FOOD HYGIENE AND SAFETY

• Food Hygiene: can be described as

practices in food handling that help to keep food
clean and safe to eat in order to avoid food
poisoning due to bacterial, fungal, viral or chemical
contamination of food.

• Food safety: can be defined as the absence of

adverse health effects following food consumption
 REASONS FOR FOOD HYGIENE CONTROL
1. Development of community feeding in schools,
factories, hospitals etc.
2. Increase in food consumption outside home
evidenced by increased number of catering
establishments & development of provision of
meals/snacks in public places etc.
3. High levels of contamination of some foods entering
retail food premises.
4. Poor level of understanding of food hygiene
practices by workers in food industry at both
managerial & operative levels.
5. Inadequate temperature control of risk foods i.e.
meat & meat products, milk, fish & fish products
 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD HYGIENE
1. Personal Hygiene:
• Wash hands: before commencing work, after using the
toilet, between different work tasks especially after
handling raw foods.
• Wear clean protective clothing including a suitable,
effective hair covering.
• Keep all cuts, boils etc, covered with waterproof
dressings.
• Keep fingernails short.
• Do not cough or sneeze over food.
• Do not touch the mouth, nose or face – at least without
washing your hands afterwards.
• Report any illness which may be food poisoning to the
supervisor and consult your doctor.
 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD HYGIENE
2. Food Storage:
• A good system of stock rotation should be operated
through which the oldest stock is used.
• Stock should be kept at least a few inches off the
ground to give a circulation of air and to enable
insect and rodent infestations to be detected.
• Food stores must be adequately ventilated and be
kept at a temperature below 10oC.
• Refrigerators, Chillers, Freezers etc. must be
regularly checked for operating efficiency against
their designed temperature range.
• Keep food either hot, i.e. above 630C, or cold i.e.
below 10oC
 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD HYGIENE
3. Cross Contamination:
 Avoid contamination of a ready–to-eat risk food by
another food directly by way of a transmitting agent.
 Keep raw and cooked foods separate at all times including
in storage.
 Use separate surfaces, utensils and other equipment for
the preparation of raw and cooked food.
 Separate staff should be used for handling raw and cooked
food.
 Cleaning and sterilization of food slicing machinery.
 Avoid reheating of foods where possible. Reheated food
should be brought to temperatures above 63oC.
 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD HYGIENE
4. Temperature Control: Factors such as moisture,
type of food, time & temperature facilitates the
growth of food poisoning organism.
• Risk foods should be kept as short a time as
possible at temperatures which are conducive to
bacterial growth, i.e. between 10oC and 63oC.
• Below 10oC : No bacterial growth; Above 63oC:
Pathogenic organisms are destroyed.
• Food processing temperatures are critical to the
production of safe product and should always be
checked where risk foods are involved.
 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD HYGIENE

5. Premises:
• Layout
• Floors
• Walls
• Lighting
• Ventilation
• Refuse
 PRINCIPLES OF FOOD HYGIENE
6. Equipments: Equipments in food premises must be:
• Constructed so as to facilitate ease of cleaning
• Non-absorbent;
• Placed in such a way that cleaning is possible on all
sides;
• Well maintained.
7. Cleansing: The fundamental objective in food
premises is the killing of pathogenic organisms and
elimination of situations in which they might thrive.
• Cleaning of the structure, equipment and working
surfaces should be planned based on principle of
good house keeping.
 HIGH RISK FOODS
These are foods with greatest risk of microbial
contamination because they are processed or
stored within the temperature of 10°C to 63°C in
an unsterilized environment.

This include meat, poultry, dairy products,

eggs, seafood, cooked rice, cooked pasta,
prepared salads, coleslaws, pasta salads,
prepared fruit salads...etc.
 FOOD HANDLERS
• Proper handling of foods, utensils and dishes and
good personal hygiene are of great importance.
• The infections which are likely to be transmitted by
the food handlers are diarrhoeas, dysenteries,
typhoid and para-typhoid fevers, entero-virruses,
viral hepatitis, protozoal cyst, eggs of helminths,
strepto and staphylococcal infections, and
salmonellosis.
Complete medical examination carried out of all
food handlers at the time of employment is
necessary.
 FOOD HANDLERS CONTD
 Any person with a history of typhoid fever, diphtheria,
chronic dysentery, tuberculosis or any other communicable
disease should not be employed.
 Persons with wounds, otitis media or skin infections should
not be permitted to handle food or utensils.
 Day to day health appraisal of the food handlers is
important; those who are ill should be excluded from food
handling.
 Any illness which occur in food handlers family should at
once be notified.
 Education of food handlers in matters of personal hygiene,
food handling, utensils, dish washing, and control of insect
and rodent is the best means of promoting food hygiene.
 FOOD CONTAMINATION
• It is the presence of a substance or agent that makes
food unsuitable for consumption.
• Foods may be contaminated by physical, chemical
or biological agents .
• Physical agents include sand, wood, metals, nails,
hair, debris, radiation, etc.
• Chemical agents may be pesticides, cleaning
materials used in the house, and toxic chemicals
arising from outside sources
• Biological agents are bacteria, viruses, yeast,
moulds and parasites or their eggs
 FOOD CONTAMINATION

 Food can be contaminated through:

1. Production
2. Processing
3. Handling
4. Transportation
5. Eating
.
 FOOD CONTAMINATION
There are 5 agents that can contaminate food:
1. Microorganisms
2. Toxins: Exotoxins: toxins released on the
food by microorganism. Endotoxins:
microorganisms grow inside the food and
produces toxins in its cells.
3. Chemicals: Chemicals added illegally or
ignorantly. They are normally;
 Preservatives e.g Vinegar, Salt, Sugar,
tartaric acid etc. some food industries use
sodium benzoate for preservation. This is
known to be carcinogenic
 FOOD CONTAMINATION (CONTD)

 Artificial sweeteners: Sugar (10kg/head/per

year is recommended). 25-30g/day/person.
 Cyclamates: Are derived from coal tar, by-
product petroleum, a product of benzene
hydrocarbon, causes cancer.
 Sweetners e.g saccharine: they are also
carcinogenic, causes cancer of the kidney.
 Flavors and Colorings: They are products of
Hydrocarbon materials.
 FOOD CONTAMINATION (CONTD)
 Adulteration: Adulterated products are
harmful. Oil used for frying more than 3
times will be contaminated and harmful.
 Monosodium glutamate: Glutamate is not
easily metabolized by the cells. It causes
Chinese syndrome. Symptoms –Cramps,
body pains. It can cause cancer of the bone,
kidney etc. Limited use of this substance
should be encouraged.
 FOOD CONTAMINATION (CONTD)
4. Natural Toxins: Some food naturally contains toxin
materials. Examples are
• Groundnuts Afflotaxins
• Fishes Accumulates heavy metals
• Cassava Cyanides
• Mushrooms Alkaloids; this cannot be destroyed
by heat. This results in abdominal
cramps.
• Potatoes (Irish) Solanin is a form of alkaloides. It can
be destroyed by heat
• Note: The toxins are protective materials for the plants.

5. Parasites: Such as Tape worm (Taeniasis Trachuriasis). All

produce toxins in the food.
 Cross Contamination
Cross contamination is what happens when
bacteria from one food item are transferred to
another food item, often by way of unwashed
cutting boards or countertops, as well as knives
and other kitchen tools, or even unwashed
hands.

Cross contamination can in turn lead to food

poisoning.
• Route: The most common route is the faecal-oral
route

water
soil
faeces food mouth
flies
fingers
Faecal-oral transmission routes
 FOOD POISONING

• Food poisoning: any condition in which a food

causes a toxic reaction, whether as a result of
 a toxin naturally present in the food (for example,
green or sprouting potatoes, partially cooked red
kidney beans, many mushrooms etc
a toxin acquired by the food as a result of natural
accident (such as contamination of fish or shellfish
with toxins from dinoflagellate organisms in
plankton.
fungal spoilage leading to the production of
mycotoxins in the food; or
 Food Poisoning (contd)
 Contamination of the food with toxins during
agricultural processing (for example, pesticide
residues)
 Or food processing (such as accidental contamination
with industrial chemicals).
 The term is generally reserved for gastrointestinal
disease resulting from bacterial (or sometimes viral)
contamination of foods
 Food poisoning may occur within 1-36 hours of eating
contaminated food.
 Symptoms normally last 1-7 days and may include
one or more of the following:
 Abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, fever,
gastroenteritis
 Incubation periods of food poisoning
bacteria

• Salmonella typhi : 12-36 hours

• Staphylococcus : 2-6 hours
• Clostridium perfringes: 8 – 22 hours
• Streptococci, coliform bacilli and aerobic
sporing bacilli: 4-36hours
• Clostridium botulinum: 24-72 hours
 CAUSES OF FOOD POISONING

• Inadequate cooking of contaminated raw food,

and inadequate reheating of pre-cooked food,
so that the temperature is not sufficiently high
to kill the bacteria
• Keeping cooked food at temperatures that
favour the growth of bacteria
• Cross-contamination between raw and cooked
food
• Poor personal hygiene in food handlers
 PREVENTION/CONTROL OF FOOD
POISONING
 Protect food from contamination by:
- keep food covered whenever possible
- do not use unsuitable, defective or dirty
equipment
- do not use dirty wiping cloths, disposable
preferable
- only handle food when unavoidable (use
tongs, plates, & trays)
- separate raw and cooked food at all stages of
preparation, storage and distribution
- prevent insects, animals and birds from
coming in contact with food
 PREVENTION/CONTROL OF FOOD
POISONING CONTD
- store food in rodent-proof containers and
ensure lids are tightly replaced after use
- protective clothing for all food handlers
- maintain high standard of personal hygiene
- use correct cleaning and disinfection
procedures
- refuse disposal
- purchase food from reputable sources
- environmental sanitation (clean environment
with good water supply and sanitation)
 PREVENTION & CONTROL OF FOOD
POISONING
Prevent bacterial within food from multiplying
by:
- employing appropriate storage
temperature (store food out of danger zone-
10oC - 63oC)
- using suitable preservative (salt, sugar).
- Do not allow dry foods to absorb moisture
- other methods: canning, freezing, drying
and dehydration, smoking
 Destroy those bacteria within food
(disinfection) by:
- thorough cooking, heat processing such
as pasteurization, sterilization (e.g. UV) or
canning
 Inspection of food premises

 Basic food hygiene education for food

handlers

 Medical screening for food handlers

Good manufacturing practices (GMPs)

Adequate quality control using the Hazard

Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
system.

Legislation
 FOOD-BORNE DISEASES

• Defined as a disease, usually either infectious

or toxic in nature, caused by agents that
entered the body through the ingestion of
food.
• Food borne diseases may be classified as:

 Food borne intoxications

1. Due to naturally occurring toxins in some foods
(a) Lathyrism ( beta oxalyl amino-alanine)
(b) Endemic ascitis (Pyrrolizidine alkaloids)
 FOOD-BORNE DISEASES
2. . Due to toxins produced by certain bacteria.
(a) Botulism
(b) Staphyloccus poisons

3. Due to toxins produced by some fungi

(a) Aflatoxin
(b) Ergot
(c) Fusarium toxins
 FOOD-BORNE DISEASES

4. Food borne chemical poisoning

(a) Heavy metals, e.g., mercury ( usually in
fish), cadmium (in certain shell fish) and lead
( in canned food).
(b) Oils, petroleum derivatives& solvents (e.g.,
Trycresyn phosphates or TCP)
(c) Migrant chemicals from package materials
(d) Asbestos
(e) Pesticides residues (DDT, BHC).
 FOOD-BORNE DISEASES
 Food borne infections

GROUP EXAMPLES OF ILLNESS IN EACH GROUP

Bacterial Diseases Typhiod fever, Paratyphoid fever,
Salmonellosis, Staphylococcal intoxication,
Cl. Perfringens illness, Botulism, B.cereus
food poisoning, E.coli diarrhoea, Non-cholera
vibrio illness, V. parahaemolyticus infection,
Streptococcal infection, Shigellosis
Brucellosis
Viral diseases Viral hepatitis, Gastroenteristis
Parasites Taeniasis Hydatidosis, Trichinosis, ascariasis,
Amoebiasis, Oxyuriasis
GOOD MANUFACTURING PRACTICES
Organization of personnel and training
Facilities and equipment
- Facilities: buildings, premises, services which
provide optimum environment for manufacturing)
- equipment: for manufacturing, packaging, storage
etc
Control of components
- production and process control
- packaging and labeling
- warehousing and distribution
Quality control : raw materials, materials in process,
finished product
 AGENCIES INVOLVED IN ENSURING
FOOD HYGIENE

• NAFDAC
• SON
• Ministry of Environment
• Federal and State Public Health
Laboratories