Canadians love to eat food!
It’s part of our culture we eat to satisfy our hunger but also to
celebrate special occasions, because we are depressed or simply for something
to do. Given this reality fast food
chains, full service restaurants and the local donut shops are expanding at
tremendous rates, since they recognize that we also crave convenience in order
to make our lives a little easier.
The leading factor causing food borne illness is time and
temperature abuse. Temperature abuse of
food occurs quite simply when food is left at temperatures that are above 4°C/40°F and
below 60°C/140°F. This temperature range is commonly referred
to as The Danger Zone!
A simple rule to follow:
KEEP HOT
FOODS HOT!
Above 60°C/140°F or higher
KEEP COLD FOODS COLD!
Below 4°C/40°F or lower
All hazardous food must be handled with care, examples of
hazardous food are: poultry, meat, dairy products, egg and egg products, fish
and shellfish. What do all of these
foods have in common? They can
support the growth of harmful bacteria! Bacteria are the invisible enemy since they
cannot be seen with the naked eye and do not cause food to have an off odour,
colour, texture or taste. Bacteria need a combination of things to grow: a food source
high in protein, a little warmth, moisture and time. When all of these conditions work together
harmful bacteria can cause you to become very ill. Symptoms range from vomiting, diarrhea,
nausea, fever and headache, when the hazardous food are not properly handled,
prepared, stored or served.
Bacteria can double in
number every twenty minutes if they are on food that is held in the danger
zone. Let’s see how it actually works at
a glance starting with a single organism.
Time Bacteria
Start 1
1 hours 16
2 hours 256
3 hours 4,096
4 hours 65,536
5 hours 1,048,576
As you can see it does not take
much for bacteria to multiply to cause illness.
Therefore controlling the temperature is vital in the prevention of food
borne illness.
Research statistics show that 77% of food
poisoning occurs in food service establishments, 20% occur in the home and 3%
occur in food processing plants. Regardless of where we eat, the rules of food
safety remain the same.