Why does food safety matter?

Chapter 2 

It is our legal and moral duty to take reasonable and practical steps to ensure that food is safely prepared and cooked to avoid causing food poisoning, illness or harm to people consuming the food.

It is vital that food items are prepared and served free of any harmful elements including:

Physical hazards

Items that can usually be seen in the food for example glass, wood shavings, blue plaster and any other foreign object.

Biological hazards

Biological hazards are pathogens and disease-forming micro-organisms and viruses. They are produced by living creatures for example humans, rodents, pests and microorganisms. They are transferred through saliva, pest droppings, poor hand and bench hygiene, blood and faecal matter. This is the most common form of food borne illness and food poisoning worldwide, but it can be controlled through good food safety practices.

Salmonella Bacteria

Chemical hazards

This is food that is contaminated by natural or chemical substances.

Natural chemicals include toxins for example fungus, solanine in green potatoes, oxalic acid in rhubarb leaves.

Chemical substances include cleaning chemicals for example bleach and caustic soda and pest control chemicals for example rodent or cockroach poisons.

Any of the above hazards can enter and contaminate food during receiving, storing, preparation or service of food through poor hygiene and safety controls applied by people working with the food.

Fruit and vegetables can contain worms when they are delivered. When cleaning, fruit and vegetables need to be carefully checked and if there is a worm it should be removed. Your customers will not be happy to see a worm in their salad! A worm is an example of a physical hazard.

Next: Chapter 3 : Reasons for maintaining high standards for food safety

Go To: Chapter 1 - Food safety: Personal Presentation and Hygiene in a Professional Kitchen