The dangers that lurk...in food handling

Do you know what the most common cause of food poisoning is? And have you heard of the danger temperature zone?

Fri, Apr 17, 2009The Sunday Times

By Shuli Sudderuddin

While a dirty environment may lead to food poisoning, an even surer way of causing people to become ill is if the food was prepared in an unhygienic manner, said experts. There are several ways this can happen.

Mixing raw and cooked food

Dr Leong Lai Peng said the most common cause of food poisoning is when uncooked food is mixed with food that will later be eaten raw.

'Bacteria thrive in the serum in blood on raw meat. So, cutting chicken on a cutting board and cutting cucumbers to eat raw afterwards could lead to sickness,' said Dr Leong, a senior lecturer at the food science and technology programme, department of chemistry, at the National University of Singapore.

Improper storage of food

Not storing food properly can also cause problems, said Ms Petrina Lim, section head of the diploma in applied food science & nutrition course at Temasek Applied Science School.

She said food should not be stored at between 5 deg C and 60deg C. This is considered the 'temperature danger zone'. At this range, most bacteria can multiply quickly. All food in general should be cooked thoroughly at temperatures above 74 deg C.

She said that seafood in particular should be handled with care as bruises and punctures to it will make it spoil more rapidly.

Leaving cooked food outdoors for more than two hours can also increase the risk of contamination as 'it will have cooled down to a temperature which encourages bacterial growth', she said.

Added Dr Leong: 'Dishes that are kept outside for display such as mixed rice dishes should be kept hot by burners to avoid breeding germs. If the food is still bubbling, it is safe to eat.'

Bacteria that commonly breed on food include Listeria, which can be found on food that is cooked and chilled and can cause miscarriages and death.

Escherichia coli, or E. coli, is a harmless bacterium found in the gut. However, a poisonous strain, 0157:H7, found in the intestines of animals and on fruit and vegetables, can cause severe food poisoning.

Not maintaining the 'cold chain'

Bacteria multiply rapidly in a tropical climate and so food that requires refrigeration, such as fresh meat and seafood, should be maintained at a temperature of 4 deg C, said Ms Lim.

Food that is thawed repeatedly or not properly chilled can easily breed bacteria. This means that food should be moved between cold areas in a 'chain' - from supermarket to fridge - as quickly as possible.

Improper handling of food

The staphylococcus aureus bacterium, commonly found on the skin or nose and also on pimples and boils, can transfer onto food if the handler touches the bacterium source while preparing food. This bacterium multiplies in many types of food, said Dr Leong. It causes nausea and vomiting if ingested.

Food handlers who do not wash their hands after going to the toilet may also contaminate food with salmonella, an organism that causes vomiting or diarrhoea.

*This story was first published in thesundaytimes.


Source: http://www.asiaone.com/print/Health/Eat%2BRight/Story/A1Story20090417-135891.html


Food for thought
While it is the food handlers' responsibility to ensure that they are selling clean and safe food, is it not for consumers to help them?
We should also do our part in staying alert when it comes to the food we eat. Although it seems normal for pasar malams to provide food that might not be as hygienic as those in hawker centres and food courts, it is up to us to ask for better, cleaner food for the sake of our own health.
We should not simply wait for those of higher authority, such as the NEA, to act before we start to realise or recognise that this problem ought to be addressed.
This problem basically arises from individual mindsets. As long as we put in the extra effort, we may influence the people around us. In this case, we may be able to get stallholders to see the error of their ways and begin to diligently uphold hygiene standards even for pasar malams.
As in the case of the Rojak and PrimaDeli incidents, we CANNOT wait for something else more serious to occur before we start to step up our actions.
The ownership lies equally with the consumers as well as the stallholders/food handlers.