Food safety practices can be adopted across the food supply chain in the food sector. These procedures can get quite sophisticated when applied to a crucial control point.
Food safety techniques are employed to control food safety hazards that can lead to harmful occurrences, whether they are simple or complex. These dangers might be biological, physical, or chemical, and they can cause severe problems for any food company.
The majority of food safety procedures are based on four basic steps. The following are the four C’s of food safety:
- Cleaning
- Cooking
- Cross-contamination
- Chilling
These are based on the primary concepts for dealing with various types of food safety concerns, and they can be used to derive a variety of other food safety procedures.
They are always included in the many precursor programs for more advanced food safety management systems. Food safety can be easily attained and corporate earnings and customer confidence can be simply increased if these four duties are constantly implemented and monitored.
1- Cleaning
This food safety procedure can be used in a variety of ways. Raw ingredients, food contact surfaces, facilities, equipment, raw materials, and employee hygiene are all areas where it can be used.
Contact Surfaces:
Contact surfaces with food Cleaning could imply keeping all food contact surfaces clean and sanitary at all times. These food preparation surfaces are easily contaminated by microorganisms and can cause foodborne diseases.
Raw ingredients and cooked meals can travel via a single preparation area, which is especially useful in a small kitchen. Cleaning and sanitation must be maintained at all times in such situations.
Facilities:
Cleaning can be done on the floors, walls, windows, and doors of all the rooms in your restaurant in this way. Complete cleaning entails utilizing the appropriate cleaning solutions and materials. Use a cleaning schedule to ensure that the right supplies and timing are used every time.
Although the facility and kitchen environment must be designed to avoid physical risks such as dust, cleaning must be done regularly. Dust can readily contaminate food and cause deterioration, especially with high-risk ingredients and goods.
Raw Materials:
While raw materials will still be treated, they will also need to be cleaned. In this sense, cleaning can involve removing physical risks like excess soil on root crops, examining for debris, or separating unfit materials. This decreases the likelihood of product spoiling and the possibility of spreading any food safety hazards.
Equipment:
Because kitchen equipment is regularly used, it must be cleaned before and after each use. Sanitation is also required, particularly before operation.
This procedure guarantees that there is no remaining food material in the nooks and corners of the kitchen equipment, which could attract hazardous bacteria. Equipment and cooking utensils should be washed in soapy water and rinsed thoroughly with warm water.
Employee’s Personal Hygiene:
Cleaning can be accomplished in this scenario by following good food hygiene procedures, such as handwashing before and after handling goods. All food employees must be taught how to properly wash their hands.
To be effective, it must be done correctly. Steps like doing it for at least 20 seconds and using soapy, hot water will ensure that foodborne bacteria are removed.
Here you can learn more about appropriate handwashing and order an instructional poster for your team. Wearing a protective uniform, clean clothes, neatly tied hair, and regularly clipped nails are all examples of personal hygiene.
Also Read: What are Some Important Regulatory Requirements for Food Safety, Quality and Compliance
2- Cooking
Cooking is required to keep foods such as raw meats, milk, and other dishes safe for ingestion. The initial microbial load of foods is reduced to safe levels, and target pathogens are killed in this step. Many food safety authorities have published food safety standards for cooking various types of food.
When cooking, keep the following in mind:
Measurement of Target Temperature:
To keep food safe and pleasurable for everyone, guidelines for cooking various meals have been set. The application of heat must be precise and well-guided to complete this stage effectively.
To ensure that you are targeting the correct internal temperature for your food, use a clean food thermometer and a cooking chart.
Follow the Prescribed Time:
The heat treatment must be administered for a precise amount of time in addition to an exact temperature reading. This guarantees that the cooking process is efficient. If you want to cook meals at a lower temperature, you may also use a longer cooking time.
For example, whereas the recommended temperature for cooking chicken is 74 °C (165 °F), it can be cooked at 62.8 °C (145 °F) for 9.8 minutes if the temperature is maintained.
Evenly Cooked Food:
t’s crucial to get the right internal temperature when preparing meals. Doing so each time ensures that the food is treated equally and that the heat reaches the coldest parts of the item, avoiding cold spots.
Serving Hot food:
Foods that are supposed to be served shortly after cooking must be kept hot in addition to being cooked properly. This procedure ensures that the food being served is safe. To prevent pathogenic bacteria from growing, keep food at a temperature of at least 63 °C (145 °F).
Reheating of Leftover Foods:
Leftovers are fairly prevalent, whether in a restaurant kitchen or at home. These foods have already been exposed to outside influences and may have attracted a low number of germs. Reheat leftover foods to 74 °C (165 °F) to assure their safety when serving them again.
Also Read: Importance of Traceability to Food Safety, What are the Challenges?
3- Cross-Contamination
This step refers to one of the quickest methods for viruses and foodborne diseases to spread. Cross-contamination is defined as the transfer of food safety hazards from one location to another. This occurrence can be divided into three categories:
- Food to Food
- Equipment to Food
- People to food
Any food establishment faces a significant danger of cross-contamination. When food hygiene measures are not followed and a team’s approach to food safety is not effectively managed, this occurs.
Hazards, particularly infections, can be easily conveyed without anyone knowing. Cross-contamination can be seen in the following instances:
- When handling raw foods such as meat and vegetables without first washing your hands. Because vegetables are less processed than meat, transmitted germs have a better chance of survival.
- Using soiled clothes, protective gear, utensils, and other food-contact products.
- When sick, workers are permitted to work. Viruses from ill kitchen personnel can be passed to food, making them a vector for disease transmission.
- Using only one chopping board or not washing food contact surfaces thoroughly enough during food preparation.
- Incorrect way of washing hands
Knowing how and when cross-contamination might occur is the first step in preventing it. Food handlers can become more attentive and conscious of their actions as a result of this. Furthermore, proper food hygiene standards can be implemented to assist prevent cross-contamination.
Read More: How Does Food Quality Management Software Benefit You?
4- Chilling
Chilling is a food safety method that aids in the prevention of foodborne illness. The basic idea behind chilling is that the low temperature of a refrigerator inhibits pathogen reproduction.
This holds for both cooked and uncooked materials. As a result, the low temperature during chilling must be maintained consistently.
Here are a few things to keep in mind while chilling:
- If raw ingredients, such as raw meat, are not going to be used right away, chill them.
- Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours of eating a portion of them. Allowing leftovers to sit in the danger zone draws pathogenic germs, causing them to spoil.
- To chill effectively, set the refrigerator to between 0 °C and 5 °C (32 °F and 41 °F).
- Arrange goods in the refrigerator by grouping them. Separate cooked and ready-to-eat foods from materials such as meat, as well as those that will only require little preparation. Raw meats should be stored towards the bottom of the refrigerator to avoid fluids from spilling.
- To maintain accurate temperature readings, calibrate the fridge thermometer regularly.
- Keep your refrigerator tidy.
Foods must be chilled as quickly as possible before chilling. The cooldown procedure should be completed within the first two hours, if possible.
This phase keeps the general temperature from dropping, allowing it to cool all of the foods inside. The greatest technique to increase the shelf life of food and store perishable raw materials for later use is to chill them. Foods can stay healthy for a long time if prepared appropriately.
Importance of following the 4 C’s of food safety:
The four C’s of food safety are more than just good food handling habits. They are necessary food safety chores that assist every food firmly in remaining compliant.
They also aid in the prevention of foodborne illness. The quality of services and food items must always be safe for anyone to enjoy.
The 4 C’s of food safety can assist any food company in achieving the following advantages:
Cost Saving:
Food businesses may reap the benefits of their products and services when they are prepared and served correctly. Product recalls cost you money, time, and effort, and they will undoubtedly harm your brand’s image.
Food Safety:
Controlling food safety is the main goal of these major food safety practices. They were created to decrease, if not eliminate, potential food poisoning concerns.
They are broad-based actions that can complement and even enhance the effectiveness of more complex food safety management systems.
Gain Consumer Confidence:
Customers will have more faith in your business if you consistently apply these food safety procedures. They’ll be more likely to return and perhaps recommend your services to their friends.
Avoid Food-related Problems:
When it comes to foodborne infections, the problem can quickly spiral out of control, especially if it has already caused major damage.
Your food business could face lawsuits and product recalls if a serious event occurs, such as a customer’s hospitalization or death. These issues can be avoided if the 4 C’s of food safety are effectively established and maintained.
Employee Training:
These methods can assist your food personnel to become more adept with day-to-day food operations as part of developing their knowledge and skills. Employees can unintentionally enhance and implement the 4 C’s of food safety if they are given precise instructions on how to do so while no one is looking.
One of the most important goals for every food business is to demonstrate to consumers and food safety regulators that it is capable of serving delicious and safe food.
Foodborne illnesses have an impact on not only human lives, but also other industries. When people get sick, the strain on the health-care system grows, while manpower in other businesses declines.
Monitoring the 4 C’s of Food Safety with Folio3:
Cleaning, cooking, avoiding cross-contamination, and chilling are all food safety activities that should always be accompanied by thorough monitoring.
The records developed as a result of monitoring these processes serve as verification of your food’s quality and safety. A well-trained food safety staff and a functional food safety management system can help achieve this.
With everything in place, you may rest easy knowing that your food is safe to eat. These factors can be achieved with proper and lengthy training, as well as consultation with food safety experts.
The faster you attain and maintain compliance in the food sector, the faster you can achieve success. You can utilize our digital Food Safety Management System to help you save time and money on several training programs.
With our services, you may move to a digital platform with sophisticated monitoring forms and checklists to ensure that the 4 C’s of food safety are followed.
What we’re giving is the quickest method to get a comprehensive artificial intelligence-powered FSMS through software developed by AgTech Folio3. We can offer you this in an average of 15 minutes. The procedure isn’t even difficult. All you have to do is answer a few simple questions about your everyday activities. Our technology develops a digital FSMS that is tailored to your business needs using machine-learning software.
You may save 20% of your time managing your food safety operations with our digital FSMS. A real-time dashboard that depicts your everyday operations is available.
Determine which regions require additional care and which become potential sources of food safety issues. With our smart notification feature in our mobile app, you’ll never miss any of the 4 C’s of food safety. This tool alerts your employees to any tasks that must be completed.
Customize any of the monitoring forms we generate for you to enter any specific tasks from your company. You can even have our system automatically fill up your monitoring forms depending on your prior data entries. All your staff has to do now is double-check everything.
At Agtech Folio3, our goal is to make food safety compliance accessible and maintainable for all food enterprises. We recognize the importance of food safety and the difficulties of ensuring that regulations are followed at all times. Join the over 15,000 customers who use our digital FSMS to stay compliant. So join us on our digital monitoring system journey.
