Keeping the Foods Safe with FOODSAFE #1

Recently, Baker J has been working on FOODSAFE Level 1 to get a certificate. He did not start taking the course yet, but he was looking up some resources online to prepare for it. Today, he was reading something called Participant Workbook. At first sight, it looked like a comic book, which grabbed my attention. I asked him if I could have a look at it! Well–long story short, it was not a comic book. But it was a well-illustrated guidebook to the food safety criteria in any kitchen, which was quite interesting! I thought it would be helpful for everyone if I could share what I learned from the book with you all.

It may not seem questionable that the foremost priority in any kitchen is cleanliness. After all, what we eat goes directly into our bodies–which is one of the shortest access for diverse exteriorities that can cause us to be sick! While this seems self-evident, I realized that many things that can cause contamination may slip through our memories if we are unaware.

The book talks about something called FATTOM, which stands for Food, Acid, Temperature, Time, Oxygen and Moisture. Those are factors that influence the activities of bacteria in any food. Because there are certain conditions that bacteria need to survive or to be active, food handlers must try to avoid them as much as possible! Bacteria prefer moderate levels of acidity and temperature, oxygen and high moisture. They double up their populations depending on time as well. So leaving food outside for contamination for a long time would be a bad idea.

I could guess that it is common for any book on food safety would talk about these topics. But I was surprised that this book gives detailed advice on how food handlers should behave in any kitchen. Because latex is an allergen, a food handler should avoid using latex gloves to avoid intoxication or allergic shocks for the guests. One should also restrain body hairs to prevent them from contaminating the foods!

Cross-contamination and direct transmission are two ways raw animal-based foods can contaminate other products. If we put raw meat on a higher shelf than vegetables for salads, the drippings from the animal-based food could fall down on the produces, contaminating the salads–this is called direct transmission. Cross-contamination involves another item in the middle. Let us say that I cut fish on a cutting board. Afterwards, I cut vegetables in the same place without washing and sanitizing the tools. It will contaminate the vegetables with things from the fish.

I have not finished reading the book because it has 100 pages! But I asked Baker J to lend the book to me today, so I think I can continue reviewing this book and share more information!