How to know that your premise(s) is (are) clean or otherwise?

Here are 6 tips to determine whether a premise is clean or otherwise. Check it out ~

1. Eating table

When we are approaching a food premise, the first thing we do will be touching tables and chairs.  If they are oily or contains food leftovers that the tables / chairs are not cleaned probably, it is probably also the tables for food preparing would be also not cleaned probably.

2. Food Handlers

Choose food premise where their cook are dressing apron, head cover, glove when they are preparing food. Food servers are wearing clean attire, no accessories and with short nails.

3. Toilet

If the premise's toilet are dirty, water tap stucked, no soap, no tissue paper, it is probably the premise's kitchen would also have the same situation.  If the hawkers surrounding is dirty like toilet, it is probably the food's safety is questionable.

4. Food Premise Grading

Local Authority (PBT) and Ministry of Health (KKM) always survey and grading food premise according to it's hygiene: Grade A (Excellent), B (Good), C (Satisfactory).  The Grades are displayed so that we can choose clean premise.

5. BeSS logo

BeSS is KKM's accreditation which containing 3 aspect: Clean, Save and Healthy.  The screening of this accreditation is strict.  The owners / business managers should attend course, the premise would be checked and if it pass the standard, the premise will be awarded BeSS certificate.  Restaurant, Hawkers, Caterer, Food Truck can apply.

6. Customer's Feedback

In this century, many food premise have geo-tagging which can be put feedback / review form. Read customer's review about the food premise.  However, they are only for reference as some customers' review is subjective and in-accurate. 

If you are are Food manager and would like to know how to apply BeSS, kindly visit District Health Department or the your nearest State Health Department, Food Safety & Quality Division for guidiance.

GUIDIANCE is free!   

Credit: SAFE FOOD, Melaka Health Department, Food Safety & Quality Division

Ice keeping - Avoid cross contamination

Many of us / food business owners buy ice for preparing cold drinks and food.  Before we are doing that,  do you know how to keep ice in safe (to avoid food contamination)? Do you separate the storing of ice from raw food?

   Yes, we should not keep ice together with raw food in freezer.  Ice is a ready to eat food that does not go through cooking to kill bacteria whereas raw food, such as chicken, meat, duck, seafood (high risk food) contains bacteria. When 2 foods are stored together in a freezer, cross contamination from raw food to ice will occur, resulting the ice contaminated.  

Most of the bacteria not active at freezing temperature.  However, when we open and close the freezer cover, we are actually providing changes for the bacteria of the surrounding to be active for a while and potentially transferring to the adjacent food.  For ice, bacteria from (unclosed / uncovered) meat will transfer to the adjacent ice.  This is called cross contamination.

When the contaminated ice is taken out from the freezer and it is used in drinks, the bacteria would potentially producing toxin, causing food contamination in the drinks. The other possibility is when the freezer is broken down in a sudden.  The temperature increase resulting the bacteria will be active for a while and transfer to the ice.

So, we shouldn't put ice / food which would not under washing and / or cooking process with the food which would under such processes to avoid cross contamination. 

When the space of freezer is limited and there is no other choice, we can put them into freezers but to make sure both food are wrapped / closed probably and to be isolated each other and stored probably.      

Reference: Regulation 25(4)(a) of 2009 Food hygiene Regulations - a separate refrigerated storage for raw food materials and processed food materials is sufficiently provided 

Credit: ChM. Dr Fatimah Salim (Ahli Kimia) & Food Safety & Quality division, Labuan Federal Territory Health Department

Repeating cooking oil usage

 Are you using cooking oil repeatedly, or did you saw anybody using it repeatedly? For instance, uing cooking oil to fry noodles in the morning, frying chicken at noon and frying fish at night.  The next day, the same batch of oil is used again to fry fried banana, etc.. until the colour of oil become darken.

Do you think it is a good practice? With the increasing of cooking price, perhaps there are people wants to save cost, thinking that it is OK frying food with the cooking oil repeatedly used, as long as the colour is not dark enough. Unfortunately, they are wrong.  Let's have a deeper look in this matters - 

Cooking oil that is being heated many times will lose its nutrition.  There is a study from a group of researcher at Medicine Falcuty, Universtiti kebangsaan Malaysia at 2007.  Study results showing that approximately 98% of vitamin E in cooking oil distroyed after 5 times of reuse (cooking).

Besides, after each high temperature heating, the oil will encounter chemical reactions that will effect consumer's heatlh.  Free radical will be released from saturated and non-saturated fats in cooking oil of going through oxidation.  These free radicals will result cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative disease.      

Credit to: Ministry of Health