Analysis of Food Safety Training - Report Example

Food safety training Food safety concerns the preparation, handling and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illness. It aims at preventing the potential health risk that a person is exposed to when they come into contact with contaminated food. This contamination causes food borne illnesses that show symptoms within an hour of consumption. Bacteria, viruses, fungi or chemicals cause the contamination. Toxins produced by bacteria or fungi could also cause it. Everyone especially food handlers should go through the food safety training. In food safety training, people are taught the best ways to handle, prepare and store food. Food safety training should be done immediately after the hiring of new employees. This is done after the orientation process. Organizations all over the world have come up with policies to curb the problems caused by food borne pathogens. These policies include food safety training. Awareness of food safety reduces the costs associated with treating food borne illnesses. When an employee acquires these diseases, his productivity at work reduces thus reducing the turnover of the organization. The company spends fortunes to treat such stubborn illnesses that keep on recurring. This training is done for all employees in an organization including managers. Food safety training should be conducted by well trained personnel. Organizations have developed policies to help their employees maintain uttermost health both within the premises and at home. Kitchens and common eating-places have been established in offices. Training is offered in order to create awareness of the importance of cleanliness, and maintaining cleanliness in these areas. These include basic things like disposing dirt after eating, washing hands with clean water and soap before and after eating, and leaving the eating area clean. An effective food safety program is needed when a service manager develops training about food safety. It should be made in a clear and precise manner. The basic elements of food safety training are as follows. First, the food handlers should understand the hazards associated with food and the methods applied to prevent the growth of bacteria, which can cause food poisoning. They should also be educated on the problems associated with food packaging. These problems include leaks in vacuum packs, damage to packaging and infestation by pests as well as diseases spread by pests. The training should also include safe procedures such as cleaning, sanitizing, pest control, receiving food, food storage, preparation and cooking. Food handlers should also be trained on how to handle food when serving customers, displaying products, cooling, re-heating, transport and delivery. Another aspect that should be included in the training is taking care of customers who are at risk of food borne illnesses like allergies and intolerance of any form. Good personal hygiene, hand washing and wearing protective clothing are of the essence when handling food. This aspect should be emphasized in the training. The program should cover food safety standards. A good program contains seven key elements. This includes hazard analysis and identification, hazard control, monitoring, correcting action, review and record keeping. Hazard identification is the first step in food safety program development. It is also the most significant. It involves the collection and evaluation of food safety hazard. There are three main hazards, which are biological, chemical and physical. In this stage, the trainees should know how to analyze hazards and identify potential risks. They should also know how severity of the risks, their consequences and the likelihood for their reoccurrence. Controls are then established to determine the minimum percentage of acceptable risks. This is done by setting up critical control points. Most companies adopt the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP), which is an international preventive standard to food safety. Critical points should be identified accurately using the information from the hazard analysis. Critical limits set the maximum and minimum parameters to which hazards can be controlled to reduce or eliminate food safety hazards. A monitoring procedure is established to check if there is adherence to the set critical points. There is also monitoring to check if there is deviation from the set controls that may lead to loss. This is done through observation and helps the person monitoring take appropriate corrective steps. At this stage, there is frequent documentation, which is used in the verification step. Corrective action ensures that the set critical points are regulated in case deviation was identified in the monitoring stage. Corrective actions are established to determine the cause of the deviation and the appropriate action to be taken to prevent the deviation from reoccurring. All the corrective actions taken are documented for future reference. A review on the training program is performed regularly to ensure that the program is effective. Information from the review process is used to determine the frequency of the training. During this stage, the participants are given a chance to make their contribution and ask questions (Green, 2007). The individuals are also audited. The last stage of the training program is record keeping. Records are kept for all stages of the program. These records are to be used later in case there is a crisis or a food safety hazard. The food service manager keeps them at safe places that are easily accessible. Food poisoning is one of the leading causes of death all over the world. Before food is handled in a kitchen, one should adhere to the standard kitchen safety rules. These include cleanliness, cooking, chilling and cross contamination. Cleanliness should be both personal and of the kitchen environment. Thorough and frequent washing of hands before, during and after handling of food plays a vital role in keeping away microorganisms. Towels provide a suitable environment for the growth of germs and should be avoided in the kitchen. Ready to eat foods such as salads should not be touched with bare hands. Gloves and the right utensils are used to handle such foods. Uncooked foods especially meat contains bacteria that are easily passed from one medium to another. Great care should be taken when handling meat and meat products. When buying food, one should have proper knowledge of the company from which they buy food. Food bought should be as fresh as possible and well packaged. The expiry and manufacturing dates should be well indicated. Cooking should be done at the appropriate temperature. This kills the harmful bacteria since they cannot withstand certain temperatures. Cooked food should be served immediately when still hot to prevent bacteria from multiplying. Leftover food needs immediate cooling and should be removed from the utensils they were served in and transferred in clean containers before storing in the fridge. Leftover food should be heated before eating, and the food should not be re-heated more than once (Green, 2007). Cross contamination causes the spread of germs from one food to another. It mainly occurs when bacteria from raw food like meat is passed to other foods that are ready to eat like salads. Several things are to be taken into consideration in order to avoid cross contamination. First, one should wash hands thoroughly with soap and plenty of water after handling food like meat, fish and poultry. Surfaces where these foods are prepared should be washed, sanitized and dried using paper towels when the preparation is over. Cutting boards should be separated to avoid mixing those used to prepare raw meat from those used for preparing ready to eat food. Food should be stored at least six feet away from the floor. This prevents them from getting germs from the floor. Cooked and uncooked food should be separated to avoid cross-contamination. Food safety programs should be continuously offered to all people. Illnesses brought about by hazards are expensive to treat, and reoccur in most cases. Food safety programs increase the awareness of the consequences of mishandling food and food products. Food safety officers are better positioned to offer training on food safety issues. They are well informed through the resources they have acquired in their trainings. Food safety officers often practise these measures thus lead by example. References: Green, J. D. (2007). SANITATION Well-Designed Food Safety & Sanitation Training Programs. Retrieved on December 7 2011 from >http://foodsafetymagazine.com/article.asp?id=635&sub=sub1 Read More