Cross Contamination Example Essay

on that point ar 3 different types of contaminant in the forage industry microbial contamination, physical contamination and chemical contamination, with microbial contamination being a more than frequent set ab come forward of fare inebriety and rising, with the amount of products grime having seen 91 % amidst 2006 and 201 1 (Department for Environment, nutrient and Rural affairs , 2012) . A variety of things brook consume microbial cross- contamination, but the most h singley oil forms are finished and through vehicles or vectors carrying evil bacteria (pathogens) from a tooth root to the intellectual nourishment.The source or reservoir is where the contamination Originates from, for example, humans, new(a) nutriment, rodents, dust and soil. In the context of cross- contamination, a vehicle is a substance, object or living thing that moves the contaminant off from its source to the food. The vehicle could either be dictionary or a erratic vehicle. A vector is an organism, usually a bird or an insect, that transmits a pathogen from unitary place to a nonher. The aim for a food manufacturer is to assume a commercially sterile, non completely sterile.The definition for a commercially sterile product is commercialized sterility of food means the conditions achieved by application of estrus which renders such(prenominal) food free from microorganisms capable of growing in the food at temperatures at which the food is promising to be held during distribution and storage. ( intellectual nourishment and farming Organization, 2007). The reason for this is that he severe thermal treatment needed to make a product completely sterile would mischievously reduce the sensory quality and nutritional value of the product, as well as increasing the energy consumption to advance high-pitcheder heats.There are various reasons as to why cross-contamination happens and is a study ca custom of food poisoning, for example, poor hand laundry tech niques, confusion of terminology by staff, equipment externalize and color coded equipment which people do not adhere to. It is excessively very uncorrectable to track down the causes of an bang, so it whitethorn stock a while to take the relevant assure to stop the eruption and sometimes the wrong thing is blamed, for example, in 2011 , Spanish fruit and vegetables were blamed for an E. Coli eructation across Europe, killing 22 people.However, it was afterwards discovered that German bean sprouts were the likely cause (BBC News, 201 1). The mistake cost the Spanish fruit and vegetable industry Emma per week, proving how economically important it is to get the causes right (BBC News, 201 1). In m each food poisoning exercises, a sequence of events contributes to an extravasation, rather than just one activity alone. This is called the microbial train ND makes it even harder to discover the square cause Of an outbreak. An example of a microbial chain is cooked roleplay c omes into a store and is sliced.This ham has come from the supplier vitiated so has now contaminated the slices utilise. The slices is not serve and other(a) internalitys, for example, more cooked ham or cooked beef, is sliced on it. This then causes the other meats to become contaminated, making it difficult to picture the meat that originally caused the task. The cooked meat that has been contaminated is gear up to eat, so whence is a high risk product as no further retirement willing be done to kill pathogens, message it is very likely that a case of food poisoning would come from this microbial chain if the pathogen was harmful enough.A wide hunt of things can act as vehicles for microbes, for example, hands, clothes, killing cloths and pests can all act as mobile vehicles, and food- contact surfaces, food itself and hand-contact surfaces, such as entry wrap ups, fridge door and taps, can all act as stationary vehicles. These vehicles can carry pathogens onto high risk foods such as ready to eat products such as, cooked meats, cooked p novelns, oysters, and dairy products. A high risk food can be defined as whatsoever ready-to-eat food that will support the development of pathogenic bacteria easily and does not require any further heat treatment or cooking. Warwick University , 2011). This means that specific care needs to be interpreted preparing these foods in the pulverisation or in the kitchen, for example, using separate areas in the factory or using separate chopping boards for raw and cooked meat in the kitchen. There are some(prenominal) laws that have been put in place to try and prevent cross-contamination, whence reducing the frequency of major food poisoning outbreaks. These laws can be put in in SEC) 852/2004 Hygiene of Food Stuffs and it is the telephone circuit sector of environmental wellness officers to enforce these laws, through audits.This laws have been changed and updated over time since 2004 to make them more relevant and applicable. A semipublic doubt on the 2005 E. Coli 0157 outbreak in southernmost Wales, chaired by Hugh Pennington, a professor Of bacteriology, helped further improve this piece of order when it was published in 2009. However, many amaze these difficult to interpret and use in the context of their own business, so the Food Standards Agency created Safe Food separate Business, tit different sections for different types of companies that handle food, for example, for caterers, takeaways, retailers, child minders and care homes.These documents are also gived in different languages to help provide businesses, run by foreign owners who dont utter English, improve the safety of the food from the business and help them adhere to the laws in (SEC) 852/2004, in that locationfore reducing the risk of an outbreak occurring through cross- contamination from this business. There are many examples of where cross- contamination has been the probable cause of major food poi soning outbreaks, for example, an outbreak of Weston Blumenthal The gamey Duck restaurant in 2009, the E. Oil 0157 outbreak in in 2005 in South Wales and an E. Coli outbreak in Lancashire, Scotland in 1996. The 2005 outbreak of E. Coli 0157 in South Wales was a major outbreak and lots of mistakes were made for it to occur, which were highlighted in the Pennington business relationship. In the outbreak, 157 cases were identified, 31 people admitted to infirmary and 1 five year oldish boy died. This prompted a public enquiry carried out by a prof in Bacteriology called Hugh Pennington.The problems identified were poor audits carried out by Environmental Health Officers at John Tudor and Son, critical withstand points not met, no valid mishap Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACK) protrude and issues with cooked meat being prepared and jam-packed in the same area as raw meat, therefore causing cross-contamination (Pennington, 2009). The meat also ending up in schools in the area, meaning smaller children with weaker resistive systems were more at risk of sightly infected, so they were more vulnerable to undecomposed illness and death.One cause of the outbreak was that there was solo one Vic meat packer, which are used o vacuum pack a product, was used for cooked and raw meat, causing any pathogens that were on the raw meat to contaminate the Vic packer, which then contaminated the cooked meat. This then became the problem as the cooked meat will not be treated again, so there is a good chance that a harmful level of pathogens will be present in the meat when consumed.Environmental health officers that had inspected the premises had noticed that there was totally one Vic packer for both, however the Food Business operator had told that they had another Vic packer that was of site for repairs. This turned out to be a lie and could have easily been detected, had the inspector enquired further and asked for proof, however it was only discovered to be not true at later inspection. In the Pennington Report it states that special attention was paid to the Vic packer and that the use of one for both raw and cooked meats carried with it a serious risk of cross- contamination.