photo credit = cesco
While news of group food poisoning has recently spread, Cesco has introduced ways to prevent food accidents.
Cesco (CEO Chan-hyeok Jeon, CEO), a comprehensive environmental sanitation company that provides food hygiene diagnosis and food safety education, said, “Food poisoning accidents occur not only in summer, where bacteria thrive due to high temperature and humidity, but also in cool spring and autumn.” Food safety standards must be maintained through hygiene education and management.”
According to the cost of social and economic loss in Korea due to food poisoning, announced by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in June, it amounted to 1.85 trillion won per year. Individuals took a break from work due to hospitalization, resulting in loss of productivity and hospital treatment costs, while companies suffered losses due to product recall, compensation, and brand value decline.
Food poisoning is a disease that causes stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever by ingesting toxins produced by microorganisms along with food and then infecting the digestive system. The causes are diverse, including pathogenic E. coli, norovirus, staphylococcus, and chemicals. When Salmonella is the cause, symptoms such as nerve paralysis, muscle convulsions, and impaired consciousness may appear.
Pathogenic Escherichia coli is present in the large intestine of animals, and livestock excreta is leaked during the rainy season, and sometimes contaminates vegetables. Food poisoning can occur when meat is under-heated or contaminated vegetables are under-washed. If you wash vegetables and leave them at room temperature without refrigeration, be careful as the number of bacteria increases.
Norovirus food poisoning occurs frequently in children’s catering facilities. It can be spread through contaminated raw oysters and groundwater, and the feces and vomit of infected patients. Strict hygiene practices such as hand washing and food washing are required. Salmonella is easily transmitted from eggs, chicken, ice cream, and mayonnaise.
How to prevent food poisoning? The Sesco Food Safety Center advised, “Make cross-contamination management a habit.” “Environmental hygiene management, food storage and use management, cooking process and finished product management, and personal hygiene management should be comprehensively maintained.”
First, environmental hygiene management. Restaurant knives and cutting boards are provided for each ingredient, not one or two. Classify for vegetables, meat, fish, finished products, and processed products, and use each knife and cutting board. If it is difficult to stock all of them, be sure to wash and disinfect them every time you change ingredients. Another option is to spray and wipe with Cesco’s Cescare grain fermented disinfectant. Wooden chopping boards are not recommended.
Even if a restaurant does not have disinfection facilities or does not operate properly, it can become a risk factor for food poisoning. Check if the UV light is broken and needs repair. If the situation is unfavorable, sterilize cooking utensils, etc. with boiling water. Clean the inside and outside frequently using a cleaning agent and disinfectant according to the intended purpose.
Second, food storage and use management. The Sesco Food Safety Center presents the ‘four principles of food material storage’, including temperature control, separation/sealing, cleanliness, and quality/expiration management. Keep eggs and washed vegetables at an appropriate storage temperature, such as storing them below 7℃. It is also important to regularly check the actual refrigeration temperature. In summer, the refrigerator door is often opened and closed, so the cold air is not maintained as much as the set temperature, which can lead to accidents.
To prevent cross-contamination, each ingredient should be stored separately in an airtight container. Refrigerated and frozen warehouses are cleaned at least once a week, and the items that come into the refrigerator are used first. Do not refreeze thawed food.
Third, the cooking process and finished product management. Store at an appropriate temperature to prevent damage to semi-cooked or finished products. In addition, they are stored separately so that they do not come into contact with the ingredients before cooking to avoid cross-contamination. Adhere to sales times.
Fourth, personal hygiene management. Employee training in food handling establishments cannot be overemphasized.
Sesco Food Safety Center said, “During on-site hygiene diagnosis and training, there are many cases of opening and closing refrigerators, using cooking utensils, and touching finished products without washing or disinfecting with hands that touched eggs or meat.” The risk of accidents is high, so management is necessary,” he said. Thoroughly wash your hands before work.
Sesco is a HACCP (HACCP and Food Safety Management Certification Standard) and hygiene education and training institute designated by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. You can receive online education such as food hygiene management for food manufacturing workers on the Internet site ‘Cesco Academy’. In the Sesco simulation center or multimedia lecture room, customized training for on-the-job training is also available. In the White Sesco service, food safety experts directly visit restaurants and food factories to provide diagnosis and education.
Sesco Food Safety Center said, “After a food accident, not only government disposition, but also compensation for customer damage and malicious rumors will follow. .
By Kang Dong-hyun, staff reporter kang_donghyun@koreadaily.com