 2011)
Preventing Food Borne Illnesses
Practicing Good Personal Hygiene
 Controlling the time and temperature of
foods
 Avoiding cross contamination of foods
 Purchasing from approved reputable
suppliers (National Restaurant Assoc,
2005)

Potential Hazards to Food Safety
Biological- pathogens such as viruses,
parasites, fungi, and bacteria.
 These harmful microorganisms may
produce poisons or toxins in the food or the
host.
 Chemical- cleaners and sanitizers
 Physical- foreign objects can get into food.
Moeller, 2005)

How Food Becomes Unsafe?
Purchasing food from unsafe sources.
 Failing to cook food adequately.
 Holding food at the incorrect temperatures.
 Using contaminated equipment
 Practicing poor personal hygiene (CDC,
2011)

What Pathogens need to grow?




Food or an energy source.
Acidity- Pathogens grow best in food that contains
no or little acid (ph of 4-7)
Temperature- Pathogens grow well in food in the
range known as the temperature danger zone (41F135F)
Time- Pathogens need time to grow especially
after four hours.( National Restaurant Assoc,
2005)
Cont.. What conditions do
Pathogens need to grow??



Oxygen- Some pathogens need oxygen to grow.
While others can grow in anaerobic conditions
Moisture- Pathogens need moisture in food to
grow.
Viruses are leading cause of food borne illness,
such as with hepatitis A and the Norovirus. These
illnesses are linked with ready to eat food and
shellfish (National Restaurant Assoc, 2005).
Bacteria and food borne illness

Bacteria can change into different forms
called spores that keep them from dying
when they don’t have enough food
Other types of bacteria can produce toxins
in food or in the host.

National Restaurant Assoc, 2005)

Causes of illness in 1,565 single food commodity
outbreaks, 2003–2008
Foods identified in Food borne
illnesses

Bacillus cereus- cooked rice dishes

Listeriosis- raw meat and deli meats

Hemorrohagic colitsis- ground beef

Clostridium perfringens-meat and poultry
(Moeller, 2005)
Cont. Foods identified in Food
borne illnesses

Shigellosis- salads

Staphylcoccal- deli meats and salads
Vibrio vulnificus- oysters from
contaminated waters

( Moeller, 2005)

Foods







contaminated with Parasites
Anisakiasis- raw and undercooked fish
such as cod, mackerel and salmon
Cryptosporidiosis- produce and
contaminated water
Giardiasis- produce and contaminated
water (National Restaurant assoc,
2005)
Foods identified in food borne
illness
Fungi, molds, and yeasts in produce, jams
and jellies.
 Some molds produce toxins such as
aflatoxins
 poisonous Mushrooms and plant toxins
 ( Moeller, 2005)

Seafood and shellfish poisoning
PSP-paralytic shellfish poison, NSPneurotoxic shellfish, ASP- amnesic shellfish
 Clams, oysters, and scallops

Seafood toxins- Scombroid poisoning-tuna
fish also known as histamine poisoning
Ciguatera- jacks and red snapper (Moeller,
2005)
Chemical Contaminants





Some utensils and equipment contain toxic metals
that contaminate acidic food.
A person who eats this food can get toxic-metal
poisoning
Illness is caused by storing or prepping food with
equipment contaminating heavy metals such as
Lead, Copper, and Zinc.
Cleaners, sanitizers, polishes, and machine
lubricants should be kept ot stored away form
food.
( Moeller, 2005)
Common Food Allergens
Milk and Dairy products
 Eggs
 Fish and shellfish
 Wheat
 Soy products
 Nuts
(National Restaurant assoc, 2005)

Food Allergens
The number of people in the US is
increasing who have allergies to food.
 It is the body’s negative reaction to a food
protein.
 symptoms such as hives, rashes, breathing
difficulties, swelling of face, abdominal
cramps, and death with severe reactions
(National Restaurant assoc, 2005)

Prevent Food Contamination
Avoid cross contamination
 Avoid time –temperature abuse
 Use of the correct types of thermometers in
food preparation
 Use of proper personal hygiene
 Purchasing from approved reputable
suppliers (Partnership for Food Safety
Education, 2011)

Food Safety Management
Systems
Develop and implement a personal hygiene
program
 Establish supplier selection and a
specification program
 Implement a sanitation and pest and rodent
control program (National Restaurant
assoc, 2005)

Food service management

Establish facility design and equipment
maintenance program
Implement a food safety training program
 Implement a food defense program in times
of emergency or crisis

(National Restaurant association, 2005)

Taking an active managerial
control approach
Mangers need to consider risk factors
 Mangers need to create policies and
procedures
 Mangers need to monitor policies and
procedures
 Employees and mangers need to verify the
system (National Restaurant Association,
2005)

HACCP (Hazard Analysis and
Critical Control Points)

A system used to control risks and hazards
throughout the flow of food.
It is based on identifying significant
biological, chemical and physical hazards at
specific points within a products flow.

( Moeller, 2005)

HACCP continued
Created by the National Advisory
Committee on Microbiological Criteria for
Foods
 Once hazards are identified they can
prevent, eliminate, and reduce them to safe
levels.
 Must be based on a written plan.(National
Restaurant Assoc, 2005)

HACCP Principles
Conduct a hazard analysis
 Determine critical control points (CCP’s)
 Establish critical limits
 Establish monitoring procedures


National Restaurant Association, 2005)
HACCP Principles continued

Identify corrective actions

Verify that the system works
Establish procedures for record keeping and
documentation

( National Restaurant Association, 2005)

Implement a Food Safety
Program for Employees





Topics to be provided and reviewed
personal hygiene
safe food preparation
proper cleaning and sanitizing of kitchen and
equipment
(Partnership for Food safety Education, 2011)
Preparing for a Food Borne
Illness Outbreak
Implementation of a food safety program
for all staff
 Develop a food borne illness incident report
form
 Train staff to fill out incident forms
 Prepare an emergency contact list
 Develop and implement a crisiscommunication plan

CURRENT FOOD SAFETY CHALLENGES
CHALLENGES TO FOOD SAFETY WILL CONTINUE TO ARISE LARGELY DUE TO:
•Changes in our food production and supply
•Changes in the environment leading to food contamination
•Rising number of multistate outbreaks
•New and emerging germs, toxins, and antibiotic resistance
•
•New and different contaminated foods, such as prepackaged raw
cookie dough, bagged spinach, and peanut butter, causing illnesses
( CDC, 2011)
Future Estimates/Implications in
Food Borne Illnesses



Need for improvements and new innovations
Future investments and innovations in surveillance
and data analysis could help increase the accuracy
of estimates.
Future efforts can also be directed toward
quantifying the illnesses caused by long-term
effects of food borne infections and toxins and to
estimate the economic costs associated with food
borne illness.
( CDC, 2011)
Research in Food Science
• The need for more detailed information on norovirus will better
inform future estimates due to the availability of improved
surveillance and special studies conducted in the United States. Most
of the data underlying the norovirus estimates is from other
countries.
•
• A need for improved information on the cases of acute
gastroenteritis that are reported during FoodNet survey.
•Telephone interviews will be needed to help discern whether they
might be caused by noninfectious conditions. (CDC, 2011)
Food safety and Terrorism
• Accounting for illnesses caused by some of the
unspecified agents that do not result in acute
gastrointestinal illness, as such illnesses were not
included in the current estimates.
• Refining estimates of the degree of underreporting of
hospitalizations and deaths.
• Drinking water and food supplies is a means to
dispersing biological agents such as Clostridium
botulinum toxin and Staphylococcus enterotoxin B
• .
( Moeller, 2005)
Food Safety and Terrorism


The American Medical Association has developed
a CD-Rom that provides state of the art medical
and clinical information for dealing with both
biological and chemical attacks
Diseases that have been linked to biological agents
in food are Q fever(Coxiella burnetti), Brucellosis
from brucellla species, Burkholderia
mallei(glanders), ricin toxin (Ricinus communis or
castor beans) , epsilon toxin from Clostridium
perfingens species
(Moeller, 2005)
Deliberate contamination of Food




People may try to tamper with food using
biological, chemical, or physical contaminants.
The best way to protect food is to make it hard for
someone to tamper with it.
A food defense program should deal with the
points in your operation where food is at risk.
(National restaurant assoc, 2005)
References




CDC(2011) Food Safety retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/
FDA(2011). Food Safety Modernization Act
retrieved from http://www.fda.gov
National Restaurant Association (2008). Servsafe
Essentials (5th ed) Chicago, IL
Partnership for Food Safety Education (2011)
Food safety campaigns. Retrieved from
www.fightbac.org
References continued

USDA (2011) Food Safety & Inspection
Service. Trends in Food Borne Illnesses
retrieved from www.fsis.usda.gov

Moeller, Dade (2005)Environmental Health
(3rd ed) Cambridge, MA Harvard University
Press
Sources for further reading
Loaharan, P(2003) Irradiated foods(5th ed)
American Council on Science & Health,
NY, NY
 Metcalfe, D (2003) “Intro:What are the
issues in addressing the allergenic potential
of gentically modified foods”
Environmental Health perspectives 111(8)
1110-1113

Suggested readings
Red Tide Research Group(2002) “The
current of Red Tide research”
Environmental Health perspectives.
110(3)A 132-A133
 FDA (1995) Food Code. Springfield, VA
National Technical Information service
 Food Net retrieved from
http:www.cdc.gov/foodnet/

Further readings




Food Safety retrieved from
http://www.foodsafety.gov
HACCP Overview retrieved from
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety
US EPA Pesticides & Food retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food
Arizona Department of Health Services( 2011)
Ricin:Bioterrorism agent profile for Health acre
workers retrieved from http://www.azdhs.gov
Sources for Further Reading



Bad Bud Book retrieved from
http://www.fda.gov/food/foodsafety
Bryan, F(2002) Reflections on a career in Public
health:Evolving food borne pathogens,
environmental health, & food safety programs.
Journal of Environmental Health 65(5) 14-25
WHO Food Safety retrieved at
http:www.whoint/food safety/en