Frequently Asked Questions

Food Safety Resources

• Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP)
  HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.
  • Dairy Grade A Voluntary HACCP
  • Including Questions and Answers About NCIMS Dairy HACCP
  • Juice HACCP
  • Including Juice HACCP Hazards and Controls Guidance – First Edition and Questions & Answers for the Juice HACCP Regulation
  • Retail and Food Service HACCP
  • Seafood HACCP
  • Including Fish and Fishery Products Hazards and Controls Guidance and FDA’s Evaluation of the Seafood HACCP Program 2004/2005

• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – Food Code 2013
  The Food Code is a model for safeguarding public health and ensuring food is unadulterated and honestly presented when offered to the consumer. It represents FDA’s best advice for a uniform system of provisions that address the safety and protection of food offered at retail and in food service. Download Food Code 2013 (PDF – 6MB)
• USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) – Food Safety Education
  FSIS educates consumers about the importance of safe food handling and how to reduce the risks associated with foodborne illness.
  http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Food_Safety_Education/index.asp
  • Be Food Safe
  • Educational Materials & Campaigns
  • Browse FSIS Image Library
  • Download Educational Materials
  • Fact Sheets

Food Safety Glossary

• Acid Food – A food that has a natural pH of 4.6 or below.
• Adulterated – Something unneeded has been added to or has grown in the food to contaminate it.
• Alkaline Food – A food that has a natural pH greater than 7.
• Bacteria – Bacteria are found in all foods. Most are killed by high temperatures, but some form toxins which may or may not be killed by heat.
• Biological Hazard – Exposure to food by disease-causing microorganisms or toxins that are found in some plants and fish.s that are
  found in some plants and fish.
• Calibration – the process of standardizing a temperature monitoring instrument to ensure that it will measure within a specific temperature range in which the instrument is designed to operate.
• Chemicals – Chemical food born illnesses are among the most deadly. Chemicals and other “natural” toxins formed in food include agents such as scombrotoxin and ciguatoxin. Store cleaning supplies in a different area away from stored food.
• Ciguatera – Also known as cigua-toxin. Tropical reef fish that consume toxic algae and then consumed by predator fish. Cannot be destroyed by cooking.
• Control (verb) – To take all necessary actions to ensure and maintain compliance with criteria established in the HACCP Plan.
• Control (noun) – The state wherein correct procedures are being followed and criteria are being met.
• Control Measures – Actions and activities that can be used to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.
• Control Point: Any step at which biological, chemical, or physical factors can be controlled.
• Convection Oven – An oven with fans that move the hot air around to give more even heat.
• Corrective Actions – Actions to be taken when the results of monitoring at the CCP indicate a loss of control.
• Critical Control Point (CCP) – A step at which control can be applied and is essential to prevent or eliminate a food safety hazard or reduce it to an acceptable level.
• Critical Limit – A criterion which separates acceptability from unacceptability.
• Cross-contamination – Cross-contamination is when bacteria spread between food, surfaces or equipment.
• Danger Zone – Temperature of food between 41º F (7º C) and 140º F (60º C).
• Detergent – A chemical used to remove grease, dirt and food, such as washing-up liquid.
• Disinfectant – A chemical that kills bacteria. Check that surfaces are clean of grease, dirt and food before you use a disinfectant. Chemicals that kill bacteria are sometimes called germicides, bactericides or biocides.
• Employee – Any person working in or for a food service establishment who engages in food preparation or service, who transports food or Food containers, or who comes in contact with any food utensils or equipment.
• Equipment- All stoves, ranges, hoods, meat blocks, tables, counters, Refrigerators, freezers, sinks, dishwashing machines, steam tables and similar items, other than utensils, used in the operation of a food service establishments.
• Fixed food establishment – A food service establishment which operates at a specific location and is connected to electric utilities, water, and a sewage disposal system.
• Foodborne Illness: a condition caused by the consumption of a contaminated food or beverage. Foodborne illnesses are typically infections caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or toxins. Different foodborne illnesses have different symptoms.
• Food born infections – These occur when “enough” of the live bacterial cells that have reproduced in the food, small intestine, or both are consumed. The severity of the infection depends on the virulence of the bacteria, resistance of the victim, and the number of cells that survive digestion.
• Food born intoxications – These result from a poison or toxin produced by reproductive bacterial cells in food or in the human body. Bacterial toxins have varying resistance to heat; some can even survive boiling. Other toxins can be a natural part of the food, for example, certain types of mushrooms.
• Food born Illness Outbreak – The Centers for Disease Control define an outbreak of food born illness as illness that involves two or more persons who eat a common food, with the food confirmed as the source of the illness by a laboratory analysis. The only exception is that a single case of botulism qualifies as an outbreak.
• Food contact surfaces -Surfaces of equipment and utensils with which normally comes in contact, and those surfaces from which food may drain, drip, or splash back onto surfaces normally in contact with Food.
• Food poisoning – An illness that occurs when people eat food that has been contaminated with harmful germs (particularly bacteria and viruses) or toxins (poisonous substances).
• Food Preparation – The manipulation of foods intended for human consumption by such means as washing, slicing, peeling, chipping, shucking, scooping and/or portioning.
• Food Safety Management System (FSMS) – A food safety management system (FSMS) is a network of interrelated elements that combine to ensure that food does not cause adverse human health effects.
• Food Service Establishment – Any facility, where food is prepared and intended for individual portion service, and includes the site at Which individual portions are provided.
• HACCP – A system which identifies, evaluates, and controls hazards which are significant for food safety.
• HACCP Plan – A document prepared in accordance with the principles of HACCP to ensure control of hazards which are significant for food safety in the segment of the food chain under consideration.
• Hazard – A biological, chemical or physical agent or factor with the potential to cause an adverse health effect.
• Hazard Analysis – The process of collecting and evaluating information on hazards and conditions leading to their presence to decide which are significant for food safety and therefore should be addressed in the HACCP plan.
• Kitchenware – All multi-use utensils, other than tableware (such as pots, pans).
• Limited Food Service Establishment – Any establishment with a food operation, so limited by the type and quantity of foods prepared and the equipment utilized, that poses a lesser degree of risk to the public’s health, and, for the purpose of fees, requires less time to monitor.
• Monitor – The act of conducting a planned sequence of observations or measurements of control parameters to assess whether a CCP is under control.
• Parasites – These tiny organisms can cause severe illness. Parasites need nutrients from their host to complete their life cycle. They are always associated with raw or undercooked meat and fish, including pork, bear meat and others.
• Pathogen – Any disease producing agent, microorganism or germ.
• Perishable Foods – Any food of such type or in such condition as may spoil; provided, that foods which are in hermetically sealed containers processed by heat or other means to prevent spoilage and properly packaged, dehydrated, dry or powered foods so low in moisture content as to retard development of microorganism are not considered readily perishable.
• pH: pH is the measure of the hydrogen ion activity of a solution and is defined as the negative logarithm of the hydrogen ion concentration.
• Potentially Hazardous Food – Any perishable food that is capable of supporting rapid and progressive growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms.
• Salmonella – A group of bacteria that cause typhoid fever and a number of other illnesses, including food poisoning, gastroenteritis and enteric fever from contaminated food products.
• Safe Temperatures – As applies to potentially hazardous foods, means Temperatures of 41 degrees F or below, or 140 degrees F or above.
• Sanitize – Kill germs with chemicals or high heat.
• Sanitizer – A two-in-one product that acts as a detergent and a disinfectant.
• Single-Service Articles – Any cups, containers, closures, plates, straws, place mats, napkins, doilies, spoons, stirrers, paddles, knives, forks, wrapping materials, and all similar articles, which are constructed wholly or in part from paper or paper material, foil, wood, plastic, synthetic or other readily destructible materials, for one time and one person use and then discarded.
• Spore: A differentiated, specialized form that can be used for dissemination, for survival of adverse conditions because of its heat and desiccation resistance, and/or for reproduction. Spores are usually unicellular and may develop into vegetative organisms or gametes. They may be produced asexually or sexually and are of many types.
• Step – A point, procedure, operation or stage in the food chain including raw materials, from primary production to final consumption.
• Sulfiting agent – A kind of salt used to help keep some foods, including meats, looking fresh.
• Tableware – Multi-use eating and drinking items, including flatware, knives, forks, spoons, glasses, cups, etc.
• Temperature – a critical measurement for ensuring the safety and quality of many food products.
• Toxin: A microbial product or component that can injure anther cell or organism at low concentrations. Often the term refers to a poisonous protein, but toxins may be lipid or other substances.
• Trichinosis – A disease caused by eating a parasite, a worm, found in pork that is raw or undercooked. It causes pain, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
• Utensil – Implements such as pots, pans, ladles or food containers used in the preparation, storage, transportation or serving of food.
• Verification – The application of methods, procedures, and tests, in addition to those used in monitoring to determine compliance with the HACCP plan, and/or whether the HACCP plan needs modification.
• Viruses – Viruses grow or reproduce only on living cells. They are often found in untreated water or sewage-contaminated water, and viruses from human feces on unwashed hands can infect others by passing the virus to food. Normal cooking may lower the risk of illness but may not destroy all viruses