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Germs and the chaos they wreak
throughout the catering industry will be
the theme of this year’s Food SafetyWeek.
Entitled ‘GermWatch’, the UK-wide
campaign will highlight the importance
of hygiene practice, with an emphasis
of the 4C’s (Cleaning, Cooking, Chilling
and avoiding Cross-contamination).
Each year it is estimated that as many
as 5.5million people in the UK may
suffer from food borne illnesses
- that’s one in 10 people!
This year the Food Standards Agency
has replaced the Food and Drink
Federation as lead sponsors of
the event.
Event organisers are predominantly
environmental health departments,
health promotion and infection control
teams in hospitals, schools and companies.
But if you want to get involved there
are a wide range of ready-to-use
resources at www.foodlink.org.uk
Germs are invisible except under
a powerful microscope; hence the
name micro organisms or microbes.
Germs found in food can lead to food
poisoning which can be dangerous
and can kill - though this is rare.
They are very hard to detect since
they do not usually affect the taste,
appearance or smell of food.
The most serious types of food
poisoning are due to bacteria. The
more bacteria present, the more
likely you are to become ill. Bacteria
multiply fast and to do so need
moisture, food, warmth and time.
In the right conditions one bacterium
can multiply to more than 4million in
just eight hours.
They multiply best between 5 and 63ºC
but are killed at temperatures of 70ºC.
At temperatures below 5ºC, most
bacteria multiply very slowly, if at all.
At very low temperatures some bugs
will die, but many survive and can start
to multiply again.
That is why proper cooking and
chilling of food can help reduce
the risk of food poisoning.
The three major food safety
hazards are:
- Microbiological - involving harmful
bacteria, e.g. when certain foods are
kept out of the fridge for too long
and bacteria grow in them.
- Chemical - involving chemicals
getting into food, e.g. cleaning
products or pest control chemicals.
- Physical - involving objects getting
into food e.g. broken glass or pieces
of packaging.
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