Health & Hygiene Essay

Contents 1 Introduction 2.1 Food safety and hazards 2.2 Food contamination and its impact to human body 2.3 Foodborn illness and prevention measures 2.4 Employees responsibilities in food service and potential guidelines 3 Conclusion 4 References 5 Appendices 5.1 HACCP Principles 5.2 Gilling-Taylor model of HCCP barriers 5.3 The measurement model 1 Introduction As written in(Sprenger, 2009, p7) Hygiene is the science of preserving health. Food hygiene involves more than keeping it clean, it contains all the essential procedures to guarantee safety and freshness of food throughout preparation, processing, manufacturing, packaging, storage, distribution, handling and offering for sale or supply to the consumer. 2.1 Food safety and hazards Food establishments are supposed to structure a food safety management system, this could be because of either internal or external aims. Nowadays, the food business is also liable for presenting in a clear way exactly how the food safety has been planned and secured. This has been accomplished through the progress of Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan as part of the food establishments’ safety assurance systems. HACCP is a controlled and organized method for convincing food safety. According to(Fotopoulos, Kafetzopoulos and Psomas, 2009, p.895) The main aim of the HACCP system are the identification, assessment and the control of food-borne safety hazards. To close it, HACCP is an instrument for the increased improvement, with a purpose to make a safety promise and a well thought-out manner for food safety. 2.2 Food contamination and its impact to human body Food contamination is involved with the issue and area; food poisoning. According to(Sprenger, 2009, p.87) Management must ensure that there is appropriate supervision to prevent contamination of food. There are four kinds of contamination/hazards: The first one is â€Å"microbiological hazards† that is caused by for example bacteria or parasites. This type of contamination is classified as the most serious and is able to impact the body with food poisoning or even death. The second one is â€Å"physical hazards†. This is a contamination that is generally spiteful and painful and can contain parts of paper, metal or plastic. The third contamination is â€Å"chemical hazards† which usually consist of mercury in fish or condenses from cleaning substances. The fourth is â€Å"allergenic hazards† and it impacts the body with items such as milk, cereals, peanuts and eggs. As written in(Sprenger, 2009, p64) the Food Service Sanitation Manual of the Food and Drug Administration states that: â€Å"At all times, including storage, preparation, display, service and distribution, food shall be protected from potential contamination, including dust, insects, rodents, dirty equipment, unnecessary handling, coughs and sneezes, flooding, drainage and overhead leakage or condensation†. 2.3 Foodborn illness and prevention measures Written by(Eunice Taylor, 2008, p480) â€Å"Despite great advances in modern technology, producing safe food and keeping it safe remains a worldwide public health problem with illness caused by the consumption of contaminated food described as the most widespread health problem in the contemporary world (BenEmbarek, 2002)†. The classification of foodborn illness is every infections caused by the consuming of the food contamination, viruses and pathogenic bacteria. Reasons for foodborn illness are time temperature mishandling, low personal hygiene and contamination. All the just mentioned reasons can be extremely hazardous so it ´s crucial for all operations to prevent it and as mentioned in(Sprenger, 2009, p52) prevention is done through methods such as: – Ensuring the safety of all water supplies, it ´s crucial to chlorinate water that is used for preparation or drinking. – Ensuring a satisfactory disposal of sewage. – Ensuring the heat treatment of milk and milk products. – Double-wash ready-to-eat fruit and vegetables. 2.4 Employees responsibilities in food service and potential guidelines To achieve the key elements in executing the HACCP system successfully and ensuring a safe working environment in terms of hygiene, the operation needs a structured and required program that employees has to follow. As written by(Fotopoulos, Kafetzopoulos and Psomas, 2009, p.897) For all types of food businesses, management awareness and commitment is necessary for the implementation of an effective HACCP system. The method will also depend on the management and employees possessing the proper skills and knowledge. Further written by(Fotopoulos, Kafetzopoulos and Psomas, 2009, p.897) A weak analysis of the potential hazards because of inadequate skills and knowledge leads to ineffective food safety management. This is why training is deliberated as an important and necessary element of the effective food safety management. So to give examples of potential guidelines, the employee should be properly updated and informed of how the whole operation works, such as out-of-date food, spillage, refrigerator controlling, monitoring temperatures, storage of food etc. 3 Conclusion To summarize the above mentioned facts, we can state that hygiene is a crucial regulation that we have to follow in order to operate the company successfully, based on the facts that it is an effective method to avoid the different forms of hazards that appears in the food industry. 4 References Fotopoulos, C.V. Kafetzopoulos, D.P. and Psomas, E.L. (2009) â€Å"Assessing the critical factors and their impact on the effective implementation of a food safety management system†, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 26 No. 9, pp.894 – 910. Poulston, J. (2008) â€Å"Hospitality workplace problems and poor training: a close relationship†, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp.412 – 427. Sprenger, R.A. (2009) Hygiene for Management, 15th ed. Doncaster: Highfield Taylor, E. (2008) â€Å"HACCP for the hospitality industry: History in the making†, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 480 – 493. 5 Appendices 5.1 HACCP Principles Source; Taylor, E. â€Å"HACCP for the hospitality industry: History in the making† (2008, p. 481) 5.2 Gilling-Taylor model of HCCP barriers Source: Taylor, E â€Å"HACCP for the hospitality industry: history in the making† (2008, p. 486) 5.3 The measurement model Source: Fotopoulos, Kafetzopoulos and Psomas â€Å"Assessing food safety† (2009, p. 902)