TOPIC 2:

DETERMINATION
OF HAZARDS
EGF5013 Food Safety and Regulation
Diploma in Food Engineering Technology, KKTM Lenggong
CONTENTS

In this topic, you will learn about:

2.1 Chemical Risk

2.2 Nutritional risks
2.3 Physical Risk
2.4 Microbiological risks
LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing the topic, you should be able to:

 Describe the chemical risk, nutritional risk, physical risk and

microbial risk in food.
 WHAT IS RISK IN FOOD?

 A food safety hazard is a biological, chemical or physical agent in food that potentially
cause harm or adverse health effects.

PHYSICAL RISK CHEMICAL RISK

BIOLOGICAL
RISK
 CHEMICA
2.1 L RISK
CHEMICAL RISK

 A chemical risk or chemical hazard is a

toxic substances and any other substances
that may render a food unsafe for
consumption.
 Chemical hazards may lead to acute
foodborne illness, chemical poisoning or
food allergy.
CHEMICAL RISK

 Chemical hazards or contaminants in food can be classified as:

 Naturally occurring / allergenic subtances in food (e.g.

posoning mushroom, allergens in milk, wheat etc)

 Intentionally added (e.g. nitrates, additives, preservatives)

Food colouring
 Unintentionally added (unwanted substances e.g.
cleaning agents, heavy metals)
 Table 1. Chemical food safety hazards

1. Cleaning chemicals, sanitizers

2. Lubricants, other plant chemicals
3. Pesticides, fungicides, insecticides
4. Fertilizers
5. Toxin produced by a variety of molds
Poisonous substances 6. Intentional food additives (added in excess)
7. Unintentional additives
8. Heavy metals, such as lead and mercury
9. Antibiotic and other drug residues in meat, poultry, and
dairy products

1. Food allergies
Adverse food reactions (food 2. Food intolerances:
sensitivity)  Metabolic disorder-based reactions
 Pharmacological food reactions
 Table 2. Example of Food allergens
Allergen Examples of food
Ice cream; powdered milk; evaporated milk; yogurt; butter; cheese; cream and sour cream;
non-dairy products and any other food products containing lactose, caseinate, potassium
Milk caseinate, Casein, lactalbumin, lactoglobulin, curds, whey, milk solids.

Egg is present in most processed food and is present if the label indicates any of the
following additions: constituent egg proteins or their derivatives (e.g., albumen,
Egg ovalbumen, globulin, ovomucoid, vitelin, ovovitelin, silicoalbuminate).

Such as bass, founder, and cod. Any type of fin fish; any food product containing fish.
Fish

Crustacean Such as crab, lobster, or shrimp. Also includes any food product containing these
crustaceans.
shellfish
Such as almonds, pecans, or walnuts. Also includes any food containing tree nuts (e.g.,
Tree nuts salads, entrees, cookies, cakes, candies, pastries, or breads).

All types of wheat flour; any baked products and any prepared products containing wheat
Wheat flour, wheat gluten, or wheat starch.
Also includes any food product containing peanuts.
Peanut
Also includes any food product containing soybeans.
Soybean
Why food additives is
also considered as a
chemical risk?
HOW TO CONTROL CHEMICAL RISK

 Through a well planned CHEMICAL CONTROL PROGRAM

 A successful chemical control programs include:
 Training employees to follow safe handling and application procedures for sanitation,
maintenance or pesticides chemicals
 Making standard practices for staff to properly clean and remove all chemical residues from food
contact surfaces after maintenance work
 Storing chemicals in designated areas away from food, ingredients, packaging and food contact
surfaces
 receiving incoming raw materials from reputable suppliers that effectively control chemical
hazards and following good storage practice.

 ALL THESE WILL REQUIRE SOPs!

 NUTRITIONA
2.2 L RISK
NUTRITIONAL RISK

 Nutritional risk is the risk of

poor nutritional status,
which lies on a continuum
between “nutritional health”
and malnutrition. Adults in
later life are particularly
vulnerable.
NUTRITIONAL RISK

 Health risks triggered by nutrition can have different causes:

 Individual dietary habits
 Malfunctions in the body, prompted by diseases such as metabolic disorders or
allergies, or special life situations such as pregnancy or old-age.
 Age-related physiological changes such as diminished appetite and impaired sense
contribute to nutritional risk.
 Diseases and medications that interfere with the ingestion, absorption and
metabolism of food are also factors.
 PHYSICAL
2.3 RISK
PHYSICAL RISK

 A physical hazard is any extraneous object or foreign matter

in a food item that may cause illness or injury to the consumers.
 Sources for physical contaminants include:
 Contaminated raw materials
 Badly maintained facilities and equipment
 Improper production procedures
 Poor employee practices
 Examples of physical hazards in food
Materials Potential injury Sources
Cuts, infection, choking, may require surgery to remove Toothpicks, wooden skewers, pieces of building material, twigs pallets
Wood

Choking, cuts, may require surgery Packaging material, construction Material and gloves
Plastic
to remove
Cuts, infection, choking, may require Broken utensils; metal staples and nails from cardboard boxes;
surgery to remove bolts, screws, and other equipment parts; metal shavings from cans
Metal caused by sharp can opener; bits of steel wool

Cuts, bleeding; may require surgery to Bottles, glasses, light fixtures, glass bowls and covers, etc
Glass
find, remove, or repair
Bones of Lacerations in the mouth, choking, Meat, fish, and poultry (improper processing)
food origin broken teeth, may take surgery to remove

Whole spices Choking and trauma Bay leaves, peppercorns, whole all-spice left in products
and herbs after preparation

Insects and Illness, trauma, choking Entrance of insects and rodents from surrounding environment
rodents, or in packaging material; failure tokeep facility clean
their parts
and excreta
Cuts, choking, broken teeth; may Stones or settings from jewelry; gloves; buttons, pins, safety pins; tie clips
Personal
Require surgery to remove and tie tacks; gum, cigarettes and ashes; hair; bandages; artificial
items
fingernails, contact lens; pens, pencils; threads of cloth.
HOW TO CONTROL PHYSICAL RISK?

 Processors must identify the sources and types of materials that can be
physical hazards in foods and the regulations regarding physical hazards,
and determine the types of controls to minimize the potential for
physical hazards in food.
 MICROBIOLOGICA
2.4 L RISK
MICROBIOLOGICAL RISK

 Microbiological is also a biological

hazard that include parasites,
viruses and bacteria, which
may lead to food spoilage or
foodborne illness.
HOW TO CONTROL MICROBIOLOGICAL RISK?

 Biological risk can be controlled by:

 Practicing good personal hygiene.
 Controlling time and temperature to limit the amount of time that potentially
hazardous foods are held in the temperature danger zone (41–145°F [5–63°C])
 Preventing cross-contamination from food to food, from people to food and from
environment to food.
Cross-contamination prevention:
Salmonella spp.
 Cause diarrheal illness in humans.
 Pass from the feces of people or animals to other people.
 Associated foods: raw and undercooked eggs, undercooked poultry, fruits, and vegetables.
Serotype Typhimurium and Enteritidis are most common in the U.S.

Escherichia coli O157:H7

 Can produce deadly toxins, leading to hemorrhagic diarrhea, and
Examples of Biological
occasionally to kidney failure.
Hazards (Pathogens)  Associated foods: raw and undercooked ground beef, unpasteurized
milk and juice, contaminated water, fruits, and vegetables.

Listeria monocytogenes
 Widely distributed in nature.
 One of the most virulent foodborne pathogens; responsible
for ~2,500 illnesses and 500 deaths in the U.S. annually.
SUMMARY

In this topic we have studied that:

 A food safety hazard refers to any agent with the potential to cause adverse health
consequences for consumers.
 Food safety hazards consist of three group; chemical hazards, physical hazard and
biological hazard.
 Nutritional risk is considered as one risk factor in food, although it is not highly related to
food safety.
REFERENCES

 Popov, G., Lyon, K.B., and Hollcroft, B. 2016.Risk Assessment:A Practical guide to
Assessing Operational Risks. John Wiley & Sons.
 Lawley, R., Curtis, L., and Davis, J. 2012. The Food Safety Hazard Guidebook, Royal
Society of Chemistry.
 Hutter, B. 2011. Managing Food Safety and Hygiene:Governance and regulation as Risk
Management, Edward Elgar Publishing.