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Food Safety and Microbe Control
Food Safety and Microbe Control
Food Safety and Microbe Control
1.0 1.1 INTRODUCTION Background of the issue Nowadays, we always heard about the news that related to food poisoning. Even some of the case caused death. the campus. The day was raining during that time. Investigators that involved in the project are the students of Food Science and Nutrition course. We gathered all the information by taking pictures, observing and interviewed the seller.
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EXPERIENCES The hygiene of the maker When we arrived at the burger stall,
there is only one person that in charge in making the burger. But then, after a few moments, there came another person to help him. One in charge in grilling the burger meat whiles the other ones in charge in According to the news reported, school children are the highest number of victims of food poisoning. Food poisoning is when somebody gets sick after eating foods or drinks that already contaminated. Symptoms occur suddenly within 48 hours after eating. Some of the common symptoms are nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea. 1.2 Purpose of the project This project is about searching for a restaurant or food stall around UPSI to investigate how the foods are prepared. My friend and I chose a burger stall in front of wrapping the burger. The person that wrapped the burger was having flu at that time. He always wipes her nose by using the towel on his shoulder. When he wrapped the burger, he did not cover his hands by using gloves. We did not know whether he had washed his hand before or not. He held the bread just like that. This will allowed the microbes easily transferred from his hands to the bread.
Besides that, when he saw that the slices of tomato were finished, he just carried the slices of tomato from the kitchen in his hands without wearing gloves as well. My friend and I were wondering why he did not put all the slices in a container which make them easily to be carried. The other person washed his hand before he started his job but he wiped his hands at the towel that hung at the stall. That towel was seems a bit dirty. Still, the microbes from the towel have chances to be transferred to his hands. When he opened the egg, his fingers were dipped in the egg. Other than that, he took out the burger meat from its packet by his hands without wearing gloves. At least, he wore an apron while he grilled the burger meat. Both of them also did not talk much to prevent the molecules of saliva dropped on the burger.
Besides that, there was stagnant water and rubbishes in front of the stall while at the back of the stall is a corridor where people pass by. This environment is not suitable in order to run a burger stall.
MICROBIAL GROWTH Water activity Bacteria need quite a bit of water to survive. The amount of water available for microbial growth is measured in terms of water activity, aw. Most bacteria require at least aw of 0.90 while yeasts and molds require aw of 0.80 and 0.70 respectively. At low water activity, microorganisms die because water inside the cell diffuses out in order to balance the osmotic pressure. 3.2 pH of the medium Microorganisms live in certain range of pH of medium. Most bacteria cannot survive at pH values less than 4.5. Yeasts can live between the range pH of 3.0 and 8.5 while molds can live at pH between 2.0 to 11.0. These wide range enable yeasts and molds to survive in environments that not suitable for bacteria. The pH level changes the ability of microorganisms to transport molecules in and out of the cell. In an acidic environment, the saturation of proton (H+) in the membrane makes the cations difficult to move in or out. At alkaline environment, hydroxide (OH-) ions saturate the membrane, thus prevents the movements of anions in or out of the cell.
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The containers of vegetables were opened widely. The cap of the bottles of chili sauce do not closed well. There still has a chance for the microbes to enter to spoil the food. The burger meat did not placed back into the polystyrene container for them to keep cold.
contaminated food, as well as natural toxins such as poisonous mushrooms. When we get infected, the body will be weak for several days. This will end after all the toxins in the body are flushed out of the body. In rare cases, food poisoning can result in kidney or joint damage.
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FOOD INFECTION? 5.1 Foodborne illness Food poisoning and food infection are different although their symptoms are similar. Food poisoning is caused by eating food that contain contains a toxin or poison due to bacterial growth in food. The bacteria that excreted the toxic into the food may be killed but the toxin they produced causes the illness or digestive upset to occur. Food infection is the second type of foodborne illness. It is caused by eating food that contains certain types of live bacteria which are present in the food. Once the food is consumed, the bacterial cells themselves continue to grow and illness will result.
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4.1
To ensure that the body get enough food nutrition The human body requires nutrients
to stay alive and maintain health. The essentials nutrients must be obtained from food since the body cannot synthesize them. Other than that, nutrients are needed to form body structures such as organs, bones and skin, to serve as regulators of body processes on a molecular and biological level and to provide energy. If the food that consumed by human are contaminated, it will affect all the biological process in human body.
characterized by an abrupt onset of diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, prostration, chills, fever and vomiting. These symptoms vary in intensity from slight to severe. The
generated during the processing of food. In factory or in our kitchen, food processing can be a major source of contamination. Areas used for processing need to be kept scrupulously clean or cross-contamination can be easily occur, especially with meat
symptoms rarely cause death except to infants or the elderly who may rapidly dehydrate.
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products. Heating, fermentation, drying and cooking are examples of food processing. To avoid contamination when cooking raw meat, make sure that food from animal sources is cooked thoroughly or pasteurized. Using a thermometer is recommended. Cook beef to at least 160F and fish to at least
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refers to the presence of harmful chemical and microorganisms in food that can cause illness. Cases of food poisoning, especially in school is increasing in our country.
contaminating a food that requires no further cooking. To keep all cutting boards clean, wash them with hot, soapy water after each use, then rinse with clear water and air dry or pat dry with clean paper towels. All plastic and wooden cutting boards wear out over time. Once cutting boards become excessively worn or develop hard-to-clean grooves, they should be discarded.
thoroughly before serving. Leftovers that have been reheated poorly can still contain active food pathogens. Moreover, if
leftovers have gone bad, no amount of reheating will make them safe. Any signs of discoloration, sliminess and growth of mold are signals to discard or compost the leftovers. Do not keep leftovers for long and never reheat leftovers more than once.
cleaning. Always wash them again after touching raw meat. The hygiene of hands while preparing foods is very important. This is due to the bacteria that can transfer to food from our hands. Bacteria have their own population explosion going. They can reproduce every 20 minutes. The number of bacteria on our body is greater more than we imagine. Our hands do all sorts of things. Our hands gather bacteria with each job they do. We can remove many of these bacteria by washing our hands and scrubbing our fingernails. We were recommended to wash our hands with soup about 20 seconds or more to eliminate the bacteria.
misunderstanding towards us. We can talk with the owner to express our feeling about their food preparation. Other than that, we want to share them some information regarding the importance of food safety for consumers and ways to increase the safety level of the foods. This is also one of the way to prevent embarrass towards the owner as we talk directly to him without known by the public. 7.2 Distribute pamphlet about food safety and microbe control This is one of the simplest ways to increase the awareness on food safety among the public and vendors. All of the important information about food safety can
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be packed into one piece of paper. This activity also can be done everywhere at anytime. The arrangement of colours and information can attract the public to read the pamphlet.
PROBLEM? Nowadays, food safety becomes one of the major concerns of public health. Concerns of cleanliness and freshness often discourage people from eating outside fast food. There are few things that can be done
uncontrolled food hygiene to the consumers. A guest speaker from the Ministry of Health is invited to deliver talk about this matter.