Food Safety Issues In Food Production

Food safety is a system that includes the storage, preparation and presentation of foods to prevent physical, microbial and chemical contamination that cause foodborne diseases. Food safety must be fully ensured at all stages of the chain, from production to consumption.

1. Acceptance of Goods: The acceptance of the products to be accepted by the products to be determined criteria (temperature, cleanliness, packaging suitability, label information, etc.) by evaluating the compliance process is carried out. Products which are not suitable for temperature, past the recommended consumption date, dirty, defective in appearance, defective packages (dents, canned, etc.) should not be received.

2. Storage: It is the process of ensuring that all foods comply with hygiene rules, minimize microbial contamination, ensure shelf life and protection at appropriate temperatures. The products received should be stored in accordance with the instructions and the principle of using the one with the closest recommended date of consumption should be followed in order not to lose its properties in the warehouses.

Unsuitable products should be identified by labeling.
All opened products should be labeled, labeling should follow the shelf life of the product,
Products should be placed in warehouses according to product groups,
When placing the products in the warehouses, the products with the expiry date close by should be placed on the shelves in the front and put into production first,
The floors, walls, ceilings and shelves of the warehouses should be clean,
Rusty, dirty packaged products should not be stored in warehouses,
No wooden case / pallet and carton box,
The products in the storerooms should not come into contact with the wall and the ground,
No open products,
Thawing process should be done by removing the freezer from the freezer to cold stores, the thawed product should not be frozen again, thawing process should not exceed 48 hours,
Clean and dirty products must be stored without inclination to cross-contamination.

3.Preparation and Production: The preparation and production steps are the steps to which food is subjected before cooking.

All tools and equipment used before preparation must be cleaned and disinfected.
Vegetables and fruits to be consumed raw should not be used without disinfecting,
Risky products should not be kept in the kitchen environment for a long time during the preparation stages,
Frozen grain products should not be used without being subjected to extraction without dissolving,
Pulses should be divided into small batches

4.Cooking: Heat treatment of food at certain temperatures.

Cooking must be done according to the recipe of the food.
Make sure that all cooked food is fully cooked and the internal temperature after cooking is above 75 ° C. Clean and disinfected thermometers should be used for temperature controls.
Food should not be tasted with the utensils used during cooking. A separate spoon should be used to taste and should not be treated with the same spoon after one use.
Foods that are found to be below 650C in any way should be re-cooked for 15 minutes at minimum 85 ° C.

5.Cooling: Potentially dangerous foods should not be left at room temperature for a long time to cool down.
Potentially dangerous food should be brought to the appropriate temperature and stored in the cupboards as soon as possible.
Cooked products should be placed in shallow and thin trays of 5-7 cm thickness for cooling from the container in which they are cooked.
The cooked meat should be separated from its water and cooled quickly.
Products cooled to a certain degree should be kept in a closed container.
Stretching should be done at low temperatures (100C). The hot product should not be fully sealed.

6.Service: It is the process of presenting the food after production.
All food must be covered during service.
Before serving hot dishes, the bain-maries must be heated and placed in the bain-marie after the temperature has been checked.
Water should be placed in half of the gastronomes.
The boiler should be opened at the appropriate time and the water temperature should be between 85-90 ° C.
The temperature of the foods served to the hot service should be at least 650 degrees.
Foods to be served cold, salads, cold meats, candies, creams, desserts and sandwiches should be kept in +4 0C refrigerators and served directly from the refrigerator.
Foods offered for cold consumption should not exceed 100C during service.
Tools and equipment used by service personnel must be disinfected and gloves, cap, mask should be used during service.
All risky foods, hot and cold, increased from service should be destroyed at the end of service.

Meral ÖZDURU
Surveillance Services Personnel