Analysis of Food Contamination Sources and Prevention Strategies

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Food Safety Management
Name of the Student:
Tutor’s Name:
Assignment Number:
Year: 2019

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Task A (LO1) Research report describing the range of food contamination sources and the ways
to control and prevent them.............................................................................................................5
1.1 Discuss the Controls Required to Prevent Physical and Chemical Contamination of Food: 5
1.2 Compare the Characteristics of Food Poisoning and Foodborne Infections:........................7
1.3 Discuss How Food-Borne Illness can be controlled..............................................................7
Task B (LO2) Research report describing the range of food contamination sources and the ways
to control and prevent them...........................................................................................................10
2.1 Categorize the Food-Spoilage Agents that Affect Food......................................................10
2.2 Discuss Methods of Food Preservation...............................................................................12
2.3 Evaluate the Effectiveness of Food Preservation................................................................14
Task C (LO3) Research report describing the importance of the effectiveness of prevention
systems, control and food management systems...........................................................................14
3.1 Discuss the key steps in a temperature control system........................................................14
3.2 Summaries methods for the safe storage of food.................................................................16
Correct temperature control...................................................................................................16
Labeling.................................................................................................................................17

Use by date and Stock rotation..............................................................................................17
3.3 evaluate the importance of personal hygiene in the control of food contamination........17
Task D (LO3) A Class assessment describing the importance of the effectiveness of prevention
systems, control and food management systems...........................................................................18
3.4 Evaluate cleaning and disinfection as a process supporting safe food production..............18
3.5 Assess the problems associated with pest control in food premises....................................18
3.6 Justify the need for hygienic design and construction of food premises.............................19
3.7 Justify the importance of training as a quality assurance mechanism.................................19
Task E Portfolio (LO4)..................................................................................................................20
4.1 Produce a food hazard risk assessment................................................................................20
4.2 Complete a food safety control system................................................................................20
4.3 Devise a food safety guide for legislation compliance........................................................21
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................21
References......................................................................................................................................23

Introduction
For every food business, food safety management is considered as one of the prime aspects as it
may lead the reputation of the restaurant in both ways. The prime requirement of food safety
management is to prevent food items from bacteria and other germs. Failure of to do so may lead
harmful consequences for the restaurant customers in terms of illness and death. In this case,
food safety management system plays an important role for the restaurant based business
organizations as it may help those firms to prevent food contamination. Food contamination may
lead common problems for the individuals (customers) in terms of food poisoning, vomiting,
stomach pain, headache, fever and others. Such circumstances usually happen due to the
carelessness of the food provider (Aung and Chang, 2014). Thus, for a restaurant business, it is
important to pay greater attention towards food safety management by preventing poisoning on
food items through bacteria, mould and others.
In this particular study, as a food safety consultant of a new Brasserie restaurant, the author will
intend to recognize the agents that causes food contamination and which lead to illness for the
consumer. At the same time, the study will also discuss the process that can prevent food
wastage for the restaurant. Moreover, the study will also discuss how the restaurant can preserve
its food quality by ensuring prevention of food contamination. Apart from this, the study will
also intend to identify the importance of food contamination and effective systems for food
preservation from spoilage. Additionally, the study will also try to recommend the measures or
the systems that a restaurant should incorporate during its business practices.

Task A (LO1) Research report describing the range of food contamination sources and the
ways to control and prevent them
1.1 Discuss the Controls Required to Prevent Physical and Chemical Contamination of
Food:
There are many ways by which food can get contaminated. However, there are mainly two types
of contamination that can be mentioned.
Physical Contamination:
Objects like hair, fingernail, dirt etc are some of the examples of physical source of
contamination. It is known to all that bacteria can grow within the fingernail due to particles of
food that remained from eaten meal. Human hair can also grow bacteria if not properly washed
in a regular basis. Rats and mice can also be considered as the source of physical contamination.
In this regard, it can be stated that the kitchen appliances should always be cleaned as they can
also grow bacteria if not cleaned properly in a daily basis. Cross contamination can also be
referred as physical contamination (Bhupathiraju and Tucker, 2011).
Cross contamination happens when bacteria are transported from one place to another. This is
the most common way of contamination as restaurants often store their different types of food in
the same freezer. The ingredients come from different sources and some of them may contain
bacteria and other germs (Collado and el al., 2014). For example, bacteria can grow on meat,
milk and eggs even before the processing. Some hens may produce contaminated eggs due to the
presence of bacteria in their ovaries. Apart from this, other sources like dirty clothing, pests,
coughing, sneezing etc can cross-contaminate the food. In addition to this, if restaurants keep
raw and cooked food in a same freezer, then it can create cross-contamination.

In addition to the above-mentioned sources, a restaurant must consider the followings.
 Wasted food must be removed from the kitchen premises within a short period of time.
 Unsold cooked food should be kept in a separate freezer.
 Chefs should never use the same kitchen utensils while preparing raw meat and cooked
food.
 The handlers of the food should wear minimum jewelries in order to avoid contamination
as bacteria can grow in the jewelries very easily.
 It is essential to keep the freezer’s temperature below 5 degree centigrade as bacteria
grow at a faster pace between 5 and 60 degree.
 Restaurant owner should consider the PH level of the ingredients as neutral food in terms
of PH level offer a suitable environment for the bacteria to grow.
 It is very crucial to determine the menu items according to the equipments. For example,
if a restaurant’s menu contains mostly sea food, it is better to understand that most sea
food is neutral food in terms of their PH level.
(Source: Daelman and et al., 2013)
Chemical Contamination
If food comes into contact with chemical products like cleaning chemicals, pest control products,
plastics etc, it can cause chemical contamination. That is why it is mandatory to keep such
chemicals in separate place. Besides that, if someone brings the food products from market and
keep it in the freezer without properly washing them, it can create contamination. Bacteria
microorganisms and can grow at a very fast pace (Guillier and et al., 2016). They can multiply
themselves into millions within few hours. Bacteria need water, protein and oxygen in order to

survive. That is why raw meat is one of the main sources of bacteria. A restaurant’s chef or
product handler should maintain certain measures in order to minimize the contamination caused
by the bacteria. They should be cautious regarding some of the most common sources of bacteria
such as raw meats, pests, cloths etc.
1.2 Compare the Characteristics of Food Poisoning and Foodborne Infections:
Food poisoning and foodborne illness includes the type of disease that is caused by bacteria and
other toxins present in the food that has been consumed by someone (Hamilton and et al., 2015).
Typically, food contamination and spoilage are the main two reasons for these diseases.
Foodborne Infection:
Foodborne is a type of infection which is generally happens when contaminated food with live
bacteria is consumed. Different types of allergic effects can also be called as foodborne illness.
There are hundreds of foodborne infections but most of them are not lethal. Nausea, headache,
body aching are some of the common symptoms of foodborne infection. These are very common
and contagious to some point (Lipcsei and Kambhampati, 2016).
Food Poisoning:
Food poisoning is a type of foodborne infection. Food poisoning is generally caused by
preformed toxins. These toxins are mainly the waste from the bacteria. It can cause diarrhea,
vomiting, fever etc. (Lipcsei and Kambhampati, 2016).
1.3 Discuss How Food-Borne Illness can be controlled
Measures to prevent food contamination

A restaurant deals with various types of food and it is essential for them to prevent the food from
being contaminated. Contaminated food or beverages can cause food borne illness like
Norovirus, Campylobacter, Typhoid fever etc. So it is mandatory for a restaurant to keep their
food in a hygienic place. Most of the food borne diseases is caused by bacteria, moulds and other
toxic chemicals (Thyberg and Tonjes, 2015). There are several possible ways by which bacteria
can grow within the restaurants foods and ingredients. Followings are some of the measures
which should be followed by a restaurant in order to prevent food contamination.
Clean Hands
The head chef of anyone who accesses the products should always wash their hand before and
after handling the raw food like meat, egg and fish products (Heldal, Vikebo and Johansen,
2012). Raw meat and other poultry products have bacteria on them. If the chef handles one such
raw product and then comes into contact with any cooked food, it will result in a cross
contamination.
Separate space for raw and cooked meat
Keeping raw and cooked meat in one place will cause definite cross contamination. Bacteria
from the raw meat can easily be transferred to other food products. For example, if someone
store raw meat in the top shelf of a freezer, it is possible that the meat drippings will contaminate
the cooked food stored in the lower shelf of the freezer. So, it is very essential to keep the raw
meat and fish in a separate freezer (Heldal, Vikebo and Johansen, 2012).
Reduce Leftover Food

A restaurant should make an assumption of daily sales and prepare food according to that only.
In this way, the business will have less amount of leftover food and make profit in a better
manner. This will also prevent the growth of bacteria within the premises (Collado and el al.,
2014). Moreover it will increase the quality of the food within the restaurant and attract more
customers as everyone expects to be served freshly cooked food, not leftover food.
Throw Away old ingredients
Food products with off odor or mushy texture should be thrown out as they may spread
contamination to other food products in the same freezer. Other products like leaking canned
food should also be thrown away (Collado and el al., 2014). The restaurant owner should sort the
products once in a while.
Fridge Temperature
The temperature of the walk-in freezer should be set between 0 and 5 degree Celsius. A warmer
fridge can help the bacteria to grow (Aung and Chang, 2014).
Do not put warm product in the fridge
Any type of hot or warm product should always be cooled down before placing into the freezer.
It can either be cooked product or fresh raw meat. Warm products have a greater chance of
growing bacteria. So it is essential to cool the food down quickly before putting them into the
freezer (Aung and Chang, 2014).
Cook food properly

It is necessary to cook food properly as bacteria may still remain if the food is not cooked
completely (Thyberg and Tonjes, 2015). If that happens, other food surrounding that particular
item may also get contaminated by the bacteria.
Keep the premises clean
Very obviously, a dirty surrounding will spread germs and bacteria. So it is very important to
regularly clean the whole restaurant and specially the kitchen.
Task B (LO2) Research report describing the range of food contamination sources and the
ways to control and prevent them
2.1 Categorize the Food-Spoilage Agents that Affect Food
While running a restaurant business, owners often have to buy products in bulk and that leads
them to food spoilage. Food spoilage may happen due to various external factors like bacteria
and other germs and it can initiate various foodborne diseases. A restaurant’s goal is to provide
its customer healthy and hygienic food. Contaminated food may result in food borne diseases. So
if they serve contaminated food, they will lose the customer base and won’t be able to sustain in
the competitive market scenario (Thyberg and Tonjes, 2015). That is why it is very important for
a restaurant to identify any possible source of spoilage and take the necessary actions
accordingly. In the following study, the major agents or sources for food spoilage has been
identified.
Bacteria
This unicellular creature is one of the first forms of life in this universe. The length of bacteria is
typically a few micrometers. Bacteria do not need a partner in order to reproduce. Rather, they

can multiply themselves in millions within a very short period of time. This process is known as
asexual reproduction. Bacteria and other germs are the main reasons behind most of the human
illness and diseases. However, there are a few bacteria that are actually beneficial to human body
such as Salivarius, Lactobacillus Acidophilus etc. There are certain measures that can be
considered in order to prevent bacterial activity. For example, restaurants should always keep the
products in a temperature under 5 degrees centigrade. Bacteria need higher temperature than that
in order to survive. In addition to this, bacteria need oxygen and water to sustain in the
atmosphere (Daelman and et al., 2013). That is why drying out food is a very effective way to
prevent bacterial contamination.
Molds
Unprocessed food products along with processed ones can grow molds along with bacteria.
Molds are basically a type of fungus that can cause physical problems like nausea or respiratory
dysfunctional issues when consumed (Daelman and et al., 2013).
Enzymes
Although some food products contain enzymes, it may accelerate chemical reaction to other
substances and this process can lead to food spoilage. These enzyme caused contaminated food
can be identified by testing them (Heinz, 2013). If it tastes odor and off-flavoured, the food
handler should immediately remove it from the freezer as it may spread spoilage to other
products too.
Chemicals
Cleaning products and other sanitary products can lead to food spoilage if they come into contact
with food (Heinz, 2013).

Environmental Factors
As mentioned above, air and water are essential for bacteria to grow. It is important for
restaurants to keep their food product in a dry atmosphere. Also, it is very essential to keep the
food in cold atmosphere and maintain the temperature below 5 degree Celsius (Aherzadeh and et
al., 2014). Oxygen is also needed for bacteria to survive. So if the food products are stored in
airtight packages, bacteria cannot grow within the product.
2.2 Discuss Methods of Food Preservation
In order to prevent food contamination and spoilage, certain measures should be taken into
consideration by the restaurant so that they can preserve the food in a proper manner (Aherzadeh
and et al., 2014). It is essential for them to keep the product healthy and hygienic. Followings are
some of the most useful and obligatory factors that a restaurant should always abide.
Freeze
Whether it is cooked food or raw products, restaurant should always freeze their items and
maintain a certain temperature. Bacteria play the key role for food contamination but they cannot
reproduce or survive below a certain temperature which is five degree centigrade. So the
restaurant should preserve their food in freezer in a properly arranged way. The food should be
labelled and dated with arriving and expiry date clearly mentioned. The walk in freezers should
be big enough to store all the necessary ingredients that are needed to prepare all the menu items.
In this regard, it can be said that if a restaurant serves less number of food items, they can keep
up the hygiene (Jay, 2012).
Heat