The tourism was considered one of the most
important sectors either socially or economically, this
means that they consume meals prepared in hotels and
restaurants. Access to safe, nutritious and good quality
food is considered a basic right of people. Food safety in
hotels and restaurants is very critical point, because the
available facilities in hotels in many places do not meet
the required hygienic standards. Therefore, the number of
guests who come annually may be affected if they suffer
from food poisoning due to consumption of contaminated
food. Therefore, there is an urgent need to implement an
international system as a tool for assuring food safety in
this sector.
Globally, food safety problems in most food serving
establishments (hotels and restaurants) arise from bad
holding; inadequate cooking or reheating, unsafe sources,
cross contamination from infected persons and
contaminated equipments, utensils and cutting boards,
raw food, especially meat, poultry and their juices, and
addition of toxic chemicals . Recontamination of cooked
meat by food borne pathogens, as Staphylococci, may
arise from hands and clothes of workers or from
equipment’s and utensils.
The failure of food manufacture to assure the
production and distribution of safe food products leads to
many serious food borne diseases which cause
considerable morbidity and mortality, as well as
reduction in economic productivity.
Food safety has become top priority for regulatory
agencies all over the world. Traditional quality control
procedures, which rely on end – line inspection of
product hygiene, are not effective in identifying causes of
hygiene failure. A relative new approach for the
prevention and control of the probable health hazards is
"HACCP" system.
HACCP "Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point" is
a prevention based food safety system. It involves the
systemic identification and assessment of physical,
chemical and biological hazards, and the preventive
measures for their control to ensure food safety. It focuses
on prevention rather than examination of the end-
product. Moreover, it can be effectively applied
throughout the food chain from producer to consumer.
There is a strong positive effect of mandatory HACCP
implementation on process hygiene indicators in meat
establishments. Significant reductions were observed in
the number of hygiene indicator organisms on all types of
surfaces examined and types of meat establishments
investigated.
The 7 HACCP principles are (a) Conduct a hazard
analysis. (b) Determine critical control points. (c)
Establish critical limits. (d) Establish monitoring
procedures. (e) Identify corrective actions. (f) Verify that
the system works, (g) Establishing of keeping records and
documentation.
Presence of Staphylococcus aureus in a food indicates
its contamination from food handlers and inadequately
cleaned equipment.
The industry, consumers and government have a joint
responsibility to bring about greater knowledge and
better hygiene practices.
The inadequately cleaned cutting equipment act as a
major source of E. coli contamination during boning. The
faulty in meat handling, poor personnel hygiene,
Editorial
Volume 4 Issue 5
Received Date: October 11, 2019
Published Date: October 22, 2019
DOI: 10.23880/fsnt-16000194
Food Science and Nutrition Technology
Fahim Aziz Eldein Mohamed. Food Hygiene and Control. Food Sci Nutr
Technol 2019, 4(5): 000194.
Copyright© Fahim Aziz Eldein Mohamed.
2
inadequate cleaning methods and lack of facilities for the
segregation of raw and cooked meat resulted in a
significant increase in the occurrence of food borne
illness.
The slaughtering processing, such as bleeding,
dressing and evisceration, expose the sterile muscle to
microbial contaminants that were present on the skin, in
the digestive tract and in the environment.
The increases in bacterial numbers following boning
are due to cross contamination from surfaces and
equipment within the boning hall and from handlers.
Particular concern is the cross contamination of meat cuts
with faecal organisms such as occurred at the inside
round site. Log values for total coliforms and
Enterobacteriaceae at this site increased by
approximately two orders of magnitude, while the log
value for E.coli increased by approximately three orders
of magnitude.
Catering for large functions presents many potential
problems associated with the advanced preparation and
storage of large quantities of food which then must be
safely transported, displayed and served in venues that
are often not designed for the purpose.
The faecal matter was a major source of
contamination and could reached carcasses through
direct deposition, as well as by indirect contact through
contaminated and clean carcasses, equipment, workers,
installations and air.
Staphylococcus aureus is indeed found in the nostrils,
and on the skin and hair of warm-blooded animals. The
main sources of contamination are human handlers
Contaminate food via manual contact or via the
respiratory tract by coughing and sneezing) and post
contamination occurs after heat treatment of food.
Nevertheless, in foods such as raw meat and sausage,
contaminations from animal origin are more frequent. E.
coli O157:H7 and other strains are not naturally present
in carcasses, but they can be present as result of the direct
cross-contamination during the slaughter process.
The frequency of potential pathogens in the
surrounding environment and surfaces of retail shops
was also examined. High viable counts and the presence
of potential pathogens on meat-processing equipment, as
well as on the walls and floors of retail shops, represent
their environmental hygiene status. However, it is
interesting to note that consumer platforms or counters of
the shops were cleaner than the floors and walls, which
might be due to mopping of this area several times in a
day. The presence of bacterial pathogens in meat-
processing equipment and associated surfaces may
contribute to the contamination of meat. Previously, it has
been demonstrated that mincing meat with dirty
equipment significantly increases the level of
contamination in minced meats as compared to that in
whole carcasses; furthermore, the process of mincing has
the potential to introduce pathogens such as Listeria
monocytogenes .On the other hand, food-borne pathogens
which are able to disseminate from contaminated meat to
such surfaces can spread infections in the community.
The gross unhygienic condition of food offered to the
consumers. Pathogens such as Salmonella spp., Shigella
spp. and Escherichia coli were the main identified
organisms in the catering establishments. It is concluded
that the sanitary conditions of studied subjects required
strict follow up for the provisions of sanitary codes.
Improper food handling and preparation measures
were identified and addressed by the appropriate
authorities, who provided additional detailed education
on food preparation safety for the persons who prepared
the meal.
Most of the meat and fish products that are sold are
commonly contaminated with pathogenic
microorganisms potential sources of microbial
contaminations are the equipment used for each
operation that is performed until the final product is
eaten, the clothing and hands of personnel and the
physical facilities themselves are all implicated. |
