Food Safety Inservice Are there bugs in your food?? Connie Cavenaugh UAMS Infection Control

Food Borne Illnesses Caused by pathogens: –Viruses –Bacteria –Parasites –Fungi

FAT TOM- what every bug needs to live Food Acidity Temperature Time Oxygen Moisture

How to stop the madness Time & temperature control Hand hygiene Reliable food suppliers Employee health issues Watch for cross-conatmination

Nasty little viruses Don’t grow in food Do grow inside a host Usually passed on by food handlers Most common – Hepatitis A & Norovirus

Hepatitis A Usually in feces of infected people Infected people may not have symptoms May be in fish in contaminated water Not destroyed by cooking There’s a shot for that

Norovirus – a.k.a. my cruise was a blast Only takes a small amount Become ill & CONTAGIOUS very quickly Often from infected foodhandlers There’s not a shot for this

Moral of the story SICK people have to stay at home! Foodhandlers with diarrhea & jaundice are not a good idea.

Bacteria & food – not a good combo Keep food out of the temperature danger zone. Under right conditions, bacteria grow fast Can change to spores and back again to live Can produce toxins Pick your contamination point – water, people, soil, milk, meat, produce, etc, etc.

Just to mention a few Bacillus cereus Listeriosis E.Coli Clostridium Salmonella Shigella Staph aureus

Creepy little parasites Grow in the meat of another animal Caused by eating contaminated food or water Can be in fish from contaminated water Know where your food comes from!!

Fungi – are they in your kitchen? Mold – unless it’s good mold, then just cut it off. Yeast – smell or taste like alcohol

Biological toxins – as bad as it sounds Seafood toxins –Can’t smell or taste it –Can’t freeze or cook it away –May be in fish or shellfish –Can be fatal if you eat enough –May attack the central nervous system

Mushroom toxin Life lesson – don’t pick your own mushrooms unless you are a professional mushroom picker! Not destroyed by cooking or freezing

High risk populations The very young and very old Pregnant women Immunocompromised patients People with metabolic diseases like diabetes People with immune diseases

One more time from the top Healthy employees with clean hands Food cooked & held at right temp. Reliable suppliers Correct storage & handling Clean equipment & area Training sessions for employees