Your Role As a Food Safety Supervisor

In your job as a food safety supervisor, you must always take precautions to make sure the food you are preparing, serving, or eating is safe for consumption. You must be proactive and remain two steps ahead of any potential disaster, or the results can be dire. You cannot always tell from looking at food that is not safe to eat. So once cooked it's much too late. Instead you must follow proper health and safety standards to ensure that food is used up or disposed of before it has a chance of going bad. Remember the 2hr/4hr rule! Taking precautions in purchasing preparation, and storage is much easier than having to deal with illness or other concerns later. So what does it mean to be a proactive food safety supervisor? What precautions need to be taken in order to be confident that your team is serving only safe, clean, quality food? Well, it means that you must have an awareness of where your food products are sourced from and how they're being handled, right from the time they are delivered by your supplier. Take a look at the food items before you bring them into your restaurant. Check the temperature and for foul odors, discoloration, mold, softness, or any other abnormalities in appearance or texture. Don't accept food that seems old, rotten, or compromised in any way. This is particularly important with meat products, as rotten meat can cause sever illness, and, in some extreme cases, death.

Once you have selected fresh, acceptable food items from your suppliers, you still have some work to do ensure it stays safe for consumption. Proper storage is key to preserving the quality and safety of many food items. Meat and dairy products must be refrigerated or frozen (but never refrozen once thawed!), and breads and grains but be stored somewhere cool and dry. Even fruits and vegetables should really be put in the fridge to delay any potential mold growth. Mold and bacteria spread at much faster rates in warm and damp conditions, so that's why you must be conscientious about storage in order to maintain food safety. As a food safety supervisor, you set the example for your team, and that starts with how it's stored.

Food preparation is another area where you can take precautions as a food safety supervisor, so you can be confident you won't be putting the health of your customers at risk. In order to keep food clean and safe during preparation, you must avoid cross contamination. You can do this by using separate cutting surfaces, knives, and other utensils for cutting different items. Remember to wash your hands after touching raw meat so that you don't spread any bacteria to foods that will not be cooked.

If you are questioning the quality of the food you are cooking or serving, it's already too late. If you want to be a responsible, respectable food safety supervisor, you must engage in safe food practices during purchase, storage, and preparation. Taking a few precautions can save you many problems in the long run!

There are many professional Food safety Consulting and SQF Consultants who will help you to get the HACCP Certification. BDFoodsafety.com is the leading SQF consultants recognized by the International HACCP Alliance. Our passion is to help others to produce quality and wholesome food.

Source: Ezine Articles

The Ultimate Guide in Food Preservation's

Food preservation's is the process of protecting our food from harmful micro organisms that causes spoilage and botulism. We can get various illnesses from micro organisms like bacteria, enzymes, fungi, yeasts and molds that are present in our foods. Food preservation's are done even before that's why it is said to be the oldest technique in preserving food. Food is very essential to us, that's why we make it to the point, we produce quality healthy foods every time. In order to produce quality foods we preserve them to maintain its texture, flavour and nutrients. This is the main aim of food preservation's.

In food preservation's, there are different methods that we can choose from like salting, drying, freezing, pickling, curing, smoking, fermenting, jellying, canning and chemical preservation. In the method of chemical preservation, safe preservatives are added like sulphites, nitrates, nitrites, acid and benzoates are said to be harmless if added in small amounts. Canning and drying are said to be the economical and life extending method in preserving for foods that undergo these methods can last for a year or several years. Most used materials and equipments in these methods are mostly used in our kitchen. That's why most people use these methods in preservation's because of these.

Food preservation's are not that difficult as what others believe. Following proper preparations, tips and guidelines is said to be one factor in preserving quality foods. Implementing strictly precautions in food preservation's must be observed for assurance of safety of food and ours too. Using the required materials and ingredients must also be followed. Always keep in mind these simple details for it will surely help you in preserving food. All of these are useful tools in preservation's. In order to succeed in preserving foods we must know also factors like climate, space, cost, ingredients and equipments for they play a big role in preserving foods.

Food preservation's will never be out of our lives for it has been a part of our lives ever since. We badly need these methods in preservation's, for food crisis is fast growing nowadays. We should help provide food supply in poor countries by making preserved foods. That is why more and more people are trying to discover different ways on how to preserve food for the future. We don't know what will happen next, so let us be prepared.

There are many professional Food safety Consulting and SQF Consultants who will help you to get the HACCP Certification. BDFoodsafety.com are the leading SQF consultants recognized by the International HACCP Alliance. Our passion is to help others to produce quality and wholesome food.

Source: Ezine Articles

Tips On What Foods To Eat With IBS

You might often be told about certain foods to avoid, or the limitations of foods and eating in moderation will help alleviate the symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Eating for IBS shouldn't prevent you from living a normal healthy lifestyle. The blame is not entirely on the IBS sufferer, but with the dietitians, doctors, nurses and other health care practitioners offering the advice. Most of this advice typically lists highly nutritious foods and also non-nutritive foods.

What they seem to lack is suggestions of replacements for those foods, or they suggest replacements of lower quality foods that do not match the high quality food choices on their lists. Because sufferers do not have the right suggestions on the same level of quality foods, they are on their own to make the correct food choices.

Therefore, the food choices they tend to make are those that are comfortable on their system or those that don't bring on the symptoms. Most of the time this advice will not recognize foods for different symptoms, such as diarrhea, indigestion or constipation. So in the end you could sometimes avoid certain foods that aren't likely to cause the symptoms, but they could actually include benefits which aid symptom relief.

There is literally tons of nutritional information out there. Luckily, there is a common theme in that the type and quality of foods will promote health. This together with the quantity one consumes will definitely alleviate symptoms, prevent disease and give you that healthier and happier life.

Below are a couple of tips on foods to eat with IBS:

• Generally you should eat foods that you would find in nature.
• Make sure you recognize the ingredients on the label as foods or spices. Try stay away from chemicals in foods.
• Whole foods provide a natural nutrient balance and added satisfaction.
• Eat foods that are in season and always try new foods.
• Instead of juice rather eat your fruits and vegetables. The skins, pulps and cells are packed with nutrients. If you choose juice make it yourself and keep your portions appropriate.
• For sources of protein try the not so obvious choice of vegetable sources. They provide fiber and other nutrients for your body. Try the more easily digestible options such as beans, buckwheat, amaranth, etc.
• Include vegetables at meals and snacks to help you feel full. You should explore different ways in preparing these foods such as cooked, sautéed in soups or as a dip.
• Meals should be full of natural color.
• Fruits and vegetables with dark-colored flesh or leave.
• Fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables much more often that canned or dried.
• Just take a taste of different dishes when dining out and to be safe, order a basic side dish that you like and you know that your system will tolerate.
• Eat grain foods in their whole form more often.
• Try wheat free grains such as quinoa, amaranth, buckwheat, oats, rice and wild rice. They offer additional valuable nutrients.
• Organic locally grown, hormone-free preservative free foods when possible.
• Drink water, herbal teas and healing tonics, which are nutrient-rich and calorie appropriate.
• Dishes that is inherently flavorful by cooking with spices and herbs.
• A snack every now and then to prevent overeating or poor food choices.

There are many professional Food safety Consulting and SQF Consultants who will help you to get the HACCP Certification. BDFoodsafety.com are the leading SQF consultants recognized by the International HACCP Alliance. Our passion is to help others to produce quality and wholesome food.

Source: Ezine Articles

Food Safety Guidance - Take Care of Your Health

Food Safety Guidance - Take Care of Your Health

Food of Quality Vs Food in Quantity

The rising cost of everything is, ironically, not related to quality, or scarcity. In these hard times, it is very easy, if not necessary, to compromise on quality food. As things get tougher economically, as the belt tightens around the wallet, in the bigger picture, what are you really trading off when you reach for frozen lasagna instead of (organic) fresh vegetables, hormone free chicken (or grass-fed organic beef) and brown rice? What are the repercussions short-term? Not just for your body, but also for the planet?

One thing that shows up a lot is that you may believe that you cannot afford organic. Or you do not see the value of organic products? A few thoughts to consider in a wider spectrum of creating a new relationship with food:

• When you select over-produced, heavily sprayed foods from another country that are substantially cheaper, you do a major disservice to the environment and your own body when you choose less nutrient rich food that has traveled thousands of miles;
• Transportation costs are never appropriately calculated into the costs of foods. But the carbon footprint carries a price tag, and sooner or later you will have to pick up the expense;
• Most foreign countries have NO control of pesticide use. This is harmful to the underpaid farmers and their pickers, their soil, their water and their air resources;
• Then, the USA government and consumers allow these fruits and vegetables to clear customs without adequate FDA inspection, This allows for these goods to easily land on your table in massive quantities, without a thought about what chemicals you may put into your own bodies, or your own landfills;
• On top of the already huge distances covered, additional transportation of overseas foods even further across the USA contaminates our own air, soil and water.

Simply stated: the massive carbon footprint alone stands in the way of any kind of fresh quality from foods this country imports. How many of you remember to consider that US pesticides are often created in the laboratories of many petroleum companies? How many of you realize that US made pesticides NOT FDA-approved can land on oversea soils, where zero regulation is the norm? Then the USA ushers them back to its own overfed, under nourished massive consumer base. Hmmm...it seems like a quandary worth paying attention to.

Americans have long been the biggest pig at the food, petroleum, dairy, meat or the fast food trough. We are a nation of massive consumption on all levels. The more we consume, in turn, the more we waste. However, when we consume high-grade, quality fruits and vegetables of the season, we no longer need huge voluminous bins at the grocery stores, or on our tables. From a broader view, we could positively benefit from the bounty of the season, rather than settle for the cheapest price tag.

While some might say I'm being overly critical or reactionary, I would ask: as a nation, do we really need to maintain the status quo of mass consumption? Who really benefits from our mass consumption? Our eating less and less nutritious foods in higher volumes? With food borne illnesses increasing more than ever, with countless health conditions tied to overeating, with overeating leading to less exercise this leads to increased medical costs on every level...the cycle quickly becomes endless. Again, I ask you to consider: Who really benefits from our mass consumption of low quality food? It certainly cannot be the consumers!

Pretty heavy stuff to sink your teeth into or perhaps it is a question whose time has come. If you begin to step up to the proverbial plate more consistently to demand more organic, and safely produced quality foods, ultimately you move to increase your health. The power to receive quality begins with the first asking for it. Your kids deserve it, you deserve, and so does the global community we all share: the Mother Earth.

There are many professional Food safety Consulting and SQF Consultants who will help you to get the HACCP Certification. BDFoodsafety.com are the leading SQF consultants recognized by the International HACCP Alliance. Our passion is to help others to produce quality and wholesome food.

Source: Ezine Articles