WHAT DOES BACTERIA LIKES?

Bacteria is everywhere. We have to live with bacteria everyday. Good bacteria improve our health while bad bacteria cause us food poisoning. Bacteria stick on our hair, face, hands, shirts and trousers.  So, food handlers should how to prevent bacteria from contaminating the food they prepare. Knowing how bacteria grow would help us to control bacteria quantity in our food premise.

Bacteria consume nutrient from any source. So, leftover food or food debris on equipment and food premise could be consumed by bacteria. Food with high protein and high-water content is the best source that bacteria would actively grow on it. We call these kinds of food as high-risk foods.  The example of high-risk food are eggs and egg products, seafood and seafood products, meat, dairy products and ready-to-eat food.  Therefore, food handlers should handle these products in hygienic and cook them thoroughly before serving. 

Bacteria grow optimally in 37^oC (body temperature).  In fact, bacteria start to grow actively from the range of 5^oC to 63^oC at any source with nutrient.  We should not keep, especially high-risk food in this temperature range for a long time.      We can keep the food at 4^oC and below or we can cook the food thoroughly in order to kill bacteria in food. When food had to be served for a long time, we can install heating system, which continuously heating the food above 63^oC.

When bacteria in the condition of danger temperature zone for a long time, bacteria will grow rapidly.  In normal condition, bacteria would double the quantity in every 20-30 minutes. How many would it be?  You might not believe it… One (1) bacterium can split to 1 million bacteria in 6 hours!  And, that is only 1 bacterium. Imagine that! So, do not keep food for so long.  It’s better to serve the food to customer as soon as the food is ready.

Bacteria grow in food and any places with high water content.  Equipment and facilities need to be washed thoroughly and dried. All dry equipment should be kept at dry place.  After handling food, food handlers should clean the food premise before going home.

Bacteria growth could be controlled when food handlers implement appropriate food hygiene practices.  The lesser the (bad) bacteria in food, the safer the food to be consumed by our customers.                

WHY SHOULD YOU (YOUR TEAM) ATTEND FOOD HANDLERS TRAINING COURSE?

“Hi Boss, when there is FHC?
“Hi, please click on the link and find our latest schedule”
“ooo okok. How much is it?”
“It’s RM50/person”
“Boss can I ask…”

When I read these texts, I can roughly guess what next questions would be. Yeah! Occasionally I saw inquiries such as “Can I just pay for it (without attending the course)?”, “Can I ask somebody else to attend on behalf of me because I am busy BAHHHH..”, “Online izzit? Can I switch off the video during the class?” Well, frankly speaking, I was not really happy to answer these questions.  For me, those are words of disrespect to my profession.  

Over these years, sometimes I was trying to figure out why food handlers are reluctant to attend course. Through my observation, I received feedbacks such as food handlers busying on food business (no time), course duration is too long, food handlers do not like to attend training, do not know how to use ZOOM and google form due to aged or uneducated. Couple of years ago, I visited restaurants, cafeteria and food kiosks, giving leaflet to the food premise’s person-in-charge, trying to promote Food Handlers Training course.  There is a boss complained to me – “It is a waste of time to arrange staff to attend course because after they attend it and work for a while, they quit the job!” 

Well, I know most of us think that attending Food Handlers Training Course is to obtain the certificate in order to pass future inspection.  Yes. This is one of the purposes indeed. But, let’s think about your purpose of hiring employees. What is the purpose to hire food handlers in your food business? I bet the answers of all bosses are the same – to buy other people’s time to build your food business.  Business owners expect every food handler to handle the food efficiently and also in hygienic way so that business is sustainable and growing. In other word, business owners would like to “photocopy” many competent personnel to run the food business. 

Therefore, training is crucial to educate food handler to handle food correctly in order to avoid customers from food poisoning.  The 3-hours Food Handlers Training course would enlighten food handlers the correct food handling concepts and they could start practising them in the workplace.  When your food handlers are familiar with good food handling practice, they would automatically be taking care of the food hygiene and food safety, which would help smoothen your food business operation. Would you agree? 

Training is also giving a reminder for certain food handlers who might had known the right food handling practice.  I had student who had attended Food handlers Training course years ago. Some student attended the course at other school, some lost their certificate. They are willing to retake. I also ever trained student with old age. Although they do not know how to use ZOOM and google form, yet they still willing to attend online course. Some student seeks assistance of their family member, some insist to learn by themselves on how to access online learning. They asked many questions, feeling embarrassed.   I replied: “it’s OK aunty!” and replied all their questions patiently. I am also ever trained a student with dysaudia. Her spouse is assisting her diligently in the whole 3-hours class.  These students completed their training. When I announced that he training is over. They are so happy. For them, they are completing a task which they ever do in their life. I was touched by their spirit. And, I am proud of my carrier.

I met a competent food handler couple of days ago when I passed by a food truck near a hypermarket. He is promoting his company’s new food product. I was initially attracted by the new product launched by the well-known company.  So, I approached the truck and the food handler is about to prepare some food sample for pedestrian to test.    While waiting the food sample to be ready, I had a simple chit chat with the him. He is proud with his job. He wore head cover, face mask, gloves, and aprons while preparing the food. He said it is his company’s policy to make sure food safety, so they must wear correct attire while preparing food.  And the company arranged formal training to every food handler.  Seeing the food handler using a screener, I asked him how to wash the equipment, he is then explaining the washing procedure.  That is impressing me. Think about it, if the food handler does not go through proper training and practising it, would he answer the cleaning procedure? Certainly not! After a while, when the food is ready, he invited me to test the food as many as I could. I tasted it and it’s very yummy. I enjoy the clean food. That’s a very impressive experience I had. 

So, we should arrange our food handler team to attend food handlers training course. Let’s not think about complying the regulations first. Think about how customers can enjoy my food product in peace of mind and become my repeated customers.  I guess that’s every food business owner’s will.      
     

PERSONAL HYGIENE OF FOOD HANDLERS

Personal hygiene is one of the practices that food business owners should emphasize while running the food business. This is because the practice is closely related with food hygiene.  Food handler with poor personal hygiene would contaminate the food that they are preparing.

Hence, food handler candidates should be briefed about the importance of personal hygiene before they join the food company.  The basic requirement of a food handler is getting Anti-typhoid vaccinated and attending a food handling course. The candidate would learn concepts about food handling in the course, for them to practise during handling food. Attending the training also enable them to comply reg 30 of Food Hygiene regulations 2009. 

It is a good habit for food handler to have a routine self-check before commencing the daily work. Food handler should make sure that they are fit to work. They should wear appropriate attire to protect food from contaminated. Besides, food handlers are also not allowed to wear accessory, posses’ long fingernails or apply cosmetics while handling food to prevent food contamination.

Food handlers who is sicked, suffering from food poisoning or get hurt at hands are not allowed to handle food. While handling food, they should wear head cover and apron and to use appropriate and clean utensils or wearing glove to handle food and should not touching food with bare hands. This is because they are a lot of contaminants in our body, especially Staphylococcus aureus which existed on our hair, ears, nose, mouth and hands.  

While handling food, food handler also must implement hygiene practices, such as washing hands.  Food handlers should wash hands after visiting toilets, touching face, handling raw foods, dispose waste, cleaning equipment or facility and before resume to work.   Do not smoke, coughing directly on the food, taste food with fingers, eating, spitting, digging nose, scratching head etc while preparing the food because these actions would cause cross contamination easily.

Poor personal hygiene is one of the reasons that food is contaminated, causing food poisoning.  This incident (which caused by poor personal hygiene) could be avoided when every food handler builds a habit of maintaining good personal hygiene.  Everybody can do it!

7 STEPS OF HAND WASHING

Hands are the part of our Food Handlers’ body which always contacting food. Thus, food handlers should always wash hands, especially each time before handling food. Well, do you know that actually there are 7 steps in hand washing? Let’s check if you / your food handlers practise these steps.

Step 1: Apply adequate soap in hands with clean water.  Remember to use liquid type soap. Solid type soap would accumulate contaminants from the previous soap users. After applying soap, it’s better to turn on the water tab using elbow, as our palms are dirty would contaminate the water tab. So, it is good if food business owner to install longer water tab handle.  Some hand washing equipment has water tab that is being turned on by stepping with foot or pressing with knee. 

Step2: Scrub both hands for a thoroughly soap application.  Some people just ignore this step. They thought by getting wet their hands is enough to wash hands. Actually, it is not.  This step could remove contaminant on the palm.

Step3: Scrub each finger and the crevices. This step helps to remove contaminants that is hided in between fingers.

Step4: Scrub finger nails at both palms to remove dirt at adjacent nails. Food Handlers should make sure their finger nails to be cut as short as possible to avoid dirt hiding in the crevices between finger nails and the fingers.     

Step5: Using finger nails to scrub the rear side of each hand to remove dirt at the back of hands.

Step6: Turn on water tab by elbow and rinse hands with clean water. This step removing all contaminant that had been washed away by soap. Having done that, turn off the water tab by elbow again.

Step7: Dry hands with paper towel or hand dryer.  Some document sharing to dry hands with clean towel. I do not really agree that as the towel would eventually dirty as a result of the dirt accumulation from the previous users. So, I prefer using paper towel to dry hands and to throw the towel in the waste bin.  Hand drying is another hygiene method which we can implement too.

Washing hands with these 7 steps take at least 20 seconds. This is an effective way to clean our hands and to prevent us from contaminating the food while we handle them.

Let’s practise the steps today! 

FOOD HYGIENE – THE BASIC REQUIREMENT OF FOOD BUSINESS

Food Hygiene is a series practices for preventing food borne illness, food borne injury and food borne spoilage.    It is a basic requirement for every food business owner or manager to implement while running food businesses.  Without food hygiene application, food business owners would face risks in business sustainability. 

Food hygiene practices emphasize on personal hygiene of every food handler, the cleanliness of equipment and the environment.  Customers will be impressed when they see clean facilities and nice-set, clean equipment as they move in.  Well-trained food handlers would know on how to have good personal hygiene.  With this service quality, they would be able prepare clean and delicious food that customers enjoy with peace of mind.    

Proper food handling will prevent food wastage. For example, when food is contaminated by flies, dirty hands, or even with the detergent, food handler should throw away the food in order to avoid food poisoning. Well, think about the amount of food waste. It’s a cost. However, if food handlers practicing food hygiene, they avoid the wastage.

When customer feel good about the environment, the food handlers and the food, this would build customers trust and royalty because they had a great experience dining here. Customers are more willing to dine in at a clean café where food hygiene is in place then at dirty café.  The personal hygiene and the food handling of food handlers would count too.  

Implementing food hygiene at workplace would develop personal growth in food handlers.  While they are learning to handling food correctly, they are also building a good habit in handling food at their home.  So, it will improve their concern about food safety.  

Customers love good food. But customers also expect clean premise, good service and hygiene food each time they visit the food premise. So, food hygiene should be strictly adhered in food premise.      

  

WHAT IS FOOD POISONING?

Food poisoning is a sickness that causing patients suffer of vomiting, diarrhoea, fever and other symptoms.   Man suffers of food poisoning due to consuming contaminated food.  Some people recovered from food poisoning soon but some people die of food poisoning. 

There are 3 kinds of food contaminations - Physical, chemical and microbiology contamination. Physical contamination occurs when food is contaminated with thing which we can see, such as hair, pest, staples, button, accessories etc.  Some physical substance carrying microbe and contaminate the food too.  For instance, when human hair dropped on the food, the hair, it is likely the food would be also be contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus.  Chemical contamination occurs when the food is stained by chemical like detergent, pesticide, sanitizers or any other chemical. Microbiological contamination is the contamination with microbes (living things which we can see only with microscope). Bacteria is one of the common microbes that causing food contamination.  

Our body has immunity system that can protect ourselves from any harmful inhaled substances. This system responses to contaminants by resulting vomiting, diarrhoea and fever in order to remove the contaminant from the body.   These reactions help to clean the body condition.  However, in some cases, people suffer serious condition or even died of food poisoning.  For example, people will get Typhoid infection when they consumed food which is contaminated by Salmonella typii. These bacteria will cause intestine inflammation and the patient would die if no immediate medication.  People with low immunity, like pregnant women, patients, old folks and kids are likely to suffer serious food poisoning when they consume contaminated food.  Other than vomit, diarrhoea, fever, there is other food poisoning symptoms including nausea, constipation, no appetite, weak and so on.  

Food poisoning case will result huge negative impact in food business. When health officers received report that many customers suffered food poisoning as the result of consuming contaminated food, the health officers will initiate investigation. They had the right to take samples on the suspected food and send to government designed laboratories for food safety analysis. When the laboratory results confirmed the food is contaminated, the officers will take legal actions against food owners. The officer would also, cited Section 11 of Food Act 1983, to order food business owner to stop operating food business for a period of not exceeding 14 days, if they checked the premise is dirty, especially when there is pest infestation in the kitchen. This would probably ruin the business reputation. 

Maintaining clean food premise and leading food handlers’ team to prepare and handling food correctly are the good initiatives to prevent food poisoning. Every food handler plays important roles in the business.  Therefore, it is essential to organize trainings for food handlers.  Weekly meeting, review and routine check on food handling helps to improve food hygiene and food safety of the food business. 

Food poisoning is a serious incident that could cause business loss.  The food handler team should have awareness about it. When every food handler is familiar and practicing correct food handling, such incident can be avoid. 

             

Jacky Chung
Food Handling course trainer
JACKYZ SOLUTION

           

                 

3 JOB DESCRIPTIONS DETERMINE IF YOUR WORKERS ARE FOOD HANDLERS

Running a food business need manpower. A food kiosk needs at least a worker, a restaurant might need 3 - 5 workers, bigger food business needs more, up to 15 -20, food factories need even more.  We often call these workers as worker, staff, crew etc. But do you know that they also have another designation called Food Handler? 

Citing Food Hygiene Regulations 2009, all food handlers should attend 3-hours Food Handlers Training Course organized by certified Food Handlers Training School to obtain Food Handling course certificate.  Food handler who failed to do so could result penalty not more than RM10,000 and not more than 2 years imprisonment.  So, if you are running a food business, do examine who are food handlers in your organization and if they had obtained a Food Handlers Training Course Certificate.

A very straight forward definition of food handler is, a person who is preparing food in a premise. It refers to the cook, kitchen helper, food factory operators, any person who is preparing food and processing food. 

Equipment has food contact surfaces

Besides, a person who is contacting food and food contact surfaces in a premise is a food handler.  Plates, bowl, glasses, chopping board, fork, spoon, chopstick, knife, basket, basins and any other equipment that are used for handling food in a kitchen has surfaces that will be contacted with food. This surface is called food contact surface. A person like dish washers would touch food contact surfaces while she is washing plate. And so, a dish washer is also called a food handler. Besides dish washer, is there any other workers who would contact food contact surfaces?

Finally, a person who is handling packaged or unpackaged food or equipment in a premise is called a food handler. For this definition, you can always think about to bakery staff’s work activity. They are handling packaged or unpackaged bread or cakes on display rack.

By now you had known who would you called Food Handlers. So, a staff in your organization who is working in office ONLY is not grouped as Food Handler.  A cashier, by definition is not a Food Handler, but if business owner sometimes arranging her to “help serving food”, she should be categorized as a Food Handler.

As a kind reminder, do arrange your food handlers to attend Food Handlers Training Course and having anti-typhoid vaccination to avoid penalty.  When your food handlers are attending the course, they would receive proper training on food handling so that they would know how to take care of your food business. 

 

                 

Jacky Chung
Trainer and Consultant
JACKYZ SOLUTION

 

 

 

           

                 

MeSTI UPDATES

It's been a great pleasure to attend a Remote Online Training regarding MeSTI certification by MAA Training Academy PLT in National Training Week. Manage to jot down a few updates for further usage.  

1. MeSTI certification is not sufficient to export. To re-confirm with MOH when company is ready to export

2. Water and ice should be tested once a year according to Schedule 25A (Food Regulation 1985).

3. Health inspector do not allowing to record information in log book.  All records should be in checklist with checklist no.

4. Covid-19 Vaccination record of each food handler should be added into checklist.

5. Health officer would penalty the company if dicovering the staff wearing production uniform outside the processing area.

6. it is best to organize at least 3 internal trainings per year.

7. Drainage must be covered.

8. Toilet and Processing room to be sanitized more frequent (2-3 times) - updates after MCO. 

9. Laundry detergent cannot be used to wash floor. as it is not efficient to wash floor).  Food handler to follow chemical usage's instruction. 

10. Mouse trap must not be put in the processing area.

11. Every packaging material supply must be couple with CoA or MSDS from supplier.

Thanks to MAA.

Jacky Chung

Our Updated Certifications

Food Handlers Training School certification

Food Handling Course Trainer Certification

Jacky Chung
Trainer and Consultant
JACKYZ SOLUTION

 

 

CALIBRATION OF MEASURING DEVICES IN FOOD PROCCESSING

Calibration is the comparison of measurement value between a device under test and a calibrated device according to standard measurement.  There are internal calibration and external calibration.  Internal calibration is self calibration by devices user while external calibration is to be done by laboratory with ISO 17025 certification.
 
All measuring devices degrade after a period of time. As the components age, the stability of the devices reduced even though it may appear to be OKAY physically.  So, continuing calibration assures the equipment is continually meets the specification as performed during installation.         
   
Measurement readings are important data for QCs to judge if the food processing steps are meeting the requirement of food safety or customers.   When the measurement reading is not accurate, QCs might overlooked the problem and ignore the needs to control the process.  For instance, if a thermometer showed reading at 3^oC each time QC tested sea products, even though the sea product is actually in higher temperature. QCs would thought that the product temperature is OKAY and allow the production continues without initiating any control.  This ignorance would result high bacteria load in the sea products.  So, QCs need accurate measuring devices so that they could make prompt  quality control decision in monitoring food processing.
 
Food processors should have a calibration program for all the measuring devices. The calibrations are planned and recorded into a calibration schedule. QCs would then initiate the calibration activities according to the schedule. Each internal calibration results should be recorded and the calibration reports (of external calibration) should be kept properly. QAs are responsible to make sure the calibration of all measuring devices is done up-to-date.  The examples of measuring devices used in food processing are weighing scales, thermometer, pH meters and Chlorine tester.
 
Some devices’ accuracy can be adjusted during calibration. In internal calibration, the deviation of the readings are recorded for QCs to add on the deviations into the readings that they tested each time.  With that, the reading is more reliable for food safety controls.
 
Dates and readings in calibration is crucial.  QAs should make sure the data is correct and up-to-date so that the document is reliable and to be used as supporting documents.         
 
    
Jacky Chung
Trainer and Consultant
JACKYZ SOLUTION