EVF2033: English in Food Sience and Technology

STUDENT HANDOUT
WEEK 6 HANDOUT
Food safety and Hygiene

1. VOCABULARY
Write down new words (to you) and look up in the dictionary for their meanings

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2. READING
A. WHY IS FOOD SAFETY IMPORTANT?

World Health Organization have estimated that at least 600 million people all over the world
become inflicted with foodborne illnesses after consuming unsanitary food. Of these people, at
least 420,000 people die every year. Economic progress can become affected by productivity loss
and medical expenses as a result of a foodborne disease burden.

The majority of food safety issues are caused by pathogenic microorganisms such as bacteria that
cause food poisoning or food intoxication. They can cause mild to fatal health consequences that
include watery diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, or even debilitating infections and long-term
diseases. The consequences of food safety issues may have fatal outcomes for both food business
owners and consumers.

Basic and everyday foods can easily become contaminated. Some examples of foods involved in
common illnesses include high-risk ingredients and any perishable food such as eggs, poultry,
fresh fruits, raw meat or deli meats, deli seafood salads, undercooked seafood, ground meat, raw
sprouts, and raw milk products. These ingredients can become contaminated by intestinal
pathogens such as bacteria and cause infection if preventive measures are not applied.

Here are a few reasons why it is important to keep food safety controlled:

 Protection from foodborne illnesses and other food-related injuries. The main objective of
food safety is to protect consumers of food products from foodborne diseases or injuries
related to food consumption. Foodborne illnesses are a major threat to food businesses and
affect everyone all over the world as a result of inadequate food safety. These effects are
mainly caused by foodborne pathogens that may include harmful bacteria, fungi, yeasts,
parasites, or viruses.
 Additionally, chemical substances, heavy metals, and excessive additives can also cause
foodborne illnesses and acute poisoning. Foodborne infections and injuries can also arise
as a result of physical hazards such as shards of glass, pieces of metals, or any hard objects
that have contaminated your food in production.
 Reduced cost from food safety issues. Unsafe food with proven safety issues may be
deemed unfit for consumption and may merit being disposed of. Defective product recalls
cost companies more and will affect your profits and can even cause business closure.
Consuming unsanitary food may lead to hospitalization and contribute to the cost of health
care.
 Reduce waste. Food products that have been proven to have food safety issues may be
subjected to disposal. Through the use of proper food safety practices, a food business can
cut waste as a result of a better food production process. Food safety management systems
are also designed to detect and control food hazards even before they enter production
which can lead to more waste if processed further.
 A better way of living. Any foodborne illness affects productivity in consumers. Once
afflicted, consumers will be able to function well and may even need hospitalization in
extreme cases. These events cause dramatic disruptions in everyday activities. If food
safety practices are applied both in a food service establishment and at home, these cases
can be prevented. Everyone can enjoy the delights that foods bring and healthy life without
the inconvenience and dangers of food safety hazards.
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 Sustainable food production. Proper food safety practices include food manufacturing
processes that not only protect the consumer but also take into account the environment..
Contaminated water can easily affect all other ingredients and enter the human body since
water is a key ingredient in almost all processes.
 Safer food globalization. All laws about food safety are designed to protect consumers
from food safety issues. Adhering to these comprehensive guidelines makes your products
as competitive as possible, especially in the fast-paced globalization of the food industry.
With proper food safety management systems, routes to a broader distribution channel
become open for your food business.

How does food safety help to save lives?

 Food safety plays a great role within the entire food chain more than we think it does. Food
businesses are required to implement food safety management systems to protect the
health of consumers from any foodborne disease.
 When properly implemented, food safety practices can help detect and control food
safety risks, and contribute to economic prosperity, food security, and continuous and
sustainable development. By providing safe food for consumption, a continuous supply
of food for everyone can be ensured.
 The concept of farm-to-fork (or farm-to-table) food safety is well-known in the food
industry. This concept tells us that food safety should be observed right from the
beginning when raw foods are just being produced up until the finished product
reaches the consumer. The farm-to-fork concept emphasizes how food safety hazards can
occur at any point in the food supply chain.
 The ultimate goal of food safety is to create a sustainable and secure food supply for
everyone. This goal aims to emphasize the enjoyable experience of food while being
sure that the food we get is safe. When all participating parties in the entire food chain,
manufacturers, suppliers, the government, and consumers, play their role in food safety,
this goal can be achieved.
Exercise 1: Read the text (handout) to answer the following questions:
 What are the reasons to keep food safe?
 What does the concept of farm-to-fork tell us?

B. FOOD HYGIENE

Everyone who works with food is responsible for ensuring that consumers are protected
from contaminated food and the risk of food poisoning, which causes extreme discomfort, absence
from work or school and, in some cases, death. People get sick from food poisoning because the
food they've eaten has contained bacteria, viruses or chemicals. It can take from an hour to a few
days to develop food poisoning, depending on the cause, and the best way of preventing food
poisoning is to use safe food handling practices.
Bacteria are the biggest problem, because they are so common, and are found in soil, on
animals, people and even clothes. In the kitchen, bacteria often come from vegetables and raw
meat. Sometimes these bacteria can move from raw ingredients to cooked food, in a process called
cross contamination.

How to practice food hygiene at home?

Practice Good Personal Hygiene
Personal hygiene is a practice everyone should have. It is important to always wash your hands
with soap and water before handling food to prepare.

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Clean Utensils and Cooking Equipment
All cooking equipment should be properly cleaned and sanitised before starting any preparation.
This is specifically important for equipment that comes into direct contact with food. Such as
cutting boards, knives, countertops, mixers, blenders etc. These areas are known to harbour
dangerous bacteria that when they get into foods that cause serious illness. All utensils and
crockery need to be cleaned for the same reasons.Keep Foods That Need to be kept cold in the Fridge:

Raw meats, dairy and others need to be kept cold (4°C – 39°F) in order to prevent bacteria from
growing before you can consume the food. Keeping foods cold also ensures that your food does
not expire before the use by dates.

Separate Raw and Ready to Eat Foods

By its very nature, raw foods have bacteria present in them. This is why we need to cook most of
our foods. There is no way you can keep cooked foods together with the raw. Foods such as meat,
fish and fruits, soup and stew should be refrigerated/frozen in different sealed containers and they
should be kept in a different compartment of the fridge to avoid cross-contamination which can
occur through dripping.

Wash Fruits and Vegetables Before Use

Most fruits and vegetable are freshly purchased from the farm, store or market; these foods contain
soil, insects and chemical residues in them, it is very important to rinse vegetables and fruit with
water, salt or vinegar before storing them in the food rack.

Use Appropriate Kitchen Tools for Food Preparation

There are various kinds of kitchen tools/utensils designed for different purposes, make sure you
use the right tool at the right time. For instance, a meat chopping board can easily serve as a growth
medium for bacteria and mould, this can be seen growing on the surface or the edges if not properly
washed after usage, use a different chopping board for cutting vegetables and other sensitive foods
to prevent food poisoning and always wash and disinfect cutting tools.

Keep Dry Foods Separate From Liquids

Food safety should include dry goods such as grains, dried and powdered foods storage. Wet food
attracts moulds easily. Grains, powdered, baked, and canned or dry foods should be properly stored
away from liquid, as moulds can easily grow on them causing illness, allergy and food poisoning
to both adults and kids.

Cook Food to an appropriate temperature:

Cooking food to the required temperature is an important food safety practice, as raw foods like
egg and meat can easily result in Salmonella and E.coli infections if not properly cooked. Foods
such as pork, chicken, beef and processed meats like sausage should be cooked longer until there
are no traces of pink on the flesh and joints and bones of such meats because bacteria can easily
survive the cooking process in these areas.

Keep Insects and Pests Away From Food Areas:

Insects and pests control is another important food hygiene tip to be taken into consideration, as
these creatures are often seen in our houses, especially in places like the fridge corners, kitchen
cupboard, shelves and at dark corners of the kitchen. Cockroaches, flies and rodents as we know
are very terrible insects and pest; they can carry pathogens from one surface to another, which can
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lead to food-borne illness, for this reason, it is wise to always cover the pots containing foods,
spray the shelves, clean our refrigerator when you notice any foul smell and dripping.

Always Use Clean Water to Prepare Food:

Food hygiene is also an important practice to be carried out when washing, mixing and cooking
food. Water has many ways of affecting our systems and our general health. Foods that are
prepared with unsafe water can easily lead to vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach upsets, it is
important to always use clean water to wash and cook food.

Clean the Kitchen and Mop the Floor After Each Food Preparation:
Keeping the kitchen clean can help keep flies, ants and cockroaches from coming in contact with
your foods. Greasy areas help bacteria hide and cannot be eliminated without removing the grease.
The stove or gas top should be properly wiped.

Keep Kitchen Towels, Sponges and Cleaning Cloths Clean and Replace Regularly
The kitchen and every tool or equipment in it should be washed and sanitised. Kitchen towels or
sponges are very important items in the kitchen and are used on a daily basis to open hot lids,
remove foods from the microwave or oven, bring down boiling soup from heat and wipe off food
or water from our wet hands. Often times while using these towels, they get wet in the process
which means that microorganisms can harbour on these damp surfaces, so it will be very proper
to wash and sanitise and properly.

Exercise 2: Read the text (handout) to answer the following questions:

• Q3: What temperature raw meats, dairy and others need to be kept in order to prevent
bacteria from growing?
• Q4: Why do we need Wash Fruits and Vegetables Before Use?
• Q5: Why do we need to Keep Insects and Pests Away From Food Areas?
• Q6: What happens when we use unsafe water for cooking?

C. FOOD SAFETY HAZARDS AND HACCP

There are four primary categories of food safety hazards to consider: biological, chemical,
physical, and allergenic. Understanding the risks associated with each can dramatically reduce the
potential of a foodborne illness.

Biological Hazards
Biological hazards are characterized by the contamination of food by microorganisms.
Found in the air, food, water, animals, and in the human body, these incredibly tiny organisms are
not inherently unsafe – many provide benefits to our anatomy. Despite this, foodborne illness can
occur if harmful microorganisms make their way into the food we eat. There are several types of
microorganisms, each of which can negatively impact health: bacteria, viruses, and parasites.
There are a variety of factors that influence dangerous microorganism growth, including
temperature, pH levels, and moisture of the food. The USDA has coined a term for the temperature
range that encourages bacterial growth: the Danger Zone. This temperature range, 40° F – 140°
F, enables bacteria to grow most rapidly, nearly doubling its number in 20 minutes. In addition,
the pH level of a food, or its acidity, can accelerate growth. Foods that are less acidic, such as milk,

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tend to foster bacteria at higher rates than more acidic foods, like lemon juice. Microbes prefer
warmer, wetter environments, which make moist foods hotbeds for microorganism growth.
Chemical Hazards
Chemical hazards are identified by the presence of harmful substances that can be found
in food naturally, or unintentionally added during processing. Some chemical hazards include
naturally occurring chemicals, such as mycotoxins, intentionally added chemicals, including the
preservative sodium nitrate, and unintentionally added chemicals, like pesticides.
Physical Hazards
Physical hazards are foreign objects that are found in food products. They are either
naturally found in the specific item, such as stems in fruit, or not normally part of the food item,
such as hair or plastic. Unnatural physical hazards are generally more dangerous to health, whereas
natural physical hazards can be harmless.
Allergenic Hazards
The final, and perhaps the most deadly, are allergenic hazards. Allergies are the 6th leading
cause of chronic illness in the U.S., with more than 50 million people suffering from allergies each
year. Allergic reactions occur when the human body produces an abnormal immune response to
specific proteins found in food.

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)

HACCP, implemented in 1997, changed food safety methodology to be science-based as opposed
to conventional “sight, smell, and touch” inspection. HACCP’s core principles provides a means
to analyze biological, chemical, and physical hazards along the supply chain. This prevents
outbreaks before they can occur rather than responding to them after the fact, and helped to
accelerate technology used to manage food safety. Foodborne illnesses reduced dramatically as a
result of HACCP.
HACCP is based on seven principles, which are the most important steps in writing a HACCP
plan. The first two steps provide the foundation for the HACCP plan. The remaining five steps are
the application steps of the HACCP plan and provide the structure for conducting the workings of
the HACCP plan in the processing plant.

Principle 1: Conduct a Hazard Analysis

The application of this principle involves listing the steps in the process and identifying where
significant hazards are likely to occur. The HACCP team will focus on hazards that can be
prevented, eliminated or controlled by the HACCP plan. A justification for including or excluding
the hazard is reported and possible control measures are identified.

Principle 2: Determine Critical Control Points (CCPs)

A critical control point (CCP) is a point, step or procedure at which control can be applied and a
food safety hazard can be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels. The HACCP team
will use a CCP decision tree to help identify the critical control points in the process. A critical
control point may control more that one food safety hazard or in some cases more than one CCP
is needed to control a single hazard. The number of CCP's needed depends on the processing steps
and the control needed to assure food safety.

Principle 3: Establish Critical Limits

A critical limit (CL) is the maximum and/or minimum value to which a biological, chemical, or
physical parameter must be controlled at a CCP to prevent, eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable
level the occurrence of a food safety hazard. The critical limit is usually a measure such as time,
temperature, water activity (aw), pH, weight, or some other measure that is based on scientific
literature and/or regulatory standards.

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Principle 4: Establish Monitoring Procedures
The HACCP team will describe monitoring procedures for the measurement of the critical limit at
each critical control point. Monitoring procedures should describe how the measurement will be
taken, when the measurement is taken, who is responsible for the measurement and how frequently
the measurement is taken during production.

Principle 5: Establish Corrective Actions

Corrective actions are the procedures that are followed when a deviation in a critical limit occurs.
The HACCP team will identify the steps that will be taken to prevent potentially hazardous food
from entering the food chain and the steps that are needed to correct the process. This usually
includes identification of the problems and the steps taken to assure that the problem will not occur
again.

Principle 6: Establish Verification Procedures

Those activities, other than monitoring, that determine the validity of the HACCP plan and that
the system is operating according to the plan. The HACCP team may identify activities such as
auditing of CCP's, record review, prior shipment review, instrument calibration and product testing
as part of the verification activities.

Principle 7: Establish Record-keeping and Documentation Procedures

A key component of the HACCP plan is recording information that can be used to prove that the
food was produced safely. The records also need to include information about the HACCP plan.
Record should include information on the HACCP Team, product description, flow diagrams, the
hazard analysis, the CCP's identified, Critical Limits, Monitoring System, Corrective Actions,
Recordkeeping Procedures, and Verification Procedures.

Exercise 3: Read the text (handout) to answer the following questions:

• Q7: What are the types of food safety hazards?

• Q8: What is the HACCP?
• Q9: What are the 7 principles of HACCP?

3. LISTENING

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUdmFmGvXlM
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONkKy68HEIM

4. WRITING

4.1. Translate into English

1. Thực phẩm không an toàn chứa vi khuẩn, vi rút, ký sinh trùng hoặc hóa chất có hại gây ra hơn
200 bệnh, từ tiêu chảy đến ung thư.
2. Ô nhiễm hóa chất có thể dẫn đến ngộ độc cấp tính hoặc các bệnh lâu dài, chẳng hạn như ung
thư.
3. Các triệu chứng ngộ độc thực phẩm có thể là sốt, nhức đầu, buồn nôn, nôn, đau bụng và tiêu
chảy.

4.2. Write a paragraph (about 100 words) about your knowledge about Food safety and how to
keep food safe?