Unifiller Presents How Food Safety Culture Matters in Food Production Facilities

Article By Sonia Bal Published October 2, 2022
Article Source: Unifiller Presents How Food Safety Culture Matters in Food Production Facilities. (prweb.com)

Food safety protects consumers from dire health consequences such as food poisoning, allergic reactions, and foodborne illnesses. The World Health Organization records approximately 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420, 000 deaths globally every year. Unifiller Systems Inc, offers some basic tips on creating a culture of food safety within an organization.

For leaders, ensuring food safety is not as simple as instructing staff to wash their hands. It requires making sure they follow food safety rules and holding staff accountable. Every individual has to be accountable, but leaders have the responsibility of reinforcing the ownership mentality.

VANCOUVER, BC, Canada (PRWEB) September 30, 2022

Food safety protects consumers from dire health consequences such as food poisoning, allergic reactions, and foodborne illnesses. The World Health Organization records approximately 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420, 000 deaths globally every year. In the US, the CDC estimates 48 million Americans get sick from food contamination every year. These deadly numbers are the reason for strict food safety standards and laws, such as Canada’s Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) and the U.S.’s Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) and the Public Health Services Act.

Outside of health consequences, following Food Safe best practices also protects businesses from penalties such as lawsuits, fines, and facility closures.

Food safety culture, at its core, is a culture of responsibility. Food suppliers, processors, and food service establishments have a responsibility to protect consumer and employee health. This means following food safe best practices, even when no one is watching.

In practice, food safety culture looks like:

• Ensure staff members are trained & knowledgeable about food safety practices.

• Manuals and policies are easy to find, supplement these with signage around your facility and ensure training happens with all new recruits but also regularly to refresh staff on requirements.

• Getting staff to practice good personal hygiene when handling or preparing food. Food handlers should wear clean gloves, clean clothes, aprons, hair nets, and wash their hands regularly to avoid contaminating food with pathogens.

• Preparing food safely. In food service establishments, staff are properly trained in safe meal prep to avoid cross-contamination. - This includes following best practices like washing vegetables (but never washing raw meat), using separate equipment for raw meat, knowing safe cooking temperatures for hot food, and being conscious of customer allergies.

• Thoroughly cleaning all workstations and equipment. An unclean work area creates an environment ripe for bacteria to thrive, and bacteria can spread quickly. Staff should be trained in proper cleaning and sanitizing procedures to ensure all food-contact equipment is safe to use.

• Storing food correctly. Every food has a different shelf life and unique storage requirements. Proper training and making storage instructions easily accessible go a long way in preventing food spoilage.

A food safety culture is also a culture of accountability. For leaders, ensuring food safety is not as simple as merely instructing your staff to wear aprons or telling them that the safe cooking temperature for poultry is 165 °F. It requires making sure they follow food safety rules and holding disciplinary action when they do not. Every individual has to be accountable for his or her own conduct, but leaders have the extra responsibility of reinforcing the ownership mentality.

For whitepapers and more tips on how managers can implement quick and easy tactics to build a food safety culture in their organization and to understand how automation can help, visit https://www.unifiller.com/white-papers.

Unifiller, a subsidiary of the Linxis Group, is a global leader in specialized equipment for the food, bakery, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. The group consists of leading companies focusing on mixing technologies, ingredient dosing systems and automated portioning systems. Through its various subsidiaries, the Group employs approximately 800 people worldwide. With 5 global offices and a dealer network of 80 dealers, Unifiller equipment can be found at the production plants of some of the world’s most well-known brands. Inquire today for a no-obligation consultation.