Standards of Food Preparation and Handling to Keep Our Food Safe

When something is contaminated, it has been infected by an unsafe organism, such as a virus, parasite, fungus, or bacteria. Food poisoning can occasionally be caused by these microbes' toxic byproducts. Your body reacts to remove the toxins once you consume anything unsafe. You may vomit, get diarrhea, stomachache,get a fever and all of these. Always consult the doctor if symtoms  persist.
 

Various organisms and how they contaminate food:

These are: 

• Bacteria- this is most common cause of food contamination and other food borne disease. They can multiply rapidly from a single cell of microbe to millions. Example of common bacteria is salmonella. Animals that are used in food production in poultry farm and livestocks are common carriers of this bacteria. This maybe consumed by humans for example raw egg and may caused  food poisoning. They can be killed or stopped by cooking or freezing but in some ways some bacteria can still survive the extreme hot and cold temperature.
• Viruses- this is another cause of food contamination and the same as bacteria they multiply rapidly and can survive extreme cold and hot temperatures. 
• Parasites-  tapeworms and roundworms are common parasites living on animals and may passed to humans by eating the animals that are infected by these parasites. For example eating raw fish such as sushi may caused food poisoning and contamination
• Protozoa-  this tiny cell microbes are found in food and water for example giardiasis found in contaminated water because of improper sewage disposal of humans and animals these may enter the food and caused food borne disease  
• Fungi- most fungi are beneficial to human for example mushroom and yeast but some are harmful and poisonous such as molds in bread and food store in refrigerator. These may consumed by humans 

There are ways food can be contaminated  and these we can summarized how to prepare and handle to keep the food safe.

1. Contamination through chemicals.

Chemical contamination happens when some chemicals that are used in the kitchen such as disinfectants for cleaning  may be left  in the utensils, surface kitchen or spray that may be sprayed to uncovered food. Another thing is, the fertilizers and pesticides used in vegetable and fruits, all of these can caused food poisoning. So to prevent this food handlers must: 

• Store chemicals in a safe place.
• Always follow instructions on chemical labels how to handle it.
• Cover the food.
• Wash the vegetables and fruits thoroughly

2. Microbial contamination

 This happen when certain organisms and microbes contaminate the food

Food handlers must:

• Cook the meat  thoroughly
• Proper storage of raw food is a must.
• Always ensure that pest for example flies and cockroaches won't contaminate food by controling them and cover the food always.
• Read food labels and their expiry dates
• Carefully store the food and check for molds such as in bread and food in refrigerator.
• Always sterilize kitchen utensils.

3.  Physical food contamination 

This happens when foreign objects such as jewelry, plastic, other food equipment contaminate food or may enter the food. 

To prevent this food handlers must:

• Wear proper clothes during food preparation. Avoid wearing jewelries and wear hairnet
• Change equipment immediately if it's broken 

4. Allergenic food contamination

This contamination happens when a person is allergic to certain allergens and preparation of food is not properly handled.

To prevent this they must:

• Always make sure that the food they eat comes from approved suppliers if they have allergy to certain food.
• Separate utensils that were used for certain food that can caused allergy and clean properly before and after using them. 
• Separate certain allergic products and store them properly.

There are many organisms that can caused food contamination and we can describe them in how they contaminate and infect the food consumed by humans. 

The reasons of food contamination  are also through food production, growing, harvesting, processing slaughtering, storing and shipping. Some food especially raw food, ready to eat food, salads can be source of these harmful organisms in food.

There are ways that food can be contaminated as mentioned above together with how food must be handled and should be understood well by food handlers specially in every household. These are ways to prevent  from food poisoning and  the safety of food. 

Source: https://www.highspeedtraining.co.uk/hub/four-types-contamination/