Food safety (or food hygiene) is a scientific method describing handling, preparation, and storage of food in a way or ways that prevent foodborne illness. Food contamination consists of harmful substances in food that can make it unsafe to eat. There are types of contaminations that consist of biological, chemical, and physical contamination. The occurrence of two or more cases of similar illness resulting from the ingestion of a common food is known as a food-borne disease outbreak.
Food safety includes a number of routines that should be followed to avoid potential health hazards. In this way, food safety often overlaps with food defense to prevent harm to consumers. The tracks within this line of thought are safety between industry and the market and then between the market and the consumer. In considering industry-to-market practices, food safety considerations include the origins of food including the practices relating to food labeling, food hygiene, food additives and pesticide residues; as well as policies on biotechnology and food and guidelines for the management of governmental import and export inspection and certification systems for foods. In considering market-to-consumer practices, the usual thought is that food ought to be safe in the market and the concern is safe delivery and preparation of the food for the consumer. Food safety, nutrition and food security are closely related. Unhealthy food creates a cycle of disease and malnutrition that affects infants and adults as well.
Food can transmit pathogens, which can result in the illness or death of the person or other animals. The main types of pathogens are bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungus. The World Health Organization estimated that foodborne pathogens cause 600 million cases of diseases and 420,000 deaths per year. Food can also serve as a growth and reproductive medium for pathogens. In developed countries, there are intricate standards for food preparation, whereas in lesser developed countries there are fewer standards and less enforcement of those standards. Food poisoning cannot be completely avoided due to the number of persons involved in the supply chain, as well as the fact that pathogens can be introduced into foods.
Issues Food safety issues and regulations concern: Agriculture and animal husbandry practices Food manufacturing practices Food additives Novel foods Genetically modified foods Food label Food contamination
Food contamination Food contamination happens when foods are corrupted with another substance. It can happen in the process of production, transportation, packaging, storage, sales, and cooking process. Contamination can be physical, chemical, or biological.
Physical contamination Physical contaminants (or 'foreign bodies') are objects such as hair, plant stalks or pieces of plastic and metal. When a foreign object enters food, it is a physical contaminant. If the foreign objects contain bacteria, both physical and biological contamination will occur. Common sources of physical contaminations include hair, glass or metal, pests, jewelry, dirt, and fingernails.
Physical food contamination is a hazardous yet natural accident of contaminating food with dangerous objects around the kitchen or production base when being prepared. If kitchens or other places where food may be prepared are unsanitary, it is very likely that physical contamination will occur and cause negative consequences. Dangerous objects such as glass and wire may be found in food which can cause many issues with the individuals who consume it including choking, breaking of teeth and cutting the insides of the body. Children and the elderly are at the highest risk of being harmed by food contamination due to their weaker immune systems and fragile structures. The most common reasoning for physical contamination to occur is when the food is left uncovered without lids. To prevent such contamination and harm to those consuming food from restaurants, cooks are recommended to wear hair nets, remove jewelry, and wear gloves when necessary, especially over wounds with bandages.
Chemical contamination Chemical contamination happens when food is contaminated with a natural or artificial chemical substance. This can happen at any of the four stages of production. Some of the most common chemical contaminants consist of pesticides, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and chemicals that migrate from packaging materials. Other sources can include: herbicides, veterinary drugs, contamination from environmental sources (water, air or soil pollution), cross-contamination during food processing, presence of natural toxins, or use of unapproved food additives and adulterants. The health effects that can come from chemical contamination include gastrointestinal problems, organ damage, neurological problems, increase in certain cancers, and reproductive and developmental problems.
How contamination enters food One of the two main reasons for chemical contamination occurring is through agricultural production and from environmental exposure. During agricultural production pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals are used on crops. Farmers use those to protect the crops, but they can leave residues that can stay on or inside food.
During environmental exposure, the plant is exposed to pollution, contaminated soil, and contaminated water. When these chemicals enter the plants, it can be absorbed naturally from polluted air, contaminated soil, or water sources. Animals can also absorb these substances through feed and environmental contact, which can even enter products such as meat and milk.
Contamination is unintentional and could build up over time. Overall, contamination can come from multiple sources before food even reaches consumers.
Processing and packaging Contamination does not just originate from farms, it can still happen in the processing and the packaging stages. During processing, food is handled with machinery and industrial chemicals. Chemicals used during this process can contaminate the food.
Chemicals from packaging itself can move into the food when using materials such as plastics, coatings, and adhesives, especially when it is hot or has been in storage for a long period of time. This is known as chemical migration, which also tends to happen with fatty foods, as they are able to absorb it more. This raises concerns about food safety.
Health effects Chemical contamination can have a big effect on human health. In the short term, people can get poisoning, nausea, and illnesses. In the long term, people can get chronic diseases and long term exposure risks.
In many cases, people get effects such as endocrine disruption, which affects hormone function. Another one is neurological effects, which impacts the brain and nervous system. As effects are not the same on everyone, they all depend on the type of chemical, the amount consumed, and how long they've been exposed to it. Overall, this shows the importance of monitoring food safety.
Prevention There are many ways chemical contamination in food can be reduced through the proper safety measures. First, this includes making sure that everything is going through the correct government regulations, which consists of laws enforced to have the correct safety standards, limit on chemicals such as pesticides, and an overall monitoring to make sure these regulations are being followed the correct way.
Another is agricultural improvements, which can include using safer pesticides, possibly safer farming practices, and eliminating chemical overuse as much as possible. Packaging improvements can also be a great impact. This includes using safer materials and reducing chemical migration. Better technology can also help packaging production as a whole.
Lastly, making sure that public health agencies and global organizations help monitor and assess risks to improve food safety. These efforts can help improve global health.
Biological contamination Biological contamination happens when the food has been contaminated by substances produced by living creatures, such as humans, rodents, pests or microorganisms. This includes bacterial contamination, viral contamination, or parasite contamination that is transferred through saliva, pest droppings, blood or fecal matter. Bacterial contamination is the most common cause of food poisoning worldwide. If an environment is high in starch or protein, water, oxygen, has a neutral pH level, and maintains a temperature between 5 °C and 60 °C (danger zone) for even a brief period of time (~0–20 minutes), bacteria are likely to survive.
In April and May 2018, 26 states in the United States suffered an outbreak of the bacteria strain E. coli O157:H7, associated with tainted romaine lettuce. Several investigations show the contamination might have come from the Yuma, Arizona, growing region. This outbreak, which began 10 April, is the largest US flare-up of E. coli in a decade. One person in California died. At least 14 of the people affected developed kidney failure. The most common symptoms of E. coli include diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting.
Safe food handling procedures (from market to consumer) The five key principles of food hygiene, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), are: Prevent contaminating food with pathogens spreading from people, pets, and pests. Separate raw and cooked foods to prevent contaminating the cooked foods. Cook foods for the appropriate length of time and at the appropriate temperature to kill pathogens. Store food at the proper temperature. Use safe water and safe raw materials. Proper storage, sanitary tools and work spaces, heating and cooling properly and to adequate temperatures, and avoiding contact with other uncooked foods can greatly reduce the chances of contamination. Tightly sealed water and air proof containers are good measures to limit the chances of both physical and biological contamination during storage. Using clean, sanitary surfaces and tools, free of debris, chemicals, standing liquids, and other food types (different from the kind currently being prepared, i.e. mixing vegetables/meats or beef/poultry) can help reduce the chance of all forms of contamination. However, even if all precautions have been taken and the food has been safely prepared and stored, bacteria can still form over time during storage. Food should be consumed within one to seven (1–7) days while it has been stored in a cold environment, or one to twelve (1–12) months if it was in a frozen environment (if it was frozen immediately after preparation). The length of time before a food becomes unsafe to eat depends on the type of food it is, the surrounding environment, and the method with which it is kept out of the danger zone. Always refrigerate perishable food within 2 hours—1 hour when the temperature is above 90 °F (32.2 °C). Check the temperature of your refrigerator and freezer with an appliance thermometer. The refrigerator should be at 40 °F (4.4 °C) or below and the freezer at 0 °F (−17.7 °C) or below.
ISO 22000 is a standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization dealing with food safety. This is a general derivative of ISO 9000. The ISO 22000 international standard specifies the requirements for a food safety management system that involves interactive communication, system management, prerequisite programs, and hazard analysis and critical control points principles. ISO 22000 was first published in 2005. It is the culmination of all previous attempts from many sources and areas of food safety concern to provide an end product that is safe as possible from pathogens and other contaminants. Every 5 years standards are reviewed to determine whether a revision is necessary, to ensure that the standards remain as relevant and useful to businesses as possible.