Foodborne illnesses annually have an estimated annual cost of over $100 Billion in both lost productivity and medical expenses, and this is estimated from only reported cases, the actual figure would be much greater.

The cost of having to deal with a foodborne illness case within a hospitality context is much greater than the cost of properly training and educating employees in food safety procedures. It only takes one mistake for an outbreak to occur and it can severely hurt a business.

Some of the costs may include;

Lawsuits
Increased insurance
Low morale for employees
High turnover rate (training new employees)
Negative media attention

Combined, these additional costs can result in the closure of a food establishment, so it is vital to practice food safety at all times.

When talking about what causes people to become sick from eating contaminated food, it is often referred to from three categorised groups; Chemical, Physical and Biological (Biological contamination will be our main area of focus).

Chemical Contamination

Chemical contamination is easily described as some form of harmful chemical getting into food, usually through improper storage or excess concentration.

Chemical contamination often occurs as a result of employees lacking communication with coworkers while using chemicals within the food preparation space. The hospitality industry can be a fast-paced environment, with speed and satisfaction being the main concerns for a lot of employees.

Often when there is an influx of customers to an establishment, the need to clean food preparation areas and equipment increases alongside the need to prepare meals simultaneously.

Without clear communication between employees, raw ingredients can become exposed to chemically coated surfaces or equipment.

Physical Contamination

Physical contamination applies to objects that make their way into food, usually during preparation. Examples include; hair, bandages, fingernails, metal shavings, container plastic, or parts of equipment.

This often occurs when employees are not wearing the correct uniform requirements for interacting with food, such as a hairnet or gloves. It can also be a result of old storage containers and equipment deteriorating and shedding fragments into meals.

This can be easily avoided if an appointed employee conducts regular inventory on the quality and condition of containers and equipment used within the kitchen space and orders and updates pieces as required.

Biological Contamination

Biological contamination is those small and most often microscopic organisms that are either a natural part of the food or are introduced into the food by improper handling.

Biological contaminants that can cause illness are usually grouped into five categories;

Bacteria
Viruses
Parasites
Protozoan
Yeast
Fungus

While all 6 areas of contamination are valid concerns for food safety, contaminants such as Parasites, Protozoan and Yeast do not affect fruits and vegetables as they are not living hosts like meat products are, so they will not be further discussed.

Bacteria

Bacteria are single-celled and can grow anywhere, that means that bacteria do not need a living host such as an animal or human in order to reproduce. This is very important when we talk about food safety and the ability for bacteria to grow in certain types of food.

Viruses

Viruses are the second type of organism that can cause illness. Examples are Hepatitis A and Norovirus. Hepatitis B and C are not foodborne illnesses.

Norovirus is very easily spread and can cause a lot of people to become sick at one time. The virus can also be spread for up to two weeks after symptoms are gone, that’s why it’s so important to practice good personal hygiene. It is imperative that employees practice regular hand-washing both before and after tasks to help greatly reduce Norovirus outbreaks.

It’s also important to know that bacteria and viruses are not simply killed by freezing, cold holding or hot holding.

Fungus

Unlike bacteria, Fungus requires an acidic environment with low water activity. Fungus typically causes food spoilage and are not usually a cause of foodborne illness.

The Top 5 Causes of Biological Contamination

Improper holding time and temperatures
Poor personal hygiene
Inadequate cooking
Contaminated equipment
Food from an unsafe source

1. Holding Time and Temperatures

The number one cause of foodborne illness within the hospitality industry is holding time and temperature. The temperature danger zone is any temperature between 5° to 57°C (41°-135°F)

Bacteria reproduce within this temperature danger zone. Rapid growth occurs after 4 hours. That’s why time and temperature is everything. In short, keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold, that wide lukewarm area in the middle is where things get dicey.

The purpose of holding potentially hazardous foods at proper temperatures is to minimise the growth of any pathogenic bacteria that may be present in the food. The number of bacteria that a person ingests with their food has a direct impact on a possible illness. A small number of disease-causing bacteria may cause mild illness or possibly no illness at all. However, a large number of the same bacteria may cause very severe illness. Holding potentially hazardous foods at improper temperatures may allow pathogenic bacteria to reproduce rapidly and progressively to great numbers, thus putting someone who eats that food at great risk for foodborne illness.

Potentially hazardous foods that are going to be held at cold temperatures (i.e. refrigerated) must be held at a temperature of 5°C (41°F) or below. Examples of cold holding methods include walk-in coolers, prep coolers, cold top tables, holding foods on ice, refrigerated displays, and the use of refrigerated trucks. It is important that the temperature of the food itself be 5°C (41°F) or below at all times. Foods in a cooler that read 40°F in the morning before the facility opens may be well above 5°C (41°F) during a lunch rush with the cooler door constantly opening and closing.

Best ways to cool potentially hazardous food

Ice baths
Shallow pans (preferably metal)
Smaller portions
Frequent stirring

Proper cooling temperatures require potentially hazardous food to be cooled from 57°C to 21°C (135°F-70°F) within 2 hours, then further cooled from 21°C to 5°C (70°F-41°F) within the following 2 hours.

Putting hot food into refrigeration can raise the temperature of the unit and thereby put other foods at risk. Once the food reaches 5°C (41°F) or lower, put the food into shallow or small containers and put it into the refrigerator uncovered. The only time you should have food uncovered within the refrigerated unit is in the process of cooling. Once the food has reached its required temperature, fit it with the appropriate lid.

Keeping cold foods cold

Do not overfill the refrigerator
Refrigerate food deliveries as soon as possible

When you overfill your refrigerator, you put a lot of stress on your refrigerator unit as it tries to maintain a required temperature setting and it also blocks the circulation of cool air within the space.

At the receiving of a shipment, have an appointed employee that is responsive to the delivery of fresh produce and other food products that require specific storage conditions. This immediate action helps cut down on potential idle time the product would spend in a temperature setting that is not conducive to either hot or cold products.

The temperature danger zone is very much a room temperature setting, so no matter how busy your employees are within their hospitality roles, food safety needs to be the top priority. This means dedicating the time to correctly assess the condition of the food products being delivered as well as properly storing away each unique case of food item.

2. Poor Personal Hygiene

No matter what protocols are in place to make sure food is stored at the right temperature, if employee hygiene is not properly addressed then the food is still very much at risk of contracting biological contaminants.

Employees must be sure to properly wash their hands. Improper hand-washing is as dangerous as no hand-washing at all, thorough handwashing is important in preventing illness. Employees should follow these steps to properly wash hands:

Wet hands with warm running water.
Apply a liberal amount of soap to the hands.
The surface of the hands, wrists, and forearms should be scrubbed and rubbed vigorously for at least 20 seconds.
The areas in between the fingers, under nails, and forearms should also be scrubbed and rubbed.
Particular attention should be paid to washing the fingertips. Many microorganisms can be removed by friction alone.
Hands should be rinsed under clean warm running water.
Hands should be dried with a clean disposable towel.

Employees should know when and how to properly wash their hands. Fingernails should be trimmed and maintained so that hand washing will effectively remove any potential contaminants they may be carrying.

Hands should always be washed:

Before food preparation
After touching human body parts
After using the toilet
After coughing, sneezing, using a handkerchief or tissue
After using tobacco, eating or drinking
After taking out the garbage
After handling cleaning chemicals
After picking up dropped items
After caring for or touching animals
Handling dirty dishes
After handling raw foods, before handling ready-to-eat foods
Between glove use (wearing gloves does not replace hand washing)

If you do not feel well, it is in the best interest of everybody that you do not go to work. If you do find yourself going to work still, you should report your illness to your supervisor who may decide to exclude you from certain food handling duties or send you home.

Jaundice is an example of a non-negotiable illness that requires that employees do not enter their place of work.

If an employee that handles food has an infected wound on their hand, be sure to enforce both the covering of the wound with an impermeable cover and the wearing of a single-use glove in order to avoid contact between food products and the infected wound.

3. Inadequate cooking

The way we cook our food is as important as the way we prepare and store it. Inadequate cooking is a common cause of food poisoning.

Cooking food to the proper temperatures is extremely important because many raw meats have pathogenic bacteria on them naturally, such as salmonella on raw chicken. Cooking is the only food preparation step that will actually kill bacteria. Proper holding temperatures slow down reproduction, freezing food makes bacteria go dormant, but proper cooking temperatures will kill bacteria that are in the food. When cooking foods, ensure that the proper temperature is reached by using an accurate probe thermometer to measure the centre of the food. Once the proper cooking temperature has been achieved, ensure that the food remains at or above that temperature for at least 15 seconds to make sure that most if not all of the bacteria are eliminated.

In general, food should be cooked to a temperature of at least 75°C (167°F) or hotter. When food is cooked, it should be eaten promptly, kept hotter than 57°C (135°F), or cooled, covered and stored in the fridge or freezer.

For a more specific temperature gauge for food groups, cook the following foods to the listed minimum temperatures:

Raw poultry such as chicken, duck, and turkey - 75°C (165°F)
Raw ground meats such as ground beef and sausage - 68°C (155°F)
Raw pork, fish, eggs, lamb, and whole pieces of beef - 63°C (145°F)
Fruits and vegetables prior to hot holding - 57°C (135°F)

Some people are more at risk of food poisoning than others. Vulnerable groups include pregnant women, young children, the elderly and anyone with a suppressed immune system. Special care should be taken when preparing, cooking, serving and storing food for these groups.

Safety when cooking high-risk foods

Food poisoning bacteria grow more easily on some foods than others. These high-risk foods include:

raw and cooked meat, including poultry such as chicken and turkey, and foods containing them, such as casseroles, curries and lasagne
dairy products, such as custard and dairy-based desserts like custard tarts and cheesecake
eggs and egg products, such as mousse
small goods such as hams and salamis
seafood, such as seafood salad, patties, fish balls, stews containing seafood and fish stock
cooked rice and pasta
prepared salads like coleslaws, pasta salads and rice salads
prepared fruit salads
ready-to-eat foods, including sandwiches, rolls, and pizza that contain any of the food above.

4. Contaminated Equipment

When utensils or equipment become dirty or contaminated, they can transfer that contamination to the food causing a foodborne illness. This may occur in a number of different ways. If utensils or equipment are not cleaned frequently, and old food residue is allowed to build up at room temperature, bacteria in the residue may multiply rapidly and contaminate any food that comes into contact with it. In order to prevent this from happening, utensils, food preparation equipment, and food contact surfaces should be washed, rinsed, and sanitised at least once every 4 hours. This can be done manually in a 3-compartment sink, in a mechanical dish machine, or through a clean-in-place procedure for large pieces of equipment.

A specific kind of contamination can occur when ready-to-eat foods come into contact with raw animal products or their juices. This is called cross-contamination. When preparing different kinds of foods, a food worker must take great care to ensure that ready-to-eat foods do not come into contact with raw animal products or anything else that raw animal products have touched without first being washed, rinsed, and sanitised. It is possible for cross-contamination to occur due to contaminated utensils, food contact surfaces, and by unwashed hands. Care also needs to be taken in how raw animal products are stored in a refrigerator. Raw animal products must be stored below and away from items such as fresh produce or ready-to-eat foods to prevent any possible dripping or leaking from the raw food container that may cause cross-contamination.

Utensils, equipment, and food contact surfaces may also be contaminated by other means. If they come into contact with dirty mop water, garbage, pesticides, sewage, or anything else that could potentially cause illness.

Contaminated equipment is often a catalyst for food poisoning when equipment such as knives and cutting boards are used to cut and prepare raw foods before interacting with ready-to-eat food.

Make sure you’re properly cleaning dishes and equipment. Most dishwashers rely on chemicals and temperature to ensure the dishes come out clean and sanitised.

If you wash by hand be sure to;

Use hot soapy water
Rinse with hot water
Air dry equipment
Store equipment in a clean dry place

Cleaning and Sanitising

When to clean and sanitise;

Surface is soiled
Switching between raw foods and ready-to-eat foods
Between food preparation tasks

5. Food from unsafe sources

It’s important to use food from approved sources. If you’re ordering food from suppliers that are not approved or regulated by local industry authorities, you are running the risk of exposing your customers to food that has been contaminated long before even arriving at your establishment.

An approved source is a facility where the food produced, prepared, or processed, meets or exceeds the standards of the responsible regulatory agency. This most commonly means that the facility has a valid permit and is inspected on a regular basis by a regulatory agency.

Even when the source you purchase food from is approved, it is still advisable to know exactly how they handle your food before it gets to you. When receiving food, check it to make sure that it is being received at the proper temperatures, that it is not infested with any kind of vermin, and that it has not been adulterated in any way. If the food has been temperature abused, is infested, or has been adulterated, do not accept the delivery. Since it can be difficult to tell if fresh produce has been contaminated prior to delivery, ensure that it is always washed prior to being cut, cooked, prepared, served.

Be sure to store food in clean and dry areas with date markings so that you can rotate through food supplies. This is a simple first-in-first-out approach towards handling fresh produce supplies that sit in storage for a period of time.

Top 5 causes of Foodborne Illness