Good Manufacturing Practice - a guarantee of confidence

Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) is a program to ensure consistent production that comply food safety measures. It helps to prevent cross-contamination, adulteration, and mislabeling, resulting cut down on losses and waste, and protects both the company and consumer from negative food safety events.

GMP is a food safety assurance program that every food processor should have.  It is foundation for preparing HACCP.  As MeSTI, GMP compliance company gain customers' confidence more than the company that does not have.  Some importers prefer to import goods from exporter that have food safety assurance program such as HACCP, GMP and MeSTI. 

The followings are the GMP guidelines - 

1. Quality Management

2. Sanitation & hygiene

3. Building and facilities / premises

4. Equipment

5. Raw Material

6. Personal

7. Validation and qualification

8. Complaints

9. Documentation and record keeping

10. Inspections and quality audits

These elements would be focused to set up a complete system with SOPs, control and verification.  Every controls and verification would be recorded for future reference or audit purposes. Records are important so that certain issues could be traced when there is a need, such as during product recall or customer complaint.  The GMP system could also be a tool for exporter / manufacturer to discuss the reason of product failure.

To apply GMP, manufacturer could apply from Food Safety and Quality department (FSQ) of Ministry of Health (MOH). After submitting application form, supporting document, GMP manuals and making payment, FSQ would do an adequacy audits (on the submitted document).  When the audit is done, they will schedule a compliance audit on the manufacturer.  There will be a auditors team with a lead auditor have on site and document audit.

After the audit, CARs (if there is any) would be issued to the manufacturer to comply within a period that declared by the manufacturer.  When all CARs are replied, auditor would check on the reply and to discuss whether to close all CARs or request a follow-up audits.  When all CARs are replied, the auditor will support the manufacturer to obtain GMP certification to MOH and the ministry will issue GMP certificate to the manufacturer.

That is not the end, MOH would schedule surveillance audit to the manufacturer once or twice a year. Thus, manufacturer should get ready all records at all time. When the controls had become a routine, the GMP system will be maintained well.     

Credit: 

1. Safety Culture
2. Food Quality & Safety Department, Kedah State health department.
 

PAH at food

PAH (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) is a pollutants resulted from incomplete combustion.  It is also excreted when cooking at high temperature on food with high fats.

This chemical is useful in industrial production but not in food. PAH is a carcinogenic to human by binding to cellular proteins and DNA, resulting cell damage which lead to mutations, tumour and finally cancer.  PAH also reduce the immunity function of the body.     

Factors that effects PAH contains in food are cooking method, burning temperature, smoking process, smoking stage, lipid contents, environment contamination and so on. Food that contain PAH has high level of fats that is grilled, smoked such as sate, meat, barbecues chicken, fish or meat. For instance, scientist discovered smoke fish and meat contains 200 microgram / kg of PAH, barbecued meat contain 130 microgram / kg, charcoal grilled on duck breast steaks without skin had 320 mikrogram / kg and so on. 

To reduce the PAH contents while preparing food, we could

1. Avoid barbecue directly on fire. Use wrappings such as banana leaves of aluminium foil while barbecue or using quarry.

2. Cook slowly, such as adjust small quantity or burning.

3. Throw / reduce fats in the food before barbecue

It is not to say that we should not consume high temperature cooking of food but just to reduce the frequency of consumption. With that we could have a better diet, for us and our family.

Credit: 

1. Sir Sazly Tulih

2. Health Education Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia

3. Science Direct

5 Tips of food storage at refrigerator

The storage of food in refrigerator had been a common practice to prolong the food freshness. However, there are a few things we should always take notes so that the food preservation is done efficiently. The followings are the important tips for your reference.

Tips #1

After purchasing food, do light cleaning, cut into suitable small pieces (if the incoming raw food is in big sizes, such as meat, fish and chicken) and keep the food into a clean and suitable airtight container. Small pieces of food will ease the process of cooling. Meat, chicken, fish and other high risk food should be kept at freezer area nicely. Put all food in order and do not put too close for one another so that all portion of these high risk food can be frozen thoroughly. Too much food in the refrigerator will block the cooling units, resulting the cooling is not efficiently done. Cool air should be circulating in the whole refrigerator. Store fruits and vegetables susceptible to drying out in perforated or unsealed plastic bags to maintain a moist environment yet still allow air to circulate.

Tips #2

It is advisable to label raw food, the food ingredient, leftover food etc as the food's name and the date of purchasing. For packaged food, refer to the expired date / Use-by date before use. Apply FIFO based on the date. With that, we can make sure to use the correct food (as we had labelled) in our food preparation / processing. And also, we could make sure to use only good quality food.

Tips #3

Every Ready-To-Eat (RTE) food should be put above the raw food to avoid cross-contamination. There are several parts of refrigerator that is for the storage of certain type of food. Always take out the RTE food from the refrigerator and consume not later than 2 days after cooking / open (packaged). There are also recommendations from food expert about the storing time of each food.

Tips #4

After we open can food, we should finish the food and do not put them back into the can and stored into refrigerator. After open milk cream can by can opener, pour the milk cream into a clean container and close it. The opened can could corrode and the residual metal of the can once open can leach into food, leaving a metallic taste.

Tips #5

Do checking the functions of the refrigerator oftenly. Make sure the temperature at every compartment are correct. Do not always open and close the refrigerator door to avoid the temperature of food increasing / the food is not cooled properly.

The above tips will helps us to preserve the food efficiently in the refrigerator. Only when the food is stored correctly, we could enjoy good quality and save food.

Credit: 

1. Sir Sazly Tulih
2. High Speed Training
3. Real Simple
4. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services 

Fungus in food - do not let it take your life!

Fungus is microscopic microorganism that can grow in food. Most fungus is hazardous as it will produce mycotoxin, resulting food poisoning.

"Myco" means fungus and "toxin" means poison. It is a metabolit produced by hazardous fungus, such as Aflatoxin. Aflatoxin is a mycotoxin group that is form naturally from particular fungus such as Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus.

There are a few conditions that causing food contaminated with Aflatoxin:

1. Food that exposed to high environment moisture, in a long time.

2. Food that is stored in pile, without good ventilation.

What are the food that potentially contaminated with Aflatoxin?

1. Beans - groundnuts, pistachio, peanut butter, almond soybean, peanut, sunflower, cotton seed, walnut, coconut and Brazil nut.
2. Cereals - Corn, rice, wheat, soybean oil, corn oil, sunflower oil and sorghum

3. Spices - Chili, black pepper, turmeric, ginger, coriander

4. milk of animals that are fed with contaminated feed, in the form of aflatoxin M1.

Exposure to Aflatoxin at a higher dosage and for a long time could lead to Aflatoxicosis (which could be life threatening) that cause liver cancer. Knowing the seriousness of Aflatoxin contamination, we should learn to handle our food in order to avoid it. below are the advises from the experts -

1. Keep food in a dry place and hermetic, according to the storage instruction stated at label. make sure the store in inn good ventilation and with low humidity.

2. Choose good quality beans or cereals carefully while purchasing.

3. Avoid taking food which has the signs of spoilage such as fungus growth or physically changed on food.

4. Threw away food that is contaminated with fungus. Even when fungus is removed, mycotoxin would be still remained in the contaminated food. Thus, make sure the contaminated food is not to be used to process / prepare food.

Contaminated food not only resulting food poisoning but also could be fatal. As a responsible food handler, we should take note on this matter and do any possible practice to avoid it.

Credit: 

1. Sir Sazly Tulih
2. World Health Organization
3. National Center for Biotechnology Information
4. Science Direct

Handling of perishable food during MCO

Does MCO changed your lifestyle and eating habits? Many of us store food or buy take away food in order to stay home longer or to reduce our exposure to the public.  While having such good practice during MCO, do bear in mind that the food should be handled properly, so that we do not worry about having food poisoning and adding hassle.

So we go out to the food store mostly alone, and now perhaps more than 1 family members together. In the food store, do select good quality of raw food, especially the high risk food like chicken, seafood, meat and so on.  Spoiled raw food will result high bacteria load on the food and perhaps contains toxins excreted by the bacteria.  The food is therefore not advisable to be consumed even to cook it thoroughly.  Thus, do select meats that is not swollen, not in blue colour, no slime, no broken  and no odour smell.  It is best to buy high risk food at the end of our purchasing (last item to buy). This is to shorten the exposure of the food to the air, without preservation (by ice).

No matter you are usually buying food for your family or otherwise, you will experience the way that the hypermarket or supermarket cashier pack all items when you are paying. You will notice that food and non-food will be packed separately. This is very important.  As non-food item might have some substance / liquid (of chemical) leaking / excreted and contaminate the food. Also, do separate perishable and non-perishable food to avoid cross contamination. For instance, fishes and vegetable. Perishable foods is best to be kept in a separate box, preferable a cooler box. After finish purchasing, do return to home as soon as possible.

Well, after purchasing perishable food, do clean the raw food and cut them in pieces, according to the needs of cooking. Keep the food into enclosed container and store the food into refrigerator to prolong the food’s shelf life. What if there is no refrigerator? Well, you have to buy the quantity that is enough for a day cooking and do frequent purchasing. And, make sure to buy the food quantity that is fit to be kept into the refrigerator. Not too pack until no ventilation in it.  Always practice FIFO to ensure every food is fresh (or at least good quality) when preparing food. Do check also expiry date for packaged food.

This practices applies to everybody including the food vendors, especially now that we are allowed to sell take away food only. So that customers always enjoy good and safe food.

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health

Acrylamide in food - Avoid it

If you likes fried food and frequently consumed it, here is the information that you can't missed. Scientist had discovered a chemical called Acrylamide, formed in starch food when it is cooked at a high temperature for a long time.

Acrylamide is a chemical. It is used for industrial for making papers, dyes, plastics, water treatment and so on. On 2002, scientist has discovered that Acrylamide formed from sugars and an amino acid (asparagine) if food is cooked for a high temperature at 120oC or above by frying, baking, roasting. For examples the food like french fries, banana chips, fried rice, fried noodles, toast, potato toast.

So far there is scientific proof showing animals having acrylamide induce cancer and on-going studies are to be expected. However, there are 3 recognized international institution determine Acrylamide as follow :

• The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classifies acrylamide as a “probable human carcinogen.”
• The US National Toxicology Program (NTP) has classified acrylamide as “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen.”  
• The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies acrylamide as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans.”

Looking into these information, we, as a consume should be more alert to avoid consuming food that might contains acrylamide. Here are some tips for us to practise in order to avoid acrylamide in our diet: 

• 
  
• 1.  Avoid cooking your foods until they are dark brown. Cook until the food turn to golden yellow colour is fine. 
• 2.  Potatoes that have their skins on when they are cooked in the microwave or boiled tend to have lower levels of acrylamide.
• 3.  Heat foods at the proper temperature and don’t overcook them. 
• 4. Soak raw potato slices in water for 15 to 30 minutes before frying or roasting to reduce acrylamide formation during cooking. (Soaked potatoes should be drained and blotted dry before cooking to prevent splattering or fires.)
• 5. Avoid storing potatoes in the refrigerator, which can result in increased acrylamide levels during cooking. 
• 6. Follow instructions from the manufacturer (for the packaged product), to avoid overcooking.

With that we can help to take care everybody's health in cooking. Even if we cannot avoid 100% but we can reduce the exposure.  

• .  

Credit: 

1. Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health
2. American cancer society
3. FDA US Food & Drug
4. International Food Information Council Foundation

Cold storage guidelines - A must know to preserve food / food products

Cold Storage is a way to prolong the food quality and to prevent the food spoilage. The cold temperature on food stops bacteria growth, especially in high risk food. Thus, arranging food in cold storage is important to maintain the food quality during the food supply chain (in food business).

High risk food such as fish， chicken and meat could be put into enclosed plastic container before keeping into freezer. This is to avoid dehydrated and smell affecting other food. Such food should be kept in the freezer with 0 - 2oC not later than 3 days. Seafood could be kept in freezer / cold room at -18oC or below. When the temperature is maintained, the seafood could be kept for 18 months. To confirm this, we can sample the seafood and do microbe analysis after a period of keeping time. Some companies with good technology of seafood processing is confident to declare their seafood to be kept for longer period.

Eggs and milk could be put at chiller (in between 0 - 4oC) to avoid bacteria infection. Bacteria is hardly grow at the temperature at 4oC or below. That is the reason we saw high risk food such as fish, chicken, meat and so on is kept in a chilled / frozen form in food business premise (hypermarket, fish market etc etc). However, do not misunderstand that bacteria would not be killed by freezing the food. The freezing is only can stop the bacteria growth. So, if the food contains a lot of bacteria, no matter how long the cold storage is kept, the food will always still spoilage and NOT SUITABLE to be consumed.

Cooked food / products must be kept at the upper part of chiller / freezer and above the raw food. This is because raw food contains more bacteria. If cooked food is placed below raw food, it is easily that bacteria contaminate the cooked food. Besides, all foods should be kept in enclosed container before put in freezer / refrigerator / chiller. With that, the cross contamination is unlikely to happen. In food processing plant. If there are 2 processing lines - cooked and raw food processing, operators should arrange the freezing of both products separately. In case only 1 freezer is available, raw food products should be put below cooked products.

Vegetables and fruits to be washed, dried and to be kept at the refrigerator space that meant for keeping vegetable. The drinks and sauce could be put at the refrigerator door side. So, that makes a fit storage. Anyway, we should be aware that not to keep too much food inside the freezer / refrigerator as it will reduce the ventilation of cool air, resulting the reduction of cooling. Also, putting hot food into the freezer will also effect the temperature of cooling.

In order to preserve food, we must rely on cold storage. However, to continuously maintaining the good practice, do control the quantity in freezer and apply FIFO in doing Cold Storage. Also, maintenance of freezer is important to maximize the efficiency.

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health

Chicken meat handling

Chicken is a very common food that everyone loves. Almost everyday we will consumed chicken at restaurants, cafe, canteen, buffet, catering etc.  There are many ways of chicken cooking.  No matter what type of cooking, we ought to prepare the food correctly from the purchasing until on the table.

Do select good quality chicken meat.  Make sure the chicken is fresh, solid and in good textile, no slime, no swollen or greenish colour seen, no odour smell and with shinny skin.  A poor quality of chicken meat will contains more bacteria load and toxic excreted by bacteria.  If raw food is spoiled, no matter how complete the handling of the following handling, the food is still unsafe to be consumed.

In chicken cleaning, cut the chicken into the sizes that ease to cook. If chicken pieces are too thick, it might be difficult to be cooked (until all pieces thoroughly cooked).. Wash and clean the chicken with clean water.  Make sure the container and equipment that we used is clean.

When storing chicken meat, chicken that is cleaned should be cooked directly as the meat is  easily spoil and sting. Make sure the chicken is stored in freezer.  When there is power failure and the stored chicken is started to soften, do cook the chicken immediately.

Frozen chicken should be defrosted properly before cooking, especially chicken which is thick.  After taking out chicken from freezer, do the defrost using the following 3 method (either one) -

1. Soak the chicken into the clean container under water tab with running water.

2. Put the chicken into the microwave, select "defrost" to do defrost.

3. Put the food in the chiller of refrigerator

After defrost, we could go through cooking process.  Make sure to cook the chicken thoroughly until there is no blood on the bone or meat.  Re-cook if there is still blood on the chicken.  When stewing the food, make sure the stewed water is clear and not in pink colour.  Every uncooked portion still contains bacteria which causes food poisoning.  

These are the concerns while handling the chicken. In fact, other high risk food should be handled the similar way so that to consume the food in safe.   

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health

Educate our children in drinking packaged milk

Children need calcium for growth. We do encourage our children to drink more milk as it is a good source of calcium. However, we need to educate our children to differentiate good milk from the bad one, to avoid food poisoning to them.

Before drinking any drinks, children should SEE the physical appearance of the packing if it is in good condition. Do not drink the packaged milk if the packaging is tinted and damaged. After that, observe the expired date printed on the package if it is still safe to be consumed. Children may shake the milk to feel if there is "something" in the package.

Children can also SMELL the milk if it smell differently. If it had bad smell such as sting or sour, very apparently the milk had damaged. It could be contaminated either with a lot of bacteria (Biological contamination) or chemical (Chemical contamination). We must throw this damaged milk, avoid drinking it.

To confirm the milk is in fresh, suck / drink to the mouth and TASTE before swallow it. Taste the milk if it taste exactly like milk and not stale or sour. When the milk taste differently, it could be started to damaged.

IF children has food poisoning sign such as stomach ache, diarrhea, vomit, faint, nausea, we must inform teacher and the children's parent so that they can arrange to adjacent clinic or hospital for treatment.

Children's immune system is weaker than adults. So, we have to be more concern in milk quality self-check from the children, so that they can obtain essential nutrient safely.

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health

Are you packing food (using plastic) correctly?

We are obviously packing food for take away business or distribution (in processing). Do we think about food safety measures during packing food? Can we use used plastic material for packing food ? The answer is NO. Plastic material in the market is used for once only. Let us have a look about the used plastic usage which you might practising right now.

Avoid using used plastic material that meant for non-food products and chemical only, no matter it is food grade or non-food grade chemical. Plastic container that keeping chemical might have made by low grade, non-food grade plastic material. The plastic material might contaminate the food. Besides, if the container is lack of washing, the food would be contaminated by the chemical. Some users modify the plastic containers by cutting, do take note that the small plastic particles might be scale out and contaminate food or drinks. Eg. Some factory modify the chemical tank to an ice scoop. This is a not acceptable in food processing.

When using plasticware to pack food, especially in hot food. Do not reuse the plasticware to pack the same product (hot food). When the plastic is designed to keep hot food. It might be designed to used once only. And, when the heat resistance of plastic is weaken, the plastic might contaminate the food.

Well, some consumers modify the broken plastic kitchenware / processing tools into another shape for other purposes. This is also not recommended, although the plasticware are kitchenware. As, the plastic particles can be peeled off.

Sometimes we saw some plastic containers, bottles or cups around us. Do avoid pouring hot water in it. As we do not know how strong does the plastic can resist on heats. So, the best solution for keeping hot drinks or food is to used stainless steel or ceramic containers / bottles / cups.

You might see sometimes people heat the packaged food inside microwave. Do you think if it is save? Yes. you can do so if you are using plastic container that is labelled with "Save for Microwave". However, you can avoid using the plastic container if you are not confident with the plastic declaration. Never use the plasticware which is meant for keeping ice cream and margerin for heating food in microwave.

Do not soak the milk botol too long in the hot water and do not pour boiling temperature water into the milk bottle. This is important as the milk bottle might could not withstand the heat and excrete the chemical in food. When the milk botol is scratched / broken, do not use it for storing milk. It should be replaced. As the milk particles would stick at the broken part, resulting the bottle couldn't being washed thoroughly.

As a conclusion, every plastic serve the purposes, some is used for once, some can be used continuously with condition. Thus, we should plan properly how to use plasticware, no matter in kitchen or in processing room.

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health

Dry food storing

When you had purchased raw material (for your production) or dry food for your family, how would you store the food ? Although they are dry food but it is important to store at the proper way to reduce contamination and deteriorate. Let us appreciate some the recommended methods.

Keep all cereal type food such as rice, beans and flour in a enclosed container and put it at cool place and dry. The storing environment should be in such a way because the wet condition with the presence of air will increase humidity and induce the growth of bacteria and mold. When it happen, the food will be contaminated which causing food poisoning. If the raw material is mis-handled and causing contaminated, it is also not suitable to be used for processing otherwise the final product would also be contaminated. Besides, pest such as cockroaches and mouse likes environment in drk and wet.

Purchased food / raw material should be placed at a place where the food is at least 20cm from the floor and at least 15 cm from the wall. Do not put the food on the floor. This is to avoid the contamination from the floor. So how do you "define" floor? Everyone knows what floor is. But, do bear in mind that every surfaces which is stepped by our foot is considered the "floor" and shouldn't be placed food on it.  For instance, the table which you step on it to work, the place in the vehicle which you step on it, the higher space (in a factory) which you step on it to work etc etc. 

Make sure the food storage is isolated from any chemical, even the food grade chemical.  We might use chemical to clean our food facilities and equipment or to do maintenance on our machines (in food processing plant).  Mixing them together could cause chemical contamination on food which could result food poisoning.  All chemical should be put in a chemical room. The room should be ventilated. Well, in the room, do further separate food grade and non-food grade chemical. The separation could be done via segregation or partition between 2 spaces.

The used chemical container is not suitable to keep food because the used chemical contains chemical excretion which could contaminate the food, especially when the chemical is heated. For instance, the used plastic bottles, if is kept in the vehicle that is parked under hot sun will result the bottle heated. You will feel the water is hot. Just imagine, if the water is hot, the plastic bottle might have "melt" a little, and excrete plastic substance into the water. Imagine the water is consumed inside out bottle. We could have chemical contamination!

Ideally the food storing room should have a good ventilation, an adequate lighting and a clean wall. With that, the humidity of the room is taken care and there is not contamination on the food.    

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health

What food handler should have / do?

A food handler should get themselves ready to prepare / handling food safely for customers. Besides equip with the food handling skills, food handlers should practise good personal hygiene to ensure food safety is maintained.

Here are some characteristics that a food handler should have / do (while handling food):

1. Short nails. Dirts and bacteria is available at everywhere, including the nails. Food handlers wash hands. So when our nails are short, it is easily washing dirts inside the nails. And, if it is long, the inside nails contains dirts, ash, sweat, bacteria, virus etc that couldn't be washed away easily. So, there is no efficiency in washing hands. Thus, food handlers should make sure that their nails are short.

2. Wearing PPE. PPE such as hair cover, face mask and apron should be wore when preparing food. Hair cover prevent hair from dropping on the food. Hair is contaminant as hair contain dirts, ash and bacteria. Do not overlook hairs in the food as it would contaminate the food. Face mask prevents bacteria, virus from your breathing and saliva from contaminating the food. The mask also preventing beard (of man) from falling to the food during preparing food. Apron must be wore to prevent dirts from shirts from contaminating the food. Food handler should aware that never wearing apron with pocket as the pocket is usually dirty after putting hands inside obviously.

3. Not wearing accessory. Accessory such as ear rings, rings, neck lace, watch, chain and other small particles should not be wore as we might overlook such small particles from dropping on food. Besides, wearing accessory such as rings and chain will cause the accumulation of dirt on our hands which could not washed away.

4. Not coughing and sneezing on the food.  Coughing and sneezing brings bacteria that could contaminate the food. When food handler have to do that, they should do it on their elbow or tissue.  Then wash their hands before continuing preparing food. 

5. No spitting and smoking at food preparing premise.  The saliva and smoke is dirty and contaminate a lot of bacteria / chemical that could contaminate the food.  Do remember to avoid such bad behavior.    

6. Not touching food with the bare hands.  Our hands touching surfaces of objects and facilities surround us. Door handles, tables, chairs, window, stair handles etc etc. Such surfaces contains bacteria and virus. Bare in mind that every spaces with oxygen do contain bacteria. And our hands everyday, every moment had been contaminated by these bacteria. So, food handlers should never touching the food (when handling food) with bare hands.  Food handlers could wear glove / using spoon to take food when preparing food.

7. Use plastic chopping board when cutting raw food.   Plastic chopping board is more hygiene compare with wooden chopping board.  Wooden chopping board absorb water, causing a rich environment for bacteria growth.  When we cut food on the wooden chopping board, crevices easily form and food waste easily trapped in the crevices and is difficult to be cleaned. Thus, it will increase bacteria growth and all food that is cut on such copping board will be contaminated. 

We do not want our food being contaminated as people consumed contaminated food will incurr food poisoning. When this happen at our food store, it will causing impact on the business and the reputation of the food business. 
    

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health

Food Safety practices during MCO

While we are staying at home to avoid COVID-19 infection, do not forget to have correct food safety practices so to keep ourselves healthy and prevent ourselves from food poisoning. Some practices, perhaps looks not important. However, food poisoning would happen if it is not done correctly.

Practice 1: Always wash hands. Practise 7 steps of hand washing before preparing food, after visiting toilet, before having meal, or when hands are dirty and sticky (with sweat).

Practice 2: Buy foods according to needs and the suitability only. Avoid bulk purchasing. When choosing packaged food, read the label and expiry date properly.

Practice 3: Clean the vegetable and fruits with running water. Make sure every food surfaces are rinsed so that could wash away the dirts or chemical that might be sticked on. However, do not wash the food with soap.

Practice 4: Clean the vegetable with running water or dip in hot water for 10-15 minutes to kill bacteria. Bacteria couldn't survive in high temperature.

Practice 5: Clean cooking tools such as chopping board, pan, pot, spoon and so on before preparing food in order to avoid cross contamination with bacteria and virus. Always make sure the tools are clean and was put in place which is not wet. As high humidity will incur fungi and bacteria growth.

Practice 6:

Avoid eating food which is placed more than 4 hours in room temperature. When food is done so, the food temperature decreased to room temperature which allow bacteria growth. Each bacteria could multiply to double in 20 minutes. Food should be consumed within 2 hours or reheat.

Practice 7: Cover food with food cover to avoid pest such as fly and cockroaches touching the food or airborne contamination, which causing food poisoning.

Practice 8: Practise See, Smell and Taste if there is sign of food deteriorate such as odour smell and stale. Also, be alert when the food tasted differently than usual taste or smell.

Practice 9: Store food correctly in refrigerator and kitchen wardrobe. Make sure there is no pest like mouse and cockroaches. High risk food should be stored at freezer where the temperature is below 0oC. Kitchen wardrobe should be in good condition that no pest could enter it. Kitchen area should be clean and dry as much as possible to avoid attraction of pest.

Practice 10: Keep extra food into refrigerator and keep the temperature at 4oC or below. Bear in mind that hot food should be cooled for a while before putting into the refrigerator. This is to avoid the refrigerator's temperature from increasing and delaying the cooling of all foods in the refrigerator.

Maintaining food quality is important wherever we are. Many practice looks unnecessarily but it could be the cause of food poisoning. Therefore, we should make sure every concerns are complied.

Credit: Food Safety and Quality Division, Ministry of Health