Food safety involves proper handling of food throughout the supply chain to prevent contamination that could harm health. All steps from agriculture to transportation must follow laws and procedures to ensure contaminants do not enter the food. Failure to follow food safety can have serious economic and health consequences, including foodborne illness and death. Maintaining food safety is crucial to protect lives and support a sustainable food system.

1. Food Safety
May 6, 2023admin
Food safety is a science-based discipline, procedure, or action that guards
against the presence of contaminants that might be harmful to a person’s
health in food. Having food that is safe to eat is the goal of food safety.
Regarding the items you deal with in your food business, food safety refers to
the correct food handling techniques used throughout food preparation,
processing, storage, and delivery. All links in the food supply chain are still
plagued by worries about maintaining the integrity of food safety. Agriculture,
final product packing, and transportation to the consumer’s table are all parts
of the food production life cycle that are of concern.
Understanding what could compromise the integrity and stability of food is
necessary for controlling its safety. Contaminations in your food supply chain
are detrimental to food safety. These contaminants may be brought on by
biological, chemical, physical, or radioactive risks that might have an impact
on all significant points in your business.
Food-related illnesses and accidents can happen
Food safety is made up of methods for handling food that may be used to
make food items healthy. To preserve food safety, every link in the food
supply chain must adhere to set laws and norms. For example, cooking meat
to the proper internal temperature can prevent undercooked meat, proper
segregation can prevent cross-contamination, foods should be stored at the
proper refrigeration temperatures, and other crucial control points can help
prevent infectious diseases from spreading.

2. Take special care with high-risk foods
On some types of food, food-poisoning bacteria can grow and proliferate more
readily than on others. Foods that pose a danger include:
 Raw and cooked meat, including chicken and minced meat, and foods
containing them, such as casseroles, curries, and lasagna
 dairy products, including custard and dairy-based desserts like
cheesecake and custard tarts
 eggs
 smallgoods, including ham and salami; seafood, including seafood
salad, patties, fish balls, and stews with seafood and fish stock
 and eggs and egg products, including mousse.
 Prepared dishes like sandwiches, buns, and pizzas that include any of
the aforementioned items include cooked rice and pasta
 prepared salads such coleslaws, pasta salads, and rice salads
 prepared fruit salads, and prepared fruit salads.
When opened, packaged, canted, and jarred foods can become high-risk
foods and should be handled and kept carefully.
Storing food in the fridge
The temperature in your refrigerator should be 5 °C or lower. The freezer
should be kept at or below -15 °C. Check the temperature in your refrigerator
with a thermometer.
Freezing food safely
Buy chilled and frozen foods last during your trip to the store, then transport
them as soon as you get home to store them. Try to include an insulated
cooler bag or an ice pack to keep frozen items chilled on hot days or for
journeys lasting more than 30 minutes. While you transport the food home,
keep the hot and cold items apart.
Place refrigerated and frozen goods in the refrigerator or freezer as soon as
you get home. Make sure the food you are freezing is solidly frozen.
Storing cooked food safely
When you wish to chill down prepared food:
 To aid in the quickest possible cooling, place hot food in shallow dishes
or divide into smaller servings.

3.  Avoid putting hot food in the fridge. Before putting food in the
refrigerator, wait until no longer steaming from the food.
Avoid refreezing thawed food
Avoid thawing frozen food in the temperature risk zone because food
poisoning germs might flourish there. Prior to cooking, store defrosted food in
the refrigerator. Cook the meal right away after defrosting it if you’re using a
microwave to defrost it.
Avoid refreezing thawed food in general. Food that has been frozen twice is
more likely to contain harmful microorganisms. The danger is based on how
the food was handled during thawing and refreezing as well as its state when
it was frozen. Once thawed, raw food should never be frozen again.
Store raw food separately from cooked food
Foods should be kept separate from cooked food in the refrigerator. Cold
cooked food can get contaminated by germs from raw food, and if the meal is
not fully cooked again, the bacteria can grow to lethal levels.
Raw food should always be kept in closed or airtight containers in the bottom
of the refrigerator. To prevent liquids like meat juices from leaking down and
contaminating the cooked meal, keep raw foods below cooked items.
Choose strong, non-toxic food storage containers
Only use your food storage containers to store food, and make sure they are
clean and in good condition. To avoid possible contamination, wrap them in
plastic film, foil, or tight-fitting covers. Opened cans should have their contents
put into appropriate containers.
If in doubt, throw it out!
Food at high risk that has been in the danger zone for more than 4 hours
should be thrown out; it should not be refrigerated or saved for later. Food
goods should be discarded if they have passed their use-by dates. Throw it
out if you’re unsure of the use-by date.
What is the status of food safety in Pakistan?
Pakistan is currently self-sufficient in key staples; it is rated eighth in the
production of wheat, tenth in that of rice, fifth in that of sugarcane, and fourth
in that of milk. Despite this, the National Nutritional Survey 2018 from the

4. Ministry of Health and UNICEF found that just 63.1% of households in the
nation are “food secure”.
What are the different types of food safety?
There are four different kinds of dangers to take into account:
 risks from microorganisms. Viruses, yeasts, molds, and bacteria are all
examples of microbiological risks.
 Chemical dangers
 Physical risks
 allergens
What are the 7 principles of food safety?
When creating HACCP plans that achieve the stated objective, seven
fundamental principles are used. These guidelines cover risk analysis, CCP
identification, setting critical limits, monitoring protocols, remedial measures,
verification techniques, record-keeping, and documentation.
Why is food safety important?
According to recent data from the World Health Organization, unhygienic food
is thought to be the cause of at least 600 million foodborne diseases
worldwide. At least 420,000 of these folks pass away each year. Productivity
loss and increased medical costs brought on by the burden of foodborne
diseases might hinder economic advancement.
Pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria that cause food poisoning or
food intoxication, are to blame for the bulk of food safety problems. They may

5. result in minor to severe health issues, such as watery diarrheic, vomiting,
stomach discomfort, and even chronic infections and deadly illnesses. Both
customers and owners of food businesses may die as a result of food safety
problems.
Simple and common foods are readily polluted. High-risk components and any
perishable food, such as eggs, poultry, fresh fruits, raw deli meats, deli
seafood salads, undercooked seafood, ground beef, raw sprouts, and raw
milk products are a few examples of foods linked to common diseases. If
precautions are not taken, these substances may become contaminated with
intestinal pathogens like bacteria and result in an illness.
Following are a few justifications for maintaining strict control over food safety:
 Protection from food-related diseases and other harms. Protecting
consumers of food products from foodborne illnesses or accidents
associated with food intake is the primary goal of food safety. Because
of insufficient food safety, foodborne diseases pose a serious danger to
the food industry and harm people everywhere. Foodborne pathogens,
which might include dangerous bacteria, fungus, yeasts, parasites, or
viruses, are mostly to blame for these side effects. In addition, chemical
compounds, heavy metals, and excessive additions can potentially
result in acute poisoning and foodborne diseases. With insufficient food
safety management procedures, a disease is likely to flourish depending
on the type of your items.
 Cost savings from problems with food safety. Food that has been found
to be unsafe may be judged unsuitable for ingestion and may require
disposal. Recalls of faulty products increase costs for businesses, have
an adverse effect on your profitability, and can result in business
collapse. Recall-related expenses are not just measured in terms of
financial gain. You can be responsible for paying for medical costs or
litigation alleging damages if the food safety issue has spread widely.
On the consumer’s side, good food safety practices can lower
expensive medical costs due to a lower chance of illness. Eating
unhygienic food might result in hospitalization and raise the expense of
medical treatment.
 Decrease waste. Food goods that have been found to have problems
with food safety may be thrown away. As a result of a more efficient
food manufacturing process, a food firm may reduce waste through the
adoption of good food safety practices. Systems for managing food
safety are also created to find and stop food risks even before they

6. reach manufacturing, which, if processed further, might result in greater
waste.
 A superior way of life. Any foodborne disease reduces consumer
productivity. Consumers who become unwell will be able to operate
normally and, in severe situations, may even require hospitalization.
Activities in daily life are drastically disrupted by these incidents. These
incidents can be avoided if food safety procedures are followed both at
a restaurant and at home. Without the difficulty and risks associated
with food safety problems, everyone may relish in the pleasures that
food brings and lead a healthy life.
 Food production that is sustainable. Several communities have
previously protested against certain methods of food production
because of the harm they do to the environment. Food production
procedures that safeguard both the customer and the environment are
part of good food safety practices. Food safety laws regulate actions
such as decreasing the amount of synthetic fertilizers that can
contaminate food items. Food safety practices also ensure that drinking
water is clean and reduce environmental pollutants including sewage,
air pollution, and other pollutants that have a big impact on the
environment. These methods are quite effective. Since water is a crucial
component in practically all processes, contaminated water may readily
damage all other elements and enter the human body.
 Safer globalization of food. All rules pertaining to food safety are created
to safeguard customers from problems with food safety. Your products
will be as competitive as possible if you follow these thorough
recommendations, especially given how quickly the food sector is
becoming globally diversified. Your food business has access to a wider
distribution network with the help of effective management systems for
food safety.
How does food safety help to save lives?
More than people realize, food safety plays a significant role across the whole
food chain. To safeguard consumers’ health from any foodborne illnesses,
food enterprises must employ food safety management systems. Beyond this
idea, food security and safety also contribute to vital societal needs.
When applied correctly, food safety practices may aid in identifying and
reducing food safety issues, as well as promoting economic growth, food
security, and ongoing, sustainable development. A constant supply of food for
everyone may be assured by offering safe food for consumption. The

7. numerous advantages of food safety in a variety of spheres of life
demonstrate why it is crucial for everyone.
In the food sector, the idea of farm-to-fork (or farm-to-table) food safety is
well-known. According to this idea, food safety must be followed from the
point at which raw foods are first generated until the completed product is
delivered to the consumer. Laws like the Food Safety Management Act in the
United States have set normative food safety practises for cultivating
vegetables. The farm-to-fork idea highlights how risks to food safety can
appear at any stage of the food supply chain.
Negative effect of food safety
More than 200 illnesses, ranging from cancer to diarrhoea, are brought on by
unsafe food that contains dangerous germs, viruses, parasites, or chemical
chemicals. Malnutrition and illness spiral out of control as a result, especially
impacting the elderly, the sick, young children, and babies.
Causes of poor food safety
The use of filthy and contaminated utensils, inadequate staff self-hygiene
practices, incorrect holding temperatures of potentially hazardous foods,
wrong cooking temperatures, getting food from unsafe sources, and improper
holding temperatures are the top 5 risk factors for foodborne diseases.
3 effects of food insecurity
The risk of developing many chronic health issues, including diabetes,
obesity, heart disease, mental health disorders, and other chronic diseases, is
raised by food insecurity and a lack of inexpensive access to nutrient-rich
food.
Reference
 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/food-
safety#:~:text=Unsafe%20food%20containing%20harmful%20bacteria,c
hildren%2C%20elderly%20and%20the%20sick.
 https://www.foodsafety.gov/