Food Safety Management System Analysis

This assignment requires an in-depth analysis of food safety management systems, specifically focusing on Subway's practices. The report should identify problems and propose solutions, as well as discuss legal requirements for food quality certification. A thorough understanding of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) and TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) is essential in this analysis.

Food Safety
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
AC 1.1. Discussing controls required to prevent physical and chemical contamination for
food.........................................................................................................................................1
AC 1.2. Comparing characteristics of food poisoning and food borne infections.................1
AC 1.3. Discussing how food borne illness can be controlled...............................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................1
AC 2.1. Categorising food spoilage agents that affect food...................................................1
AC 2.2. Methods of food preservation...................................................................................2
AC 2.3 Evaluating effectiveness of food preservation methods............................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
AC 3.1. Discussing key steps in a temperature control system..............................................3
AC 3.2. Methods for the safe storage of food........................................................................4
AC 3.3. Evaluating importance of personal hygiene in control of food contamination.........5
AC 3.4. Evaluating cleaning and disinfection as a process supporting safe food production.6
AC 3.5. Assessing problems that are associated with pest control in food premises.............6
AC 3.6. Justifying need for hygienic design and construction of food premises...................6
AC 3.7. Justifying importance of training as a quality assurance mechanism.......................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
AC 4.1. Producing a food hazard risk assessment..................................................................7
AC 4.2. Completing Food safety control system...................................................................7
AC 4.3. Devising food safety guide for legislation compliance.............................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Food safety is a term that describes handling, preparing and storing of food products in
such way that it leads in preventing food borne illness (Certa, and et.al., 2018). Thus, in the
following report, subway has been taken into consideration. It is a privately held fast food
restaurant franchise that sells submarine sandwiches and salads. They have 42000 stores located
in more than 100 countries.
In the following report, controls that are required in preventing physical and chemical
contamination of food will be discussed along with characteristics of food poisoning and food
borne infections. This report also includes agents of food spoilage and also methods that helps in
preserving food. Further, importance of training, cleaning and disinfection and hygienic design
will be illustrated. In addition to this, this report also highlights on food safety control system
and risk hazard assessment which will be analysed in this report.
TASK 1
AC 1.1. Discussing controls required to prevent physical and chemical contamination for food.
COVERED IN PPT
AC 1.2. Comparing characteristics of food poisoning and food borne infections.
COVERED IN PPT
AC 1.3. Discussing how food borne illness can be controlled.
COVERED IN PPT
TASK 2
AC 2.1. Categorising food spoilage agents that affect food.
Food spoilage is a term that is defined as a change which is disagreeable in terms of
foods normal state. These changes can be detected by taste, touch, smell or sight. There are
number of reasons that cause these change which includes air and oxygen, moisture, light,
microbial growth and temperature (Jayasinghe, 2016). Thus, food spoilage agents that affect
food has been discussed as per below context-
Agents of food spoilage Food they affect
Bacteria The micro organisms that may cause damage
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to food are pathogenic microorganisms. This
can grow well at temperature as low as 40
degree F. they are capable in order to cause
illness to humans. Other kind of bacteria is the
fungi that makes place on warm food and
basically grow on dead and rotting matter.
Enzymes Enzymes are present naturally in fruits and
vegetables. These are named as Oxidizing
enzymes. Due to this, chemical reaction is
caused between food components and oxygen.
Therefore, to balance these, vegetables must
be boiled at adequate temperature.
Mold They are used in preparation of food in form
of cheese in high manner. These are the agents
in food contamination which can later cause
lung infections in people and may even cause
cancer.
AC 2.2. Methods of food preservation
Food preservation means to prevent micro organisms to grow in food and also in getting
food contaminated. Thus, methods that are involved in food preservation has been discussed as
per below context-
 Filtration- This is significant method that can be used by food industry in order to remove
micro organisms. In this method, water, wine, beer, juices, etc. can be used for filtration.
 Vacuum packing- In this method food product can be packed under vacuum with the
level of decreased oxygen or increased carbon dioxide.
 Canning- In this method, food is cooked under particular pressure to attain temperature
that is high enough in terms of destroying endospores. After this treatment, the cans are
therefore cooked as soon as possible with cold water. This method is very much effective
for long term storage of food.
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 Irradiation- This method helps the cited organisation in sterilising different kinds of food
for long term storage. This method helps in preserving food products from bacteria,
molds, etc.
 Pasteurisation- In this method, food product is heated at particular temperature under
which disease causing micro organisms are killed. This also leads in reducing level of
spoilage organisms.
AC 2.3 Evaluating effectiveness of food preservation methods.
Methods of food preservation. Effectiveness of food preservation methods.
Filtration This method is very much effective as it helps
in preserving the flavour and aroma of original
product.
Vacuum packing In this method, food is packed in air tight
manner. This helps in securing food from
external environment and is used mainly in
order to prevent nuts from outer environment.
Canning In this method, heat is applied to food which is
sealed in a jar. This can stop food from getting
spoilage by making away microorganisms
from that food.
Irradiation The main concern of this method is their
potential for effects of food chemistry that are
unknown and also hazards of irradiation during
involvement of human in particular process.
Pasteurisation This method minimally affect the value and
texture of food product. Milk is pasteurised at
63 degree C for 30 minutes and also follow
quick cooling at 4 degree C.
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TASK 3
AC 3.1. Discussing key steps in a temperature control system.
Temperature control system basically refers to as a process in which change of
temperature of a space is therefore measured and heat energy is adjusted accordingly in order to
achieve desired average temperature (Koutsoumanis and Aspridou, 2016). Thus, key steps of
temperature control system has been discussed as per below context-
Steps in temperature control-
 Preparation- In the range of temperatures that is between 40 degree F to 140 degree F is
that in which bacteria's can grow easily that is in 20 minutes or even faster. This is also
known as the danger zone. Thus, it is identified and proved that food products must not
left out for more than 2 hours out of the refrigerator.
 Defrosting- in this step, the tap water has to run on food until it become as hot as it is
necessary for them. Further, the drain has to be plugged and sink has to be filled about
half with water. Hence, the food product that has to be defrosted must be submerged in
hot water till it gets defrost.
 Cooking- the food product that is being cooked by food industry must be cooked at least
at the temperature of 75 degree C or may be hotter than that.
 Cooling- In this step, rule has been designed as 2 hour/ 4 hours which is termed as the
good way in ensuring that food is safe even outside the refrigerator.
 Reheating- when the food products are prepared and then reheated, this means they are
moving through danger zone. Therefore, food must be reheated to at least 165 degree F/
74 degree F as rapidly as they can that too for minimum of 15 seconds. Thus, all
procedures of cooling and reheating are followed, food products must be cooled and
reheated more than once.
AC 3.2. Methods for the safe storage of food.
Safe storage of food for food industry is very much essential as it leads in maintaining
quality of the product. This quality is therefore maintained by retaining flavour, colour, texture in
terms of decreasing chance of contracting food borne illness. Thus, FIFO is the most basic rule
of rotation of a food commodity that leads in protecting quality and freshness (Kussaga, Luning,
Tiisekwa and Jacxsens, 2017). There are number of foods available in market including dairy
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foods, dairy products, frozen foods and fresh meats that has to be stored safely. This has been
discussed as per below context-
Dry store
1. Dry foods- in order to preserve this food, the room where they are stored must be located
near kitchen. There are many other points that has to be considered as are-
 The area of preserving food must be well lit.
 Shelving must be above 15 cm at least of the floor.
Cold store
2. Dairy products- These products of dairy has to be stored at between 2 to 4 degree Celsius
temperature.
 The refrigerators have to be cleaned rapidly.
 Subway must also try to repeat their products when there is new arrival.
Freezer
3. Fresh meat- These items are very much expensive and is also one of the most difficult
task to store these items. Following points has to be considered by Subway in order to
control them.
 Meat cuts must be covered in plastic or stainless steel tray and has to be kept between 2
to 4 degree Celsius temperature.
 Fresh poultry has to be packed in ice and also should be stored in refrigerator later.
AC 3.3. Evaluating importance of personal hygiene in control of food contamination.
Personal hygiene is an act that leads in maintaining cleanliness of the external body. Its
importance has been discussed below-
 It helps in preventing illness and also bacteria by keeping body clean.
 It also leads in preventing food poisoning by washing hands thoroughly and rapidly while
handling food.
 It also aids in reducing issues related to health as it prevents spreading of germs from one
person to another.
 Personal benefit that is involved in good hygiene is having better health.
 This also helps in projecting body image of own in a positive way and it is possible if
someone feels that their own body is clean and presented in well manner.
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AC 3.4. Evaluating cleaning and disinfection as a process supporting safe food production.
The term cleaning means to remove soil, food residue, dirt or any matter that are
objectionable. It is the process that only helps in removing dirt rather than also killing pathogens.
While, disinfections involves household solutions like household bleach that has such ingredient
which may lead in destroying all kind of bacteria that are present in it (Rafeeque and Sekharan,
2018). Its importance has been discussed as per below context-
 It leads in reduction of risk that is related to physical contaminants which gets into food.
 It also helps in removing all the microorganisms that can cause disease completely so that
food poisoning can be prevented.
 It also helps in reducing the contamination of food from various allergens like nuts and
seeds.
AC 3.5. Assessing problems that are associated with pest control in food premises.
Pesticides are one of the detrimental for environment and also leads in producing damage
to ecosystems. They are very much toxic and can cause number of health effects along with
serious illness and disease in human beings. This can cause humans with respiratory problems to
cancer.
Further, when pesticides have been used, they do not remain in the place where they have
been applied. The major problem of this is that while travelling from one place to another they
come in contact with other organisms and can cause huge harm to human beings.
AC 3.6. Justifying need for hygienic design and construction of food premises.
There is very crucial requirement for hygienic design of food process equipments so that
it helps them in contributing in food safety in excellent manner (Wallace, Sperber and
Mortimore, 2018). This also leads in enhancing cleanability, decreasing the risk of pathogens,
physical and chemical contamination. This design starts with location selection and then
application of hygienic building concept is done where there entry of pest is completely
prevented.
The equipments of cited organisation subway has to be integrated in hygienic manner so
that they can avoid new contaminants to get introduced. In addition to this, wall and ceilings
must be in suitable way that will help in giving adequate illumination.
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AC 3.7. Justifying importance of training as a quality assurance mechanism.
Quality assurance mechanism is that way in which mistakes and defects of products that
are manufactured are prevented so that problems are further avoided when Subway deliver
solutions and services to their customers (Zwietering, and et.al., 2016). Thus, training is been
provided to food handlers. Thus, its benefits are as follows-
 Training leads in order to promote positive culture of subway as it will sickness and
allergic reactions.
 It helps in providing staffs of subway with adequate skill and knowledge which is
essential in building image in positive way.
 It leads in reduction of food wastage and also assists in terms of preventing cross
contamination of food.
TASK 4
AC 4.1. Producing a food hazard risk assessment.
There is huge requirement in order to approve and maintain supplier of ingredients. Thus,
implementation of process may be impacted by resources of particular industry (Certa, and et.al.,
2018). Hence, foods that are involved in this includes the following-
 Diced cheese- This food has to be refrigerated. Therefore, risk is minor because it is
stored in a refrigerator that has monitoring conditions.
 Spices- Salmonella is the name of microorganisms that is present in these spices and it
causes severe disease. By the way, the overall risk becomes limited as they are cooked or
irradiated.
AC 4.2. Completing Food safety control system.
Food safety control system is one of the recognised system related to management of
food safety. It is discussed with help of HACCP plan. This is a written plan that helps in defining
procedures in order to maintain control of hazardous food. It has been discussed with seven
principles.
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Illustration 1: HACCP Plan
(Source: Principles Of HACCP Plan, 2019)
Principle 1: To conduct hazard analysis.
Hazard analysis involves steps that are involved in process of production and later must
identify risk that are associated with every task along with their frequency so that adequate
measures are set that may lead to prevention.
Principle 2: Determining CCPs
This is a step of production process where subway gets opportunity of preventing,
mitigating or eliminating danger related to food safety.
Principle 3: Establishing critical limits of CCPs
It is the value of control measure that leads in preventing, or reducing happening of risk.
It helps is separating acceptable products from unacceptable ones.
Principle 4: Setup monitoring system
Subway has to set up monitoring system that leads them in tracking operation in order to
determine presence of deviation from CCP orv loss of control. This system helps in providing
data so that corrective actions can be established.
Principle 5: Establishing corrective actions
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When preventive measures are limited to meet goals of plan than corrective actions must
be putted in place. Staff of subway should further identify the problem and disposition of
hazardous product.
Principle 6: Verifying HACCP plan
Verification of this plan has to be done as they are operating as per the intended course of
action.
Principle 7: Establishing documents
The detailed record of HACCP plan is the strong evidence that shows that food that is
manufactured is safe and also has undergone with various procedures in order to cover all
possible risks.
AC 4.3. Devising food safety guide for legislation compliance.
The legal frameworks are a key pillar in UK. Therefore, food product is been governed
with complexity of laws and regulations which has to be met by subway in order to ensure that
foods and services they are offering are of the best quality (Zwietering, and et.al., 2016). For this,
cited organisation should have certificated related to food hygiene. In addition to this, EU
regulation 852/2004 states proper training has to be provided to staffs related to safety of food.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that, food safety plays significant role in
order to achieve long term success and high profitability. Thus, preventing food from getting
contaminated is also essential for subway. Further, this report also leads in analysing that subway
has to provide appropriate trainings to their staff so that they can overcome these problems and
further proper measures has to be taken. In addition to this, this report also highlights on various
legal requirements to ensure that food that is being provided by them are of high quality level
and must have been certificated related to this.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Certa, A., and et.al., 2018. Food safety risk analysis from the producers' perspective:
prioritisation of production process stages by HACCP and TOPSIS. International Journal
of Management and Decision Making. 17(4). pp.396-414.
De Boeck, E., Jacxsens, L., Bollaerts, M. and Vlerick, P., 2015. Food safety climate in food
processing organizations: development and validation of a self-assessment tool. Trends in
Food Science & Technology. 46(2). pp.242-251.
De Boeck, E., and et.al., 2016. Interplay between food safety climate, food safety management
system and microbiological hygiene in farm butcheries and affiliated butcher shops. Food
Control. 65. pp.78-91.
Jacxsens, L., Uyttendaele, M., Luning, P. and Allende, A., 2017, April. Food safety management
and risk assessment in the fresh produce supply chain. In IOP Conference Series:
Materials Science and Engineering (Vol. 193, No. 1, p. 012020). IOP Publishing.
Jayasinghe, S.N., 2016. ISO 22000 FOOD SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN SRI
LANKAN CONTEXT.
Koutsoumanis, K.P. and Aspridou, Z., 2016. Moving towards a risk-based food safety
management. Current Opinion in Food Science. 12. pp.36-41.
Kussaga, J. B., Luning, P. A., Tiisekwa, B. P. M. and Jacxsens, L., 2017. Microbiological
performance of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)-based food safety
management systems: A case of Nile perch processing company. African Journal of Food
Science. 11(7) pp.200-214.
Rafeeque, K. T. and Sekharan, N., 2018. Multiple food safety management systems in food
industry: A case study. International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition. 3(1). pp.37-
44.
Wallace, C.A., Sperber, W.H. and Mortimore, S.E., 2018. Food safety for the 21st century:
Managing HACCP and food safety throughout the global supply chain. John Wiley &
Sons.
Zwietering, M.H., and et.al., 2016. Relevance of microbial finished product testing in food safety
management. Food Control. 60. pp.31-43.
Online
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Principles Of HACCP Plan. 2019. [Online] Available through:
<https://safetyculture.com/topics/haccp-plan/>
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