How Can a Food Handler Identify Pathogens?
Every year, roughly one in six Americans come down with a foodborne illness. Of the 48 million annual cases, 128,000 people are hospitalized and 3,000 die.
The majority of these cases can be traced back to a restaurant with a sick food handler, which is why food safety practices are so important to public health.
As a food handler, what do you need to know about identifying foodborne pathogens? How do you keep customers safe from contaminated food? What are the stakes if you fail?
Definition of Foodborne Pathogens
A foodborne pathogen is any disease-causing organism that can cause a disease or period of illness through contaminated food or drink, known as a foodborne illness.
Often, the culprits are microscopic organisms like viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms. However, some foodborne pathogens are visible to the naked eye. For example, parasites like tapeworms enter your body as difficult-to-detect eggs only to grow into larger organisms.
Most foodborne illnesses are caused by pathogens, but not always. They can also be caused by non-living contaminants like chemicals, heavy metals, or even physical items like glass.
Symptoms of Foodborne Illness
Not all foodborne illnesses present the same way, but most create a cluster of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms – including vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps – that we collectively refer to as “food poisoning” or “the stomach flu.”
There are a lot of foodborne pathogens that cause a different set of problems, though. Clostridium botulinum, for example, is a bacteria that produces a neurotoxin. If ingested, it causes muscle weakness or even paralysis. Hepatitis A can cause liver problems in addition to the stomach flu.
Common Foodborne Pathogens
It’s important for food handlers to be familiar with the most common foodborne pathogens and where they’re often found. Top offenders include:
- Salmonella: Largely found in undercooked meat, eggs, and poultry, you can also find these bacteria in unpasteurized dairy products.
- E. coli: While E. coli bacteria are common and typically harmless, the O157:H7 strain can cause severe sickness. This strain can be found in packaged greens and undercooked ground meat.
- Norovirus: Any food can become contaminated by a norovirus after being prepared by an infected person. In many cases, a food handler experiencing gastrointestinal symptoms is the culprit.
There are many other types of foodborne infections out there.
Luckily, most food handlers don’t need to be experts in pathogen identification. Instead, you just need food safety training that will help you understand the risks associated with foodborne illness and how to reduce the likelihood that you’ll serve up a side of pathogenic organism with supper.
How Do Food Handlers Identify Food That’s Safe To Serve?
Unfortunately, there is no quick way to determine if a food is contaminated with illness-causing bacteria; it won’t necessarily look, taste, or smell any differently than non-contaminated food.
The best way to ensure food is pathogen-free is to follow strict food safety practices. If you’re not following the guidelines below, there is a chance that the food you’re serving could be tainted.
How To Prevent the Spread of Foodborne Pathogens
Food safety is more complicated than anything that can fit in a blog article, which is why food handler certification (proof of food handler training) is required in so many places. That said, we’ll review the basic food safety practices below.
Know When to Call in Sick
As a food handler, you’re in a unique position to safeguard public health by following the best food safety practices.
One of the most important is to know what symptoms mean you’re at risk of single-handedly creating an outbreak of foodborne illness. Some infections are best dealt with by calling in sick, while others need to be reported to authorities. Check out our guide on the symptoms that should trigger a conversation with your manager.
Reject Risky Food Deliveries
Your restaurant’s kitchen isn’t the first place things can go wrong. To remain safe, some foods need to be kept out of the temperature danger zone or at least spend a limited amount of time in it. If these foods are subjected to temperature fluctuations during transportation or sit out on the loading dock for too long, pathogens can grow to dangerous levels.
That means it’s important for people in food service to recognize the signs that a food delivery has been improperly handled. Precautions include checking the temperature, looking for signs of spoilage, and looking for damage to the food packaging. If there is any evidence that food safety practices haven’t been followed during shipping, you should reject the delivery and send it away.
Store Food for Safety
To keep food out of the temperature danger zone, you should move perishables into the refrigerator or freezer promptly. Stock the oldest items at the front and the newest items at the back to avoid spoilage.
Keep regular records of the temperatures in your storage areas. The temperature of your fridge should be at 40°F or below, while the freezer should be below 0°F. If temperatures rise above the safe storage standard for more than four hours, the food must be thrown away.
Store food to avoid cross-contamination. For example, ready-to-eat food should always be stored above raw ingredients. Red meat, poultry, and fish all need to be securely wrapped and stored low to prevent meat juices from leaking and contaminating other food.
Practice Excellent Hygiene
In order to minimize the likelihood of food contamination, all food handlers must pay close attention to hygiene – both their personal hygiene and that of their environment.
Thorough and frequent handwashing is one of the most important things a food service worker can do to prevent the spread of foodborne pathogens, but they also need to observe personal hygiene precautions related to hair, jewelry, clothing, and more.
Employees aren’t the only ones that need to be clean! All food contact surfaces must be regularly cleaned and sanitized with kitchen-safe solutions, including dishware, counters, cooking tools, cutting boards, and more.
Thaw and Prep Food Safely
Freezing food is an excellent way to extend its shelf life, but when it’s time to thaw those items, it must be done with care. You need to be careful that thawing items – especially those frozen in bulk – can thaw all the way through without spending too much time in the temperature danger zone.
The safest way to thaw food is to move it from the freezer to the refrigerator with enough time to thoroughly defrost. Make sure thawing meat is still carefully sealed to avoid cross-contamination of other food. Similarly, marinating is best done in a covered dish in the refrigerator rather than an open pan on the counter.
Prevent cross-contamination throughout the food preparation process by keeping raw meat away from cooked food or fresh ingredients that will be served raw. Use separate knives and cutting boards and wash your hands when switching from working with raw meat to cooked or fresh food.
Cook and Hold Food at Safe Temperatures
When cooking, the most important food safety precaution is to cook to a safe temperature in order to kill any foodborne pathogens that may be present. You should always confirm temperatures with a food thermometer.
You need to cook raw beef, pork, lamb, and roasts to an internal temperature of 145°F, all ground meat to at least 160°F, and poultry to an internal temperature of 165°F so there is no pink left in the center.
Once food is cooked, it must be “held” at a safe temperature prior to serving. Hot food must be kept at 140°F or warmer, while cold food should remain at 40°F or cooler.
Learn Safe Food Handler's Practices Today
Identifying foodborne pathogens is less important than understanding the importance of proper food safety practices. Thorough food safety training with an annual refresher is critical to keeping this information at the front of a food handler’s mind.
As a compliance training provider with over 20 years of experience, our online food safety courses are not only effective, but they’re also online and self-paced for everyone’s convenience. We offer state-approved Food Handler Certification designed to teach kitchen staff, waitstaff, and other food handlers to take the proper precautions, as well as a full suite of compliance training solutions for food and beverage businesses.
Get started today!
How to Prevent Pathogenic Bacteria in Food
Common Foodborne Pathogens
First things first, it’s important as a food handler that you’re familiar with the most common foodborne pathogens and where they’re often found. They are:
- Salmonella: Largely found in undercooked meat, eggs, and poultry, you can also find Salmonella in unpasteurized dairy products.
- E. coli: While most E. coli are harmless, the O157: H7 strain can cause severe sickness. This strain of E. coli can be found in packaged greens and undercooked ground meat.
- Norovirus: Foods can carry the Norovirus after being prepared by someone who is sick with the illness. To prevent the spread of Norovirus, don’t work with food when sick.
Food Storage
Before you even prepare your food, it needs to be properly stored to prevent the spread of pathogens. You should store perishable foods in a refrigerator or freezer within one hour of receiving the food. The temperature of your fridge should be at 40℉, while your freezer temperature should be at least 0℉. Red meat, poultry, and fish all need to be securely wrapped to prevent meat juices from leaking in the refrigerator and contaminating other food. Even with secure wrapping, you should store raw meat separately from fruits, vegetables, and cooked meat just to be safe. Once you've opened the meats' packaging, the meat needs to be consumed fairly quickly, and you should wrap it securely between uses.
Kitchen and Staff Prepping
Now that we’ve covered safe food storage, it’s time to touch on kitchen and staff preparation. First things first, all employees need to regularly wash their hands and wrists, especially before touching food and after touching raw meat. You need to use soap and warm water, and vigorously scrub your hands to ensure a thorough clean-rinsing your hands does not suffice! You should also wear hairnets, beard nets, aprons, and gloves, but keep in mind that gloves are not a total replacement of hand washing. If uniforms are required, you should wash yours before each shift or request multiple uniforms to cut back on laundry. Employees aren’t the only ones that need to be clean! You should regularly clean kitchen surfaces, including cutting boards, with a commercial, kitchen-safe cleaning solution.
Food Preparation
Once all food handlers have dressed appropriately and washed their hands, the food preparation can finally begin! Safe food preparation starts with food thawing. The easiest way to thaw meat is in the refrigerator, but ensure you wrap the meat tightly to prevent any leakage. You can also use cold water or the microwave to thaw meat, just make sure to cook the food right after it’s thawed. If you plan on marinating meat, this should be done in a covered dish within the refrigerator, not on the counter in an open pan. Prevent cross-contamination throughout the cooking process by keeping raw meat away from cooked food or fresh food that you won't cook. Use separate knives and cutting boards and wash your hands when switching from working with raw meat to cooked or fresh food.
Cooking
When cooking, the most important thing to keep in mind to prevent foodborne illness is safe cooking temperatures. You need to cook raw beef, pork, lamb, and roasts to an internal temperature of 145℉ and you should confirm the temperature with a food thermometer. Cook all ground meats to at least 160℉ and cook poultry to an internal temperature of 165℉ so there is no pink left in the center. To safely serve hot food, it should be kept at 140℉ or warmer, while cold food should remain at 40℉ or cooler. Any food left out for longer than two hours should be thrown away and not saved for reuse. Even properly stored leftovers should be consumed within three days!
Learn Safe Food Handler's Practices Today
Now that you have a better understanding of how to prevent the spread of foodborne illness, are you ready to take your knowledge to the next level? Sign up for our Food Handlers or Food Managers certification for the most up-to-date and thorough food safety information.
