Ignorance of food handling procedures contribute to foodborne diseases
Almost all the factors that contribute to food disease result from ignorance of proper food-handling procedures or from the unwillingness of some individuals in food industries (including food processor) to comply with the basic guidelines for proper food handling. Thus foodborne diseases will continue to occur at unnecessarily high rates as long as:
- Food handlers do not employ strict sanitation in both their personal habits and in the maintenance of their work area and equipment
- Foods are not properly refrigerated
- Foods are not adequately processed
- Cross contamination situations are not avoided
- Management does not realize the importance of preventing foodborne disease
Proper food handling procedures include rather simple techniques, such as holding at specified temperatures, but they also include complex procedures, such as those for calculating processing times and predicting certain biochemical reactions that might result from processing modifications.
Ordinarily, therefore, at some level in the food processing stage, the services of a professional food technologist are required. Once a food has been properly processed, the remaining handling it undergoes does not require a professional food technologist, but it does require periodic quality control checks by personnel qualified in microbiology and sanitation.
Ignorance of food handling procedures contribute to foodborne diseases
