How to Prevent Food Poisoning using The Food Safety Pillars

Food poisoning can be defined as an illness caused by consuming food or drink that has been contaminated, causing nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea.

There are a number of risks of food poisoning, which can come from a number of sources. We will discuss:

• Possible causes of food poisoning,

• Symptoms

• How common food poisoning is.

• The role of water in food safety.

Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms which can exist either as independent (free-living) organisms or as parasites (dependent upon another organism for life). They are about 0.5 to 2 micrometres in size. This means we can only see bacterial cells through the microscope.

In this lecture we will discuss:

• Defining what bacteria are.

• Where we find bacteria.

• What bacteria need to survive

In understating what bacteria are, where the live and how they grow, we can begin to understand how to prevent them from growing and causing food poisoning.

The first types of bacteria involved with food are known as food spoilage bacteria and the second is known as food poisoning or pathogenic bacteria.

Within this broad category, there are specific bacteria that we are concerned with in the kitchen environment. This applies to both the home kitchen and a production kitchen such as restaurants, hotels and food service.

These include :

• E.coli

• Staphylococcus aureus

• Salmonella

• Listeria monocytogenes

• Clostridium

• Campylobacter

• Food viruses

• Cyclospora

It takes several steps to get food from farm to fork. We call these steps, “The food production chain”. Contamination can occur at any point along this chain. Production, processing, distribution and preparation.

In this lecture we will talk about how contamination can happen.

The food safety pillars are the key elements in preventing food poisoning in the kitchen environment. Without these pillars, no foundation for safe food can be built.

This is lecture we will discuss: 

• The Cleaning pillar

  • Dishwasher

  • Scullery

  • Clean-as-you-go

  • Deep cleaning

This lecture shows you how to use the commercial dishwasher.

Cleaning pots and pans correctly is just as important in food safety as hand washing and should follow a consistent method that ensure that items are cleaned correctly and eliminates the growth of bacteria.

In this lecture we will show you why cleaning in this section is so important. And we will talk about the special focus on cutting boards.

This lecture will show you how to clean and sanitise cutting boards correctly.

This is an important part of food safety that helps in the prevention of cross-contamination during the preparation of food. With the previous topics discussed in the cleaning pillar, we addressed starting with clean equipment. The principle in clean as you go, is to keep tables, knives and direct contact equipment clean and free of germs.

In this lecture you will learn about :

• Clean-as-you-go.

• What and when to clean.

• Why a cleaning schedule in important.

In this lecture you will learn how to implement cleaning and sanitising correctly.

One of the biggest causes of food poisoning in the kitchen and at home are hands that are contaminated with harmful bacteria.

In this lecture we talk about the importance of:

• Hand washing

• Personal hygiene

• The use of gloves in the kitchen

This lecture will show you how to wash your hands correctly.

In this lecture we discuss how to store foods safely, meaning:

• Storing foods in a way that prevents contamination.

• Cold food storage

• Dry food storage

• Egg food safety

• The use of cardboard boxes.

Temperature control in the kitchen forms part of the food safety pillars which is critical in ensuring the prevention of bacterial growth and overall quality of foods.

Temperature control ensures that foods that are meant to be served hot are kept at the required temperature and foods meant to be served cold are not left out at dangerous temperatures.

In this lecture you will learn about:

• Temperatures for hot and cold food

• Fridge/Freezer temperatures

• The danger zone

• Keeping temperature records

• Using food thermometers

• How to freeze and defrost (thaw) foods safely.

How food is handled during storage and preparation is the fifth and final pillar of food safety . Food Handling carries the greatest risk when dealing with cross-contamination.

This is where, colour-coding, food preparation separation and negligence come into play.

In this lecture you will learn about:

• Why colour-coding is important

• The basic colour-code

• How to safely accept delivered foods

• The 3-step receiving procedure

• Acceptable delivery temperatures

• How to safely sanitise fruit and vegetables

• How to cool down foods safely

• How to defrost (thaw) foods correctly

• Reheating foods and what to do with leftovers.

Each piece of the food safety puzzle has now been put into place.

We understand why food safety is important and have a good idea of what food poisoning is. We also gave you a few examples of how contamination can happen through the food production chain.

Certificates and checklists in a kitchen help you comply with the law and help you manage the operations of the kitchen.

These checklists are designed to prove due diligence in food safety of the kitchen.

Food laws require that you prove that you were not negligent in causing food poisoning, and not the other way round, the consumer does not need to prove that you made them sick.

Checklists include:

• Certificates of compliance

• Cleaning certificates for the extraction canopy

• First aid kits and inventory lists

• Oil monitoring kits and checklists

• Chemical and food safety training*

• A thermometer and temperature records

• Receiving / Delivery records

• Pest Control certificates and service reports

• Cleaning schedules, procedures and checklists

• Chemical dispenser reports & MSDS

Before any food safety system can be implemented, you have to start with the basics of food safety. This means awareness, understanding and then implementation. We also need the commitment of yourself, the owner and/or senior mangers.

In this final lecture I will take you through each step involved in preventing food poisoning by using the food safety pillars.

Implementing a food safety system may not be easy, but following these steps are guaranteed to produce results.