Food Safety
Gary Kennedy

Agenda
• Background
– Why the sudden interest in food safety?
• Food poisoning
• Conditions favouring microbial growth
• High risk foods
• Current Australian and NSW legislation
• HACCP
• Support programs

Background
• Cost of Food Borne Illness
• Estimated in 2000 at 6 million cases per year in Australia, costing $6 billion dollars.
– Costs include:
• Time off work, including for carers
• Medical costs – doctors, hospitals, medication

Background
• Food poisoning is on the increase:
– Increase in at risk populations
– Changing patterns of food consumption
• Ready-to-eat; Ready-to-cook; “fresh” foods; variety of foods
– Change in food manufacturing practices
– International trade in foods
– Emergence of new pathogens
– Improved methods of detection
– Universality of medicine in Australia
– Lack of training of food preparation staff

Background
• Food Service Departments aim to produce nutritious, safe food
• Many disease can be transmitted via food
• Hospitals have a high concentration of at risk food recipients, both on admission and due to treatments therein
• A patient with food poisoning may not eat, further compromising their nutritive status.

Food Poisoning
• There are three typical causes:
– Biological
– Chemical
– Physical

Food Poisoning
• Biological
– Some poisoning is caused by eating the pathogens, which then grows inside the person, some are by consumption of poison produced when the pathogen grew in the food.

Food Poisoning
• Bacteria
– Salmonella, E. coli; Staphylococcus; Listeria,
Clostridium botulinum
• Viruses
– Hepatitis, Norwalk virus
• Fungi
– Moulds, Yeasts
• Parasites
– Amoeba, protozoa, tapeworms, algae, liver flukes

Food Poisoning
• Natural chemical hazards
– Mould toxins (e.g. aflatoxin)
– Toxic shellfish, algal blooms, ciguatera poisoning form tropical fish
– Allergenic reactions to foods
• Peanuts, soy, nuts, eggs, milk, fish, crustacea, sesame, sulphites (>10 ppm)
– Rhubarb leaves, greening in potatoes

Food Poisoning
• Added Chemical Issues (added during agriculture, manufacture, processing, sale.
– Ground breakers, wetting agents, algal treatments, fertilizers, heavy metals
– Pesticides, weedicides, fungicides
– Antibiotics, hormones, dips, drenches
– Cleaning, pest control, maintenance chemicals
– Food ingredients (preservatives, emulsifiers)

Food Poisoning
• Physical
– Naturally occurring
• Leaves, bone chips, insects, nuts, seeds, hair, cartilage
– Added
• Glass, plastic, wood, metal shavings, hair, jewellery, paper
– Left in the product
• e.g. a lump after manipulation

Contamination vs. Spoilage
• Product Spoilage occurs when microbes or enzymes naturally present in the food break it down
– Spoiled food may look, smell or feel “bad” but not necessarily give you food poisoning
• Product contamination is when something gets into or onto the food
– Contaminated food may not look, smell or fell
“bad,” but may cause food poisoning.

Main Causes of Food Poisoning
• A. The food itself is not safe
– Raw food require cooking
– Unpasteurized foods are effectively “raw”
– Presence of allergens and other chemicals
– Supplier makes a mistake and you get the problem
• B. Time and / or Temperature abuse
– Food delivered at too high a temperature
– Food stored too high if cold, too low if hot
– Food sitting out too long during the process
– Not cooking to the right temperature
– Not cooling the food quickly enough
– Not holding the food at the right temperature during serving

Main Causes of Food Poisoning
• C. Poor personal hygiene
– Unwashed hands, dirty nails, poor glove use
– Sneezing, coughing, blowing noses,
– Eating, smoking, drinking, cuts and illness
– Jewellery, clothing, hair covering
• D. Cross contamination and poor handling
– Poor storage, poor pest control, poor storage
– multiple use of items (buckets, chopping boards, aprons, tea towels)
– Garbage, chemicals, glass and hair falling into food

• Time
• Temperature
• Moisture
• Food Source
• Oxygen

High Risk Foods
• High risk foods
– Commonly contain microbes capable of producing food poisoning
– Will support the growth of these microbes
• These include:
– Raw meats, raw eggs, smallgoods, sprouted seeds, lightly cooked foods, soft cheeses, unpasteurized foods, raw fruit and vegetables not washed prior to consumption, foods mishandled after preparation or cooking

Current Legislation
• The Food Standards Code contains four sections:
– 1. General standards (including labelling)
– 2. Specific product category standards
– 3. Food Safety Standards
– 4. Primary Industry Standards

Current Legislation
• There are four food safety standards
– 3.1.1 Summary and definitions
– 3.2.1 Food Safety Programs
• Currently law in Victoria
• Will become law in NSW for hospitals and aged care on 5 th October 2008. Soon then after for child care [new Standard 3.3.1]
– 3.2.2 Food Hygiene Practices
• Incudes mandatory training of all food staff
– 3.2.3 Food Premises and Equipment

Current Legislation
• There are four food safety standards
– 3.3.1 Food Safety Programs for at Risk
Populations
• Hospitals, day surgeries
• Child care
• Aged care
• Maternity and baby health centres
• Care of the immunocompromised
– 3.3.2 Food Safety Programs for Caterers

Current Legislation
• A number of industry codes and guidelines exist to help industry comply with the laws.
• A standard, a code of practice and a guideline vary in their legal status.
• NSW Food Authority “Industry Guide to
Developing a Food Safety Program
(Hospitals and Aged Care).”
– Not “law” but can be used in court as a minimum standard

HACCP
• An international standard for food safety.
• Mandatory under 3.2.1, therefore mandatory for hospitals, child care and aged care
• Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point

HACCP
• 1. Pick a HACCP team
• 2. Identify the product (product description
/ specification)
• 3. Identify the intended use of the product
• 4. Document every stage of the process
(flow chart)
• 5. Verify the flow chart

HACCP
• Principle 1: Hazard Analysis
– Identify all hazards
– Assess risk and significance of each hazard
– Put in place control measures for each hazard
• Principle 2: Identify Critical Control Points
• Principle 3: Set critical limits
• Principle 4: Monitor
– What, how, where, how often, who, records

HACCP
• Principle 5: Corrective Action
– What happens to the food
– What happens to the process to fix it
• Principle 6: Verification
– Additional testing done apart from on line testing
• Principle 7: Documentation and Records

Support Programs
• Approved Supplier Program
• Calibration
• Cleaning
• Document Control
• Housekeeping
• Hygiene
• Maintenance
• Pest Control
• Recall Training

Tutorial