Monday, February 29, 2016

Food Safety and Security: Discussion 1

 Food security and food safety are two steps to help prevent the spread of illness. Food security ensures everyone gets the food and the quality they need. This means they are happy, healthy and there is enough food for the households. Food safety is to ensure the food is safe to consume, and is free of pests, chemicals, pathogens and more.

Food security is whether people have the skills to prepare/process/utilize food, store it and obtain it and “secure it” for consumption. The availability of food is food security. Raw materials may be contaminated by pathogens or cross contamination. Obtaining safe food and keeping food safe to consume is food safety. Food safety is about keeping allergens, pathogens, microbacterial and foreign objects out of food. Security refers to whether or not the food can be accessed, where as food safety determines how safe it is to consume. Nature may affect the food supply. Whereas weather and water availability may influence food security, some pathogens or contaminants may compromise food safety.

Though interconnected, they are separate ways to examine the food supply. The amount of food and what its quality is will influence the food security. Income may influence food security. Food security may also be influenced by what food crops are additionally used for, such as biofuel as well as the costs of shipping and preparing food. Food security is making sure there is enough food for everyone, while food safety is ensuring that food is safe.

Each processor along the way needs to be careful of food safety. HACCP is a safety management system. The government has agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration, US Department of Agriculture and the Center for Disease Control as well as state agencies and other departments to help oversee safety. ServSafe is used in the food industry to oversee safety. These are all steps to help with safety. Everyone should learn to properly handle food and each person along the step of the way should know how to prepare and store food.

In order to understand a consistent disease process, you need to know how the disease works, how it affects the human body and what to look for. It will help outline consistent symptoms to better diagnose issues as they come up. Knowing what toxins do to affect the body, what allergens do to effect humans and how pathogens interact in human physiology all help determine food safety. When you know what you are looking for. Through observation, you determine facts, you then use that to design a hypothesis. Through prediction, you try to determine what the outcome will be and it is tested in the experiment. By estimating the foodborne illness, you can use the scientific method based on how its normal effects would be in cost. This may include medical costs, cleanup and care among other needs.  

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