Food Safety Management Report: McDonald's Food Safety Practices

This report provides a detailed analysis of food safety management within McDonald's, covering essential aspects such as controls for physical and chemical contamination, characteristics of food poisoning and food-borne infections, and methods for controlling food-borne illnesses. The report categorizes food spoilage agents, discusses various food preservation methods like salting, drying, canning, and freezing, and evaluates their effectiveness. It further examines key steps in temperature control systems, safe food storage methods, the importance of personal hygiene, cleaning and disinfection processes, problems associated with pest control, the need for hygienic design and construction of food premises, and the significance of training as a quality assurance mechanism. The report also addresses food hazard risk assessment, food safety control systems, and food safety guidelines for legislative compliance. The study emphasizes the importance of maintaining high standards of food safety to protect consumer health and ensure the reputation of the restaurant chain, with a specific focus on the practices and procedures implemented within McDonald's to achieve these objectives.

Food Safety
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Controls necessary for physical and chemical contamination..............................................1
1.2 Characteristics of food poisoning and food borne infections................................................2
1.3 Controlling of food-borne illness..........................................................................................2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
2.1 Categorisation of food spoilage agents that affect food........................................................2
2.2 & 2.3 Discussion of methods of food preservation and their evaluation..............................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................3
3.1 Key Steps in temperature control system..............................................................................3
3.2 Methods for the safe storage of food.....................................................................................4
3.3 Importance of personal hygiene in the control of food contamination.................................4
3.4 Cleaning and disinfection as a process supporting safe food production.............................4
3.5 Problems associated with pest control in food premises.......................................................5
3.6 Need for hygienic design and construction of food premises...............................................5
3.7 Importance of training as a quality assurance mechanism....................................................5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................5
4.1 Food hazard risk assessment4.2 Food safety control system................................................5
4.2 Food safety control system....................................................................................................7
4.3 Food safety guide for legislation compliance.......................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Food is the basic requirement for every individual to live their life. Everyone is having
right to expect safe and hygienic food wherever they go. It is considered as utmost responsibility
of all the hotels, restaurants or local stalls that they serve good food to their customers so that
their health is not affected. From various types of research conducted, it has been found out that
maintaining safety of food was much easier in previous times as there were less places where
people normally used to go and have food and also there was transparency as well (Chapman and
et. al., 2010). Because of eating contaminated food there are so many people who are loosing
their life so it has become a major issue now and strict actions are required to be taken against it.
The organisation referred here is McDonald's which is a very famous eatery outlet all around the
world. This report will basically discuss about the safety control systems, inspections and
supportive enforcement measures etc.
1.1 Controls necessary for physical and chemical contamination
Meaning of food contamination
Whenever some microorganisms enters the food, it is said to be contaminated or spoilt
and can not be eat6en now. In these types of situation it becomes very necessary to remove these
microorganisms before eating otherwise it may cause illness to the person who will eat it. The
good thing is that now-r -days people are also having deep knowledge about all these bacterial
things and are taking appropriate measures before eating any kind of food.
Physical and Chemical contamination of food
Physical contamination refers to that situation in which some objects like hair, plant
stalks, piece of stone/metal/plastic occurs in the food. These kinds of particles contaminate the
food and is considered to be eaten now. Here there are chancers that may turn into biological
contamination as well.
Chemical contamination on the other hand is a situation in which some harmful chemical
enters the food and spoilt it. It is required to be made sure that the chemicals which is added in
the food is of good quality and not outdated otherwise it may affect the health of an individual
(Crandall and et. al., 2012).
Measures to control physical and chemical contamination
In this case, managers are having the responsibility to control the contamination of the
food items which is being supplied at their places so that no one's health is affected from it. In
1

McDonald's also there should be proper handling and storage of food items in order to protect it
from getting rotten or spoilt. Managers are also required to make sure that they order only that
much quantity of food products which will be getting used. Excess should be avoided.
1.2 Characteristics of food poisoning and food borne infections
Food borne infections can be defined as the types of illness which is being caused to a
person doe to intake of living harmful particles. It is also known that food poisoning is caused
due to food-borne infections. In this, a person gets allergic to few things and is not able to use it
for long period of time (Dabbene, Gay and Tortia, 2014).
Salmonellosis, Hepatitis A, Tapeworm infection, Botulism, Qfever, Shellfish poisoning,
Mushroom poisoning, etc are the diseases which is being caused because of food-borne
infections. After getting infected, a person do vomiting, gets fever or feels like nausea etc. It is
also happening due to change in season.
1.3 Controlling of food-borne illness
Food-borne illness is are a types of disease which is caused due to the bacteria contained
in the food. It is the responsibility of the managers to make sure that these kinds of food particles
are removed from the food and provide only safe food to its customers. To do this, there are
some kinds of actions which is required to be taken by the managers and they are as follows:-
 Preservation of food must be done properly
 Every time the dishes are required to be served in clean plates and special care should be
taken while washing these utensils.
 In McDonald's all types of food particles are being served like veg, non-veg. Therefore, it
is required that both these types of food should be cooked in separate kitchen and their
utensils must also be different.
 There should be proper ventilation facility wherever the food is being made so that all the
pollution which will be caused while cooking the food will be removed (Handschuch,
Wollni and Villalobos, 2013).
TASK 2
2.1 Categorisation of food spoilage agents that affect food
Food spoilage can be defined as a situation in which the quality of food gets deteriorated.
Once it is spoilt then it is considered as unfit for consumption. The agents because of which food
is being spoilt compulsorily are as follows :-
2

 Microorganism – It is a kind of agent which cause various kinds of infections and the
main bacteria which causes it is called pathogens and it is normally grown in room
temperature (Jacxsens and et. al., 2015).
 Enzymes – It is a kind of agent which is present in normal food and the process
conducted here is known as ripening process. Because of this the food changes its colour
and taste.
 Temperature – It is also a type of agent because of which food gets spoilt very early as
there are some kind of food particles which are required to be kept in appropriate
temperature so as to be good.
2.2 & 2.3 Discussion of methods of food preservation and their evaluation
There are certain methods which are being used by the manages of McDonald's or any
other restaurant for preservation of the food items and they are as follows:-
Methods of food
preservation
Evaluate the effectiveness of food preservation methods
Salting This is a technique which is being used to remove moisture from the
food particles so that the food can be stored for longer period of time. It
is normally used for meat and fish.
Drying This is the method which is being used for drying out the food items by
keeping it in sunlight. It can be done for various kinds of food items like
peas, herbs,coriander etc.
Canning This method is mainly considered effective for those kinds of food items
which is required to be kept in packed manner. It is done for pickles,
jams etc.
Freezing It is used to store that kind of food items which can be used by them in
future. These are like paneer. Vegetables etc.
TASK 3
3.1 Key Steps in temperature control system
The various measures which can be used to control the temperature of food items are :-
 Delivery – In this step, the raw materials are being delivered at the place where it is
ordered (McIntyre and et. al., 2013).
3

 Storage – The material which is being delivered is required to be stored at a proper place
so that it does not get damaged.
 Preparation – When there is a need to prepare food, these raw materials will be used. It is
to be made sure that all those left over material should be stores again so that they can be
used again in future (Motarjemi, Wallace and Mortimore, 2014).
 Cooking – In restaurants, it is normally done when the demand arises from the public
otherwise preparation is being done fully.
 Cooling – Once the food is cooked, it will be cooled and then served to the customers.
 Reheating – Whenever an order is being placed by the customer, the dish which is
already kept ready will be preheated and then served.
3.2 Methods for the safe storage of food
There are various methods which can be used to store food for a long period of time is as
follows:- Freezing Food: It can be done to store food items like vegetables, fruits, non-veg
products etc. Drying: Resources and information are being given on herbs, vegetable items etc.
 Canning: This method is being used to preserve food items like seafood, tomato, meats
etc.
3.3 Importance of personal hygiene in the control of food contamination
The factor which is being considered as very important for the companies are cleanliness
and hygiene. It is very much required that person should be following some personal as well as
non-personal hygiene so as to make a distance from various kinds of bacteria's. It is necessary
that the managers should apply this kind of rule into their company so that no germs are being
spread. The employees who are working in hotels specially is required to maintain hygiene by
making sure that their nails are cut always and their dress is clean. All these factors will also help
them in maintaining good image in front of the manager and also the guests. Through this the
danger of having harmful germs in food will also get removed (Ohlsson, 2014).
3.4 Cleaning and disinfection as a process supporting safe food production
It is always required to implement the process of cleanliness so as to ensure safe
production of food. The managers can do this work by joining hands with employees. These are
various methods used by the management to prevent the food from being decayed. The head of
4

the company is required to make sure that all these elements will be applied appropriately or not
and if not then what punishment is required to be given will also be decided.
3.5 Problems associated with pest control in food premises
If pest control will be conducted in food premises then there are so many issues which
will be arise here. The chemicals which will be used by them is having the capacity to degrade
the quality of food items. It is required that all these chemicals must be used in appropriate
quantity so that it does not affect anyone's health (Robinson and et. al., 2013).
3.6 Need for hygienic design and construction of food premises
Since every customer now is aware of the cleanliness factors so they expect the same
from the companies from where they are taking any kind of services. In McDonald's also, the
customers who will be visiting the store will expect some kind of hygiene. Therefore managers
are required to make sure that they use appropriate techniques to deliver good quality products to
its customers.
3.7 Importance of training as a quality assurance mechanism
Training is very essential for the employees as through this they get to learn about
keeping the workplace clean. There are various kinds of methods which is being used by
McDonald's keep provide training to their staff members and make them learn some preventive
measures as well. Through this it will also be ensured that good quality products will only be
sold to the customers (Rouviere, 2010).
TASK 4
4.1 Food hazard risk assessment4.2 Food safety control system
Food Types of
contaminati
on
Causes of
contamination
Risk Consequences
5

Meat Physical
Chemical
It is required to be
kept at low
temperature
otherwise it will be
decayed.
Various kinds of
pest is being used
to keep the product
from being rotten.
Medium
Very
High
If not kept then it might
get rotten.
Fever, stomach pain, etc.
Fish
Physical
This is required to
be kept at specific
temperature.
Low If not kept in correct
temperature then negative
impacts can be seen in the
health of employees.
6

Chemical Normally no
chemicals are
required to be
applied on fishes.
High
The fishes which have
become decayed affects
the environment through
its smell.
4.2 Food safety control system
Stage
s
Hazard Preventive
measure
Critical
limits
Monitoring
Procedure Frequency
Corrective
measure
Respo
nsibili
ty
Cook
ing of
meat
Flame
should
be kept
low so
as to
cook
meat.
While
cooking it,
equipment
s and care
is required
to be
taken.
High
flame is
OK but
needs to
be
checked
on regular
basis.
Time
consuming
procedure
and there is
requiremen
t of proper
training.
Every
batch
Correct
method
should be
used to
cook meat.
Cook
Prepa
ration
of
meat
It is
required
to be
prepared
by a
trained
chef.
It is also
required to
be stored
in a proper
manner.
Order
must be
taken on
correct
time so
that it can
m provide
benefit.
Training
is
required
to be
given
only if
cooking
technique
is
After
regular
time
interval.
Use of
gems free
utensils
and knifes.
Chefs
and
purch
ase
depart
ment.
7

required
to be
changed.
Stora
ge of
meat
Correct
temperat
ure to
store
meat.
Refrigerat
ory must
be kept at
specific
temperatur
e.
Once the
season is
changing,
the
temperatu
re is
required
to be
adjusted.
Place in
freeze at
the time of
purchase.
-10 to -
20°F
Meat gets
decayed
very fast
so while
receiving
the order it
must be
checked
properly
Chefs
and
sales
man
4.3 Food safety guide for legislation compliance
There are various legal compliance in health and safety department which is being
supported by government of UK so as to render better quality of goods and services to the
customers (Webb and Morancie, 2015). In The Act of Food Safety 1990, whole legislations
about food in Britain is provided. Here are responsibility for entire food enterprise which comes
under this act are:
 There should not be any particle present in the food and thus damages may happen.
 Helps in making sure that the quality of food served is good or not.
 To affirm whether food is presented, publicized and labelled in correct manner avoiding
misleading and false.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that food safety is a very important process
which is required to be conducted by each and every restaurant while serving the food to its
clients. There are son many kinds of methods which is being used by the company to preserve
their food for longer period of time. This process is required to be conducted by the company on
a regular basis so that issues like these must be removed. It is considered as the responsibility of
managers of every company to maintain the hygiene of their employees as well so that their
health is maintained. To achieve this their training team is also providing various types of
programmes so as to inculcate habits of cleanliness and hygiene.
8

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Chapman, B. and et. al., 2010. Assessment of food safety practices of food service food handlers
(risk assessment data): testing a communication intervention (evaluation of
tools). Journal of Food Protection. 73(6). pp.1101-1107.
Crandall, P. and et. al., 2012. Companies' opinions and acceptance of global food safety initiative
benchmarks after implementation. Journal of food protection. 75(9). pp.1660-1672.
Dabbene, F., Gay, P. and Tortia, C., 2014. Traceability issues in food supply chain management:
A review. Biosystems engineering. 120. pp.65-80.
Handschuch, C., Wollni, M. and Villalobos, P., 2013. Adoption of food safety and quality
standards among Chilean raspberry producers–Do smallholders benefit?. Food
Policy. 40. pp.64-73.
Jacxsens, L. and et. al., 2015. Measuring microbial food safety output and comparing self-
checking systems of food business operators in Belgium. Food Control. 49. pp.59-69.
McIntyre, L. and et. al., 2013. Evaluation of food safety knowledge, attitudes and self-reported
hand washing practices in FOODSAFE trained and untrained food handlers in British
Columbia, Canada. Food Control. 30(1). pp.150-156.
Motarjemi, Y., Wallace, C. and Mortimore, S., 2014. HACCP misconceptions. In Food Safety
Management (pp. 873-887).
Ohlsson, T., 2014. Sustainability and food production. In Food Safety Management (pp. 1085-
1097).
Robinson, C. and et. al., 2013. Conflicts of interest at the European Food Safety Authority erode
public confidence. J Epidemiol Community Health, pp.jech-2012.
Rouviere, E., 2010. The implementation mechanisms of voluntary food safety systems. Food
Policy. 35(5). pp.412-418.
Webb, M. and Morancie, A., 2015. Food safety knowledge of foodservice workers at a university
campus by education level, experience, and food safety training. Food Control, 50,
pp.259-264.
Online
Different types of food contamination. 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.foodsafety.com.au/faq/what-are-the-different-types-of-food-
contamination >.
Food Poisoning & Food-Borne Illnesses. 2017. [Online]. Available
through:<http://epi.publichealth.nc.gov/cd/diseases/food.html >.
9