4 Important Food Safety Tips For Businesses
If you are running a food related business, then food safety should be your main aim. Whether you run a restaurant or are a whole sale food dealer the quality of food you are selling matters the most.
Food safety is about handling, storing and preparing food to prevent infection and help to make sure that our food keeps enough nutrients for us to have a healthy diet.
It is important for people to understand how their behavior and activities contribute to the safety of food and how they can decrease the risk of food-borne illness.
From processes on the farm to practices in the kitchen, human activities play an important role in food safety. We face many challenges in keeping our food safe. Using an food safety management system such as HACCP can be a great help.
In the event of an inspection you will need to show you have done everything in your power to serve safe food, using a documented due diligence defense
FOOD SAFETY TIPS
Unsafe food and water means that it has been exposed to dirt and germs, or may even be rotten, which can cause infections or diseases such as diarrhea, meningitis, etc. These diseases can make people very sick or even be life threatening.
When people are sick, they are weak and would have difficulty working or concentrating at school. Some of these infections also make it difficult for our bodies to absorb the nutrients they need to get healthy.
Unsafe or stale foods also deteriorate and be of poor quality, which means they lose nutrients and so we do not get enough of what we need for a healthy diet. So unsafe food can also lead to poor nutrition.
Chances are that you or someone you know could possibly be suffering from reactions stemming from a mild case of food-borne illness. Many people don’t seek health professional advice until, it’s too late and the illness is in an advanced stage. Food-borne illness is the leading cause of deaths today in many developing and developed countries.
Unfortunately, we yet to figure out any effective measures, if at all, to keep these harmful and dangerous substances at bay. Scientists are working hard to develop a technology that could efficiently filter out these chemical compounds from the environment.
However, for the time-being, some of the health risks can at least be minimized by adopting active food-safety principles at every stage, beginning right from the handling of food ingredients, to its selection from an authentic source, proper processing, storage, preparation, and consumption.
Here are few steps that could be followed to prevent the increased spread of food-borne diseases. These safety steps could safe not only your life but of hundreds of people.
Staff training is key to make sure sure the following tips are applied rigorously.
CLEAN: Wash Hands and Surfaces Often
Wash your hands with warm soapy water for 20 seconds before and after handling food. Also wash your hands after using the restroom, changing diapers, handling pets, etc.
SEPARATE: Don’t Cross-Contaminate
Separate raw meat, poultry, and seafood from other foods in your grocery shopping cart, in your refrigerator, and in your freezer.
COOK: Cook to Safe Temperatures
Use a clean food thermometer when measuring the internal temperature of meat, poultry, casseroles, and other foods to make sure they have reached a safe minimum internal temperature.
CHILL: Refrigerate Promptly
Store all raw, ready-to-eat, and other perishable foods in the refrigerator or freezer immediately. Freezers should register 0 °F (-18°C) or below and refrigerators 40 °F (5°C) or below.
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