Hygiene Standards & Food Safety
Hygiene Standards and Food Safety in Hospitality Industry
Introduction
An estimated 600 million – almost 1 in 10 people in the world – fall ill after eating contaminated food and 420 000 die every year ,. These illnesses often result in a huge cost , both economic and social , as those affected experience loss of health or even life . As a source of illness that can be reduced though improved behaviors , many efforts by regulatory and educational institutions have been made towards the prevention of these illnesses . Many of these efforts focus on improving food safety behaviors in the populace with the aim of increasing the hurdles these bacteria or viruses must overcome to ultimately affect a consumer .
Foodborne illnesses are a matter of public health , as outbreaks can quickly affect a large group of people , and can be especially harmful to those who already have weaker immune systems such as residents of nursing community .
homes , hospitals or schools . Foodborne illnesses find their way into the populace through a number of avenues , including restaurants , grocery stores and the home itself . Despite the relatively commonplace nature of these illnesses , many consumers erroneously believe that foodborne illness comes almost exclusively from outside the home . On the contrary , the home can be a large source of foodborne illness and can even result in outbreaks of foodborne illness in the
Consumers get food safety information from a variety of sources , whether learned in the home , in an educational setting , from government agencies and through media . However , this knowledge has been shown to be fairly limited , and observational studies have shown poor practices of these food safety behaviors . Studies have shown that educational efforts in communities can increase knowledge of appropriate food safety behaviors .
Unfortunately , even when consumers have this knowledge , they may not change their behaviors to reflect this knowledge . People are habitual creatures and often times will choose to follow the practices they are familiar with rather than adopting safety recommendations . This makes it difficult to change behaviors in consumers to prevent foodborne illness .
Increased media exposure to food safety issues has been suggested as an avenue to increase consumer awareness and practices of food safety practices . One potential source of information for consumers is cooking shows . Although some studies have shown that cooking shows may not be overly influential in changing how or what people eat , they still may be able to influence food safety among their viewers .
Food Safety , Quality and Consumer Protection The terms food safety and food quality can sometimes be confusing .
Food safety is a scientific discipline describing handling , preparation , and storage of food in ways that prevent foodborne illnesses . This includes a number of routines
20 Africa Water , Sanitation & Hygiene • March - April 2017