Archive for December, 2008

HACCP stands for the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point and it was established by the FDA as a proactive approach to preventing hazards that could cause food-borne illnesses from the raw materials to the finished products. Effectively HACCP is a systematic approach to the identification, evaluation, and control of food safety hazards.

HACCP involves seven principles

1. Analyze hazards. Potential hazards associated with a food and measures to control those hazards are identified. The hazard could be biological, such as a microbe; chemical, such as a toxin; or physical, such as ground glass or metal fragments.
2. Identify critical control points. These are points in a food’s production–from its raw state through processing and shipping to consumption by the consumer–at which the potential hazard can be controlled or eliminated. Examples are cooking, cooling, packaging, and metal detection.
3. Establish critical limits. For a cooked food, for example, this might include setting the minimum cooking temperature and time required to ensure the elimination of any harmful microbes.
4. Establish monitoring procedures. Such procedures might include determining how and by whom cooking time and temperature should be monitored.
5. Establish corrective actions. These are to be taken when monitoring shows that a critical limit has not been met — for example, reprocessing or disposing of food if the minimum cooking temperature is not met.
6. Establish verification procedures. Such procedures might include things like puting in place testing time-and-temperature recording devices to verify that a cooking unit is working properly.
7. Establish effective recordkeeping to document the HACCP system. This would include records of hazards and their control methods, the monitoring of safety requirements and action taken to correct potential problems.

Each of these principles must be backed by sound scientific knowledge: for example, published microbiological studies on time and temperature factors for controlling foodborne pathogens.

It is the responsibility of retailers to ensure that food safety procedures are followed and they must work with the regulators as a partnership. Food preparation all the way down the line must include follow HACCP principles, but the retailers are the last line between the production and consumers.

The Food Code has stated that implementation of HACCP principles at retail level should be a voluntary effort by industry. If a food safety management system is put in place following HACCP, the volunteers must be properly trained to ensure that the principles are properly adhered to.

Because there are many different types of food retail operations, the guidelines might vary from industry to industry so the HACCP provides for a common-sense approach to identifying and controlling risk factors.

The goal in applying HACCP principles in retail and food service is to have the operator take purposeful actions to ensure safe food. The objective should always be to provide safe, quality food to consumers. The application of the HACCP principles provides one system that can help accomplish that goal.

One of the traditional parts of the Thanksgiving dinner is the stuffing that is eaten with the turkey. The turkey stuffing can be prepared in a number of ways either cooked inside a whole turkey, chicken or other bird, or cooked separately in a casserole.

Illness stemming from mishandled or improperly prepared stuffing is a concern and can be avoided by following some basic food safety tips. Following the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) Be Food Safe recommendations ensures that dinner guests can enjoy safely cooked stuffing and other food dishes.

Although the recommendations were released by the USDA for the Thanksgiving period, they contain tips that can be applied as a guideline for any kind of food preparation.

As you prepare your holiday meal, FSIS encourages consumers to put these four easy to remember tips - Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill - into practice in order to be food safe during the holiday:

• Clean: When preparing stuffing, wash hands and surfaces often. Bacteria can spread throughout the kitchen and contaminate hands, cutting boards, knives and countertops. Frequent cleaning can keep that from happening. Always wash hands with warm water and soap for 20 seconds before and after handling ingredients for stuffing such as sausage, giblets, shellfish, vegetables, bread, rice, pasta and fruits.
• Separate: Don’t cross-contaminate. Stuffing should not be prepared ahead of time. The dry and wet ingredients for stuffing can be prepared separately ahead of time and chilled, but do not mix wet and dry ingredients until it will be cooked. The stuffing should be moist - not dry - because heat destroys bacteria more rapidly in a moist environment. It is only safe to prepare stuffing ahead of time if you cook it immediately and refrigerate it in shallow containers. Do not stuff whole poultry with cooked stuffing.
• Cook: Cook stuffing to a safe minimum internal temperature. For optimal safety, cook stuffing separately.

If you are cooking the stuffing inside of the bird, it is essential to use a food thermometer to determine the internal temperature of the bird and stuffing. Immediately place the stuffed, raw bird in a preheated oven set to 325 °F or higher. Even if the turkey itself has reached the safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F (as measured in the innermost part of the thigh, the wing and the thickest part of the breast), the stuffing may not have reached a temperature high enough to destroy bacteria that may be present. Bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached 165 °F, which may cause foodborne illness.

Use a food thermometer to be sure stuffed poultry or stuffing cooked separately in a casserole are safely cooked and have reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F. Even for experienced cooks, the improper heating and preparation of food means bacteria can survive.

• Chill: Promptly refrigerate or freeze leftover stuffing. Bacteria spread fastest at temperatures between 40 °F and 140 °F, so chilling food safely reduces the risk of foodborne illness. Place leftovers in shallow containers. Refrigerate (40 °F or below) or freeze the cooked poultry and stuffing within 2 hours after cooking. Use refrigerated leftovers within 3 to 4 days; frozen food within 4 months. Reheat leftovers to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F.If you purchase pre-made stuffing or pre-stuffed birds at grocery store, FSIS offers the following advice to ensure safe preparation at home:
• Premixed Stuffing: Some retail stores sell premixed stuffing. If sold as a cooked product, the stuffing is safe to use. However, do not stuff raw poultry with this cooked product. At home, reheat it to 165 °F before serving.
• Fresh Pre-Stuffed, Uncooked Whole Poultry: USDA does not recommend buying retail-stuffed, uncooked fresh turkey, roasters, Cornish hens or other whole stuffed poultry from a retail store or restaurant. These products are highly perishable and present a potential bacterial hazard. DO NOT USE THEM. If you have purchased one of these products, discard it or return it to the place of purchase.
• Frozen, Pre-Stuffed, Uncooked or Cooked Poultry (Whole): If the packaging displays a USDA or State mark of inspection it has been processed under federally- or state-controlled conditions and therefore is safe to consume. Store frozen, pre-stuffed birds in the freezer and follow the package directions for safe handling and cooking.

DO NOT THAW a commercially pre-stuffed frozen turkey before cooking. Follow the manufacturer’s recommended cooking directions. A frozen stuffed turkey should reach a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F as measured with a food thermometer.

The Office of Food Safety oversees the Food Safety and Inspection Service, the agency within USDA responsible for ensuring the safety, wholesomeness, and correct labeling and packaging of meat, poultry, and egg products. FSIS operates under the authority of the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, and the Egg Products Inspection Act. FSIS sets standards for food safety and inspects and regulates all raw and processed meat and poultry products, and egg products sold in interstate commerce, including imported products. FSIS has implemented a strategy for change to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness attributable to meat, poultry, and egg products. The Office of Food Safety, headed by USDA’s Under Secretary for Food Safety, provides oversight of the agency.

The activities of FSIS include:

• Livestock and poultry inspection which includes processed products made from them;
• All liquid, frozen and dried egg products are inspected;
• Plant facility food safety standards are set, this includes product contents, processing procedures, packaging and labelling, and microbial and chemical adulterants;
• Analyzing products for microbial and chemical adulterants;
• Conducting risk assessments, as well as epidemiological and other scientific studies, to estimate human health outcomes associated with the consumption of meat, poultry, and egg products. These risk assessments and studies provide science-based information for risk management and communication; and
• Educating consumers about foodborne illness by way of publications, educational campaigns, and a toll-free, nationwide USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline

Animals are examined by FSIS inspectors before and after slaughter, preventing diseased animals from entering the food supply and examining carcasses for visible defects that can affect safety and quality. Inspectors also test for the presence of harmful pathogens and drug and chemical residues.

Meat and poultry products all fall under FSIS inspection and there are around 250,000 different products within this food source. This includes things such as hams, sausages, soups, stews, pizza, frozen dinners and products containing 2 percent or more cooked poultry or at least 3 percent raw meat.

As part of the inspection process, FSIS tests for the presence of pathogens and toxins such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcal entertoxin in ready-to-eat another processed products. FSIS continues to have a zero tolerance for these pathogens in ready-to-eat and other processed products.

Foods that are at the greatest risk of carrying foodborne illnesses must also be inspected to ensure that food safety standards are rigidly maintained. So the question is, what are the types of foods that carry the greatest risk of contamination.

Raw foods of animal origin are the most likely to be contaminated; This includes such products as raw meat and poultry, raw eggs, unpasteurized milk, and raw shellfish. Because filter-feeding shellfish strain microbes from the sea over many months, they are particularly likely to be contaminated if there are any pathogens in the seawater.

Foods that mingle the products of many individual animals, such as bulk raw milk, pooled raw eggs, or ground beef, are particularly hazardous because a pathogen present in any one of the animals may contaminate the whole batch. A single hamburger may contain meat from hundreds of animals. A single restaurant omelet may contain eggs from hundreds of chickens. A glass of raw milk may contain milk from hundreds of cows. A broiler chicken carcass can be exposed to the drippings and juices of many thousands of other birds that went through the same cold water tank after slaughter.

Fruits and vegetables consumed raw are a particular concern. Washing can decrease but not eliminate contamination, so the consumers can do little to protect themselves. Recently, a number of outbreak have been traced to fresh fruits and vegetables that were processed under less than sanitary conditions. These outbreaks show that the quality of the water used for washing and chilling the produce after it is harvested is critical. Using water that is not clean can contaminate many boxes of produce. Fresh manure used to fertilize vegetables can also contaminate them.

Alfalfa sprouts and other raw sprouts pose a particular challenge, as the conditions under which they are sprouted are ideal for growing microbes as well as sprouts, and because they are eaten without further cooking. That means that a few bacteria present on the seeds can grow to high numbers of pathogens on the sprouts.

Unpasteurized fruit juice can also be contaminated if there are pathogens in or on the fruit that is used to make it.

This actually only makes up a small part of the work that is done by government agencies to help prevent disease and health risk in the enormous food industry. There is also the task of educating the citizens on how they can play their part in preventing the introduction of illness while preparing food in their own homes, too.