Food Safety Assurance

System:
Principles & Practice
Dr. MA. ASUNCION G. BELTRAN
TARLAC AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
Camiling, Tarlac, Philippines
Relationship of Microorganisms and
food
Pathogenic or Toxogenic: cause disease
 Beneficial/ desirable( make food)
 Lactobacilli Bacteria In Fermented Food (Yoghurt,
Pickles)
 Yeast Saccharomyces In Bread And Baking
 Deteriorated/ undesirable
 Non-pathogenic: Spoilage
 Fungi, Pseudomonas, Proteus, Bacillus
 Conditions for Spoilage
• Water, pH, physical structure, oxygen, temperature

Water•
pH •
Physical structure•
Oxygen•
temperature•
Spoilage of food
 Organisms that cause spoilage
 Pseudomonas , Proteus, Serratia,
Lactobacillus, Micrococcus, fungi such as
Aspergillus, Rhizopus, yeast.
 Spoilage appear as greening, moldy
appearance, rotting, discoloration, souring ,
bad smell.
Foodborne disease
Is any illness resulting from the consumption of
food contaminated with one or more disease-
producing agents (bacteria, parasites, viruses,
fungi and their products toxic substances)
 Two primary types
 Food infection : due to presence of living
organism
 Food poisoning due to presence of toxins
(Clostridium perfringens, and Staphylococcal,
Botulism, Bacillus cereus food poisoning)
Food borne infections vs. intoxication
Infections
 Bacterial / viral / parasite
 Invade and or multiply
in lining of intestine
 Incubation period-
hours to days
 S/s – diarrhea , nausea,
vomiting , abdominal
cramps, fever
 Communicable-spreads
from person to person
 Factors-inadequate
cooking, cross
contamination , poor
personal hygiene , bare
hand contact
Intoxications
 Toxins ( natural / preformed
bacterial / chemical)
 No invasion or multiplication
 Incubation period- minutes to
hours
 S/s – vomiting , nausea,
diarrhea , diplopia, weakness,
resp. Failure , numbness,
sensory/motor dysfunction
 Not communicable
 Factors-inadequate cooking ,
improper handling
temperatures
The numbers and types of
microorganisms present on a food are
affected by the following factors;

 The general environment which the food was

originally obtained from
 The microbial content of the food in the
unprocessed state
 The sanitary conditions during the processing
 The adequacy of subsequence packaging,
handling and storage conditions.
General facts

 Every person is at risk of food borne illness.

 No long-term health threat to average person
 May be serious for very young, very old, people with
long term illness
 Reaction may occur in a few hours or up to several
days after exposure

Symptoms
 Abdominal cramps, headache, vomiting, diarrhea
(may be bloody), fever, death
After Ingestion of bacteria

1. Will be sick within 6-72 hours after

eating contaminated food. (NOT
usually sick immediately after
eating!)
2. Symptoms usually last 4-7 days;
3. Most recover without antibiotics;
4. Diarrhea can be severe enough to
hospitalize person (dehydration).
Sources of Pathogens in Food

1. Food itself: soil contaminated, water irrigation

(Vibrio, Brucella, Salmonella)

2. Food handlers : cooks, workers, waiters.

(Staph, salmonella, shigella, hepatitis)

3. Environment: food storage, sanitation of

markets, utensils and benches,food
Transport bacillus, yersinia, campylobacter
Food risky to food-borne diseases
 Fermented/ pickled food
 Sausages, pickled vegetables, yoghurt
 Raw contaminated food
 Raw meat , milk, salads, chicken
 Undercooked food
Steaks, eggs, creams, fish
 Readymade food
 Canned, frozen , ready made sandwiches
What to do in case of food
poisoning
 Look for pathogenic organisms in food,
patient samples,etc.
 Look for toxins in food
 Must take samples from
1- patients
2-handlers
3- food leftovers
4- utensils and boards, storage places
Detection of m.o. in food

 Conventional cultural techniques

 Standard plate count (SPC)
 Most probable number (MPN)
 Rapid tests biochemical, immunological
 Commercial kits : MMO-MUG, ELISA
 Molecular techniques
 Nucleotide hybridisation
 Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
Comparison of detection methods

 All methods must be must be rapid and

sensitive
 Methods include:
 Culture techniques – may be too slow
 Rapid biochemical techniques- rapid
 Immunological techniques - very sensitive
 Molecular techniques – new, sensitive and
specific
Evaluating the sanitary
quality of foods
 It is impractical to analyze all food for
presence of pathogens
 Use of indicator organisms
 If present in greater than allowable numbers,
it indicates that food is not of acceptable
sanity quality. If absent food is almost safe.
 SPC method can be used to test different
organisms.
Standard plate count (SPC)
The process of using standard plate count is
to dilute samples of the material to be tested
with the agar medium, after 48 hours of
incubation at 35c visible colonies are
counted
Homogenise food sample (50g of food +
450ml of S. Saline)
Make ten fold serial dilutions from mixed
sample
Plate on suitable selective media
Incubate at 35oC, for 24 hours
Colony count
Analysis of food using ATP photometry
 Breakdown non microbial cells in food (
somatic cells)to release their ATP
 Remove the non microbial ATP using the
enzyme atpase
 Release the bacterial ATP from bacterial cells
 Assay the amount of bacterial ATP by the
addition of firefly luciferin/ luciferase
 Record the amount of light emitted using
ATP photometer
 Using a correlation curve to convert relative
light units to colony forming units (cfu's)/ml
Rapid tests

 Commercial kits: many

 Faster than conventional method
 Ex. The MMO-MUG method for coliform testing

Negative Positive Negative Positive

E. coli Total Coliform

Pathogens of Most Concern on Fresh
Produce
 Salmonella Shigella
 Escherichia coli Campylobacter
 Yersinia enterocolitica Staphylococcus aureus
 Clostridium species Bacillus cereus
 Vibrio species
 Viruses (Hepatitis A, Norwalk)
 Parasites/protozoa- (Giardia, Entamoeba, Toxoplasma,
Sarccystis, Isospora, Cryptosporidium, Eimeria,
Cyclospora)
What Are the Most Common Causes
of Foodborne Illness?
 Those caused by the bacteria:
 Campylobacter
 Salmonella
 E. coli O157:H7

 Those caused by a group of viruses:

 Norwalk and Norwalk-like viruses
What Foods Are Most Likely to be
Contaminated?
 raw meat and poultry
 raw eggs (even in uncooked brownie, cake, or
cookie dough)
 unpasteurized milk
 raw shellfish
 unwashed raw fruits and vegetables
 unpasteurized fruit juice
How Do You Know If You Have
Foodborne Illness?
 Onset of symptoms can occur in hours to days of
food consumption
 known as the incubation period

 Symptoms vary
 mild to severe (requiring hospitalization)

 Common symptoms include:

 diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and nausea
Am I at Risk?
YES
 76million cases of foodborne illness occur each
year in the U.S.alone
 pregnant women, infants, the elderly, and
those weakened immune systems are at greater
risk for foodborne illness
General Control of food borne
disease
 Food inspection
 Check handlers health
 Education and training for food handlers and
public
 Market sanitation
 Proper transport and storage methods
Food control In the Home
 Drink pasteurized milk and juices
 Wash hands carefully and frequently
 Afterusing the bathroom, changing infant’s
diapers, cleaning up animal feces
 Wash hands before preparing food
 Wash raw fruits and vegetables before eating
 After contact with raw meat or poultry
 Wash hands, utensils and kitchen surfaces
with hot soapy water
 In the Home

 Cook beef/beef products thoroughly

 Internal temperature of 70o C
 Cook poultry and eggs thoroughly
 Internal temperature of 80oc
 Eat cooked food promptly
 Defrost meats in the refrigerator
 Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours after cooking
 Store in shallow containers so that the contents
gets cooled evenly throughout
Five keys to Safer food
1. Keep clean –
wash hands before handling food and often during
preparation
Wash hands after going to toilet
Wash & sanitize all surfaces n equipment for food
preparation-protect kitchen from insects , pets
2. Separate raw and cooked food-
Separate raw meat, poultry & seafood from other foods
Use separate utensils for handling raw foods
Store food in containers to avoid contact between raw and
cooked foods
3. Cook thoroughly –
Meat , poultry , eggs and seafood
Bring soups n stews to boiling (ensure>70 degree temp)
Reheat cooked food thoroughly
Five Keys to Safer Food
4. Keep food at safe temperature -
✓ Don't leave cooked food at room temp.>2 hours
✓ Prompt refrigeration of cooked n perishable food
✓ Keep cooked food piping hot(>60 de.) Prior to serving
✓ Don’t store food too long even in refrigerator
✓ Don’t thaw frozen food at room temperature
5. Use safe water and raw materials-
 Use safe water or treat to make it safe
 Select fresh and wholesome fruits
 Choose foods processed for safety - pasteurized milk
 Wash fruits n vegetables if eaten raw
 Don’t use food beyond expiry date
Prevention of Food Borne diseases
❖ Food processed for safety
❖ Thoroughly cook
❖ Eat immediately
❖ Store carefully
❖ Reheat thoroughly
❖ No contact between raw & cooked
❖ Wash hands
❖ Keep food preparation surfaces clean
❖ Protect from pests
❖ Use potable water
CONCLUSIONS
1. It is important to realize that with any of the method of
analysis for pathogen or indicator, there is no absolute
guarantee of success.
2. The organisms under test can be missed completely
(false negative) or other organisms can mimic positive
results giving rise to false positives.
3. Developing and improving methods of analysis for
pathogens and indicators is an area of intensive and
continuing research.
4. This is particularly the case where `new’ pathogens are
concerned and a widely accepted method needs to be
established.
5. Even when techniques are well established, research
continues to try and improve sensitivity, eliminate false
positive and reduce the time taken to obtain results.
THANK YOU!