Hygiene - Cherylene

Title: Personal hygiene practices.

Photo: Nails are not trimmed and there is dirt underneath the nails.

Personal hygiene is one of the important factors one should consider when handling food.

As shown in the photo above, that person's nails were not trimmed and had dirt underneath the nails while he was handling the shallots. The dirt under his nails may contain many different kinds of microorganisms and of which, may contain pathogens, the cause of food contamination. 

Contaminated food are mainly the cause of foodborne illnesses. Foodborne illnesses are diseases which are transmitted or carried to people by food. When consumers eat the food which is contaminated, they may get infected by the disease and may lead to a foodborne illness outbreak. There are many negative impacts on our society when there is a foodborne illness outbreak. We will have to pay for medical expenses and in serious cases, it may even cause death. Companies may lose their reputation, prestige, customers, have negative media coverage and may even lead to the closure of the food establishment. They will also have to spend more money and time on retraining their employees.

In order to prevent such from happening, we must make sure that we ensure good personal hygiene in everyone. Companies should set up appropriate food safety programs for their employees to attend and for us,  we should do our part and make sure that our nails are trimmed and that we wash our hands thoroughly before handling food.

Hygiene - Julene

Title : Poor personal hygiene

Photo : Hair was not clipped properly and was not tidy . Strands of hair dangling from the hat .

There are serveral strands of hair dangling out of the hat . This shows poor personal hygiene of the person . Poor personal hygiene might be one of the factors that cause food borne illness .

Food borne illness is a disease carried and transmitted to people by food . Our hair is exposed to the environment everyday thus , it carries many microorganism even though we wash it daily . If strands of hair accidentally fall into foods ,  foods will be contaminated , causing illnesses and even disgust consumers

With poor personal hygiene , consequences such as loss of customers and sales , lowering of shop’s reputation and even loss of profit as we have to prepare  new set of dishes , without charging them  if customers complains will occur .

To prevent such happenings and to promote good personal hygiene ,  hair must be neat . Guys hair must be short without any tails of their hair extending out of the hat , while girls  hair should be clipped and be hidden in our hat . If hair still falls after being clipped , it is better to use a hair spray or wax to keep hair in place .

Clealiness - Calisa

Title : Storage of vegetables and meat.
 
 
 

 

 

Photo : Vegetables and meat were placed separately and cling wrapped, vegetables was stored above the meat ( poultry )

 

 

 

Cross-contamination occur when microorganisms are transferred from one surface or food to another.

 

Cross-contamination may occur when the meat is placed above vegetables as the water droplets from the meat will drip down and contaminate the vegetables. Pathogens like Campylobacter jejuni, Listeria monocytogenes in meat will contaminate the vegetables, which will then cause foodborne illnesses to occur when it is consumed.

 

There is an article on food poisoning-  Rojak poisoning caused by cross-contamination by raw seafood.

 

"The Ministry of Health (MOH) and National Environment Agency (NEA) identified the cause of the mass food-poisoning incident at Geylang Serai Temporary Market, which saw more than 150 people falling ill after eating Indian rojak from the Rojak Geylang Serai stall.

Two women also died.

Laboratory investigation showed that 13 of the cases, including the first woman who died, tested positive for the bacterium.

In a joint statement last night, MOH and NEA identified the bacterium and traced it to the cross-contamination of rojak and raw seafood ingredients.  Contamination came about after drippings from raw cuttlefish fell into the rojak gravy, which was in uncovered containers on the lower shelves of a refrigerator.

Storing meat at a temperature range of 5-60 degree celsius will also allow bacteria in meat to multiple very fast.

Bacteria will be killed above 60 degree celsius and frozen below 5 deree celsius. Therefore it is advisable to store uncook meat in the chiller, take it out only when you are using.
 

 

 

In this case, infection disease from pathogenic microorganisms which is caused by eating food that contains living disease-causing microorganism in poultry. It will grow and establish themselves in the human intestinal tract causing foodborne illness to happen.

For foodborne illness to occur, the food must be very nutrition, so that microorganism can grow. In this case, poultry contains a lot of protein minerals and vitamins, which will then allow bacteria to grow very fast.

Bacteria can multiply when the meat is placed at room temperature for a long time. The food must be consumed and bacteria will start to attack and invade the other good bacteria. Therefore, it will weaken the body, symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or fever,. If it is worse, it can also cause death will occur.

To prevent foodborne illness to happen is actually very easy. Just make sure that,

 

1. Storing food in the correct way.

( Which is the photo I took )

2.Keep uncooked food away from ready-to-eat food.

3. Keep uncooked food at a temperature below 5 degree celcius.

4. Do not comsume food that had been left at room temperature more than 4 hours.

 

Information taken from : http://www.asiaone.com/Health/Eat%2BRight/Story/A1Story20090415-135347.html

 

From left > Right

Calisa Ng , Cherylene Tan , Don Tan , Julene Lui , Nixon Heng