Food Safety - Foodborne Illness 🌎
Languages: English, French, Spanish (North America)
Media Editing: This subject does not contain any editable media.
Description: Foodborne illness can be extremely damaging to both a person's health and a business's reputation. It's essential that employees are aware of how foodborne illness occurs and its potentially dangerous results, so no one becomes ill. In this subject, learners are taught general information about foodborne illness, including what it is, who's most at risk, what causes it, and the four core methods for prevention. Learners are also taught about the types of microorganisms that cause foodborne illness, with a focus on six common disease-causing microbes and the most affected foods. This subject pairs well with Food Contaminants and Cross-Contamination and Food Safety Bacteria.
Languages: English, French, Spanish (North America)
Media Editing: This subject does not contain any editable media.
Description: Foodborne illness can be extremely damaging to both a person's health and a business's reputation. It's essential that employees are aware of how foodborne illness occurs and its potentially dangerous results, so no one becomes ill. In this subject, learners are taught general information about foodborne illness, including what it is, who's most at risk, what causes it, and the four core methods for prevention. Learners are also taught about the types of microorganisms that cause foodborne illness, with a focus on six common disease-causing microbes and the most affected foods. This subject pairs well with Food Contaminants and Cross-Contamination and Food Safety Bacteria.
Languages: English, French, Spanish (North America)
Media Editing: This subject does not contain any editable media.
Description: Foodborne illness can be extremely damaging to both a person's health and a business's reputation. It's essential that employees are aware of how foodborne illness occurs and its potentially dangerous results, so no one becomes ill. In this subject, learners are taught general information about foodborne illness, including what it is, who's most at risk, what causes it, and the four core methods for prevention. Learners are also taught about the types of microorganisms that cause foodborne illness, with a focus on six common disease-causing microbes and the most affected foods. This subject pairs well with Food Contaminants and Cross-Contamination and Food Safety Bacteria.
Topics
Foodborne Illness - General Information and Prevention
-
It’s important that employees in food-related industries know what foodborne illness is and how they can help prevent it. In this topic, learners are taught what foodborne illness is, what causes it, and which people are most at risk for contracting an illness. Learners are also taught the four main prevention methods: clean, separate, cook, and chill.
-
Questions (level 1, 2, 3)
-
Translated content is typically AI-generated, and in some instances, it's been human-reviewed. Review the list below for translation details within this topic.
English
French
Questions = AI-translated
Spanish
Questions = human-translated
-
Often known as ‘food poisoning’, foodborne illness occurs when you eat a food or liquid that is contaminated with harmful microbes or pathogens such as bacteria.
Food can be contaminated in the following ways: improper cooking and handling; cross-contamination with people, equipment, or other food; or it can already be contaminated when you purchase it. Make sure you follow proper safety protocols, so any harmful microbes are removed.
Contaminated food can look, taste, and smell the same as uncontaminated food, so it’s important to properly prepare and handle food to prevent causing foodborne illness in your workplace.
Anyone can get a foodborne illness, but there are some groups of people that are more at risk than others, so be especially careful when preparing or serving them food. These groups include, pregnant women and their fetus, infants, young children, seniors, and people with weakened or compromised immune systems.
To prevent foodborne illness, remember and follow the four main safety practices: clean, separate, cook, and chill.
Wash your hands, preparation surfaces, equipment, and anything else that touches food frequently, to prevent cross-contamination and the spread of bacteria. This represents the clean prevention practice.
Wash all fruits and vegetables, including ones with skin or a rind, under running water to remove any harmful microbes that may be present or may have been transferred. This represents the clean prevention practice.
Always keep raw or unwashed foods away from ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, including during shopping, storage, and preparation, using separate equipment when necessary, to prevent cross-contamination. This represents the separate prevention practice.
Use a food thermometer to cook and reheat all foods to their required internal temperature, to kill any bacteria present in the food. This represents the cook prevention practice.
Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods quickly and at the appropriate temperature (below 40° F for the fridge, and below 0° F for the freezer) to slow the growth of bacteria, as it grows quicker at room temperature. This represents the chill prevention practice.
Thaw or defrost frozen food in one of the following three ways: in cold water, in the refrigerator, or in the microwave. You should never thaw food at room temperature or using hot water as this can cause bacteria to grow faster and cause foodborne illness. This represents the chill prevention practice.
Preview of topic image for “Foodborne Illness - General Information and Prevention” as this topic is questions only.
Foodborne Illness - Pathogenic Microorganisms
-
It’s important to understand that not all bacteria are harmful to humans if ingested, but those that do cause harm, can result in serious consequences. In this topic, learners are taught which microorganisms are harmful. Learners are also taught about the following six common disease-causing microbes and what causes them: Campylobacter, Clostridium Perfringens, Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, and Norovirus.
-
Questions (level 1, 2, 3)
-
Translated content is typically AI-generated, and in some instances, it's been human-reviewed. Review the list below for translation details within this topic.
English
French
Questions = AI-translated
Spanish
Questions = human-translated
-
Microorganisms perform three functions in relation to food, most of which are not harmful to humans: aid in food processing (beneficial), cause food to spoil (spoilage), and cause illness (pathogenic).
Most pathogenic microorganisms need the right conditions in order to multiply to a certain level to produce toxins and cause foodborne illness. This is known as the ‘infective dose’.
Clostridium Perfringens, also known as the ‘cafeteria germ’, is a microbe that survives during cooking and grows on cooked food kept too long at room temperature (40F - 140F).
Campylobacter, Salmonella, and E. coli, are microbes found in animal intestines and can be transferred through fecal matter to food during processing or harvesting, causing contamination. Properly wash and cook food to prevent the spread of this microbe.
Listeria is a microbe that can grow at cold, refrigerated temperatures and is largely associated with ready-to-eat foods that are kept too long in the refrigerator.
Norovirus is a microbe that requires a low 'infective dose' to cause illness and is easily spread through contact with contaminated water, food, or people. Make sure you maintain high sanitation levels in the workplace to prevent this type of illness.
Preview of topic image for “Foodborne Illness - Pathogenic Microorganisms” as this topic is questions only.
