Importance of food safety comes to fore

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), foodborne diseases kill 2.2 million people annually - 1.9 million of whom are children, yet the global extent of the problem is believed to be largely underestimated because of the difficulty in tracking cases of foodborne disease outbreaks.

But what has become clear following the recent cases in the country, is that problems from badly handled or tainted food affect both the developing and developed worlds and they can often be deadly. Moreover, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - more than 250 different foodborne diseases have been identified, making food safety and hygiene a top priority the world over.

According to 3M, whose Microbiology division is concerned with food health and safety, bad food habits including lack of cleanliness, bad storage and wrong cooking techniques; alongside changes in how the food industry operates - all affect the way food is handled. But the increased focus by regulatory bodies on the processes and regulations involved in the handling of food, such as the HACCP, reflects the significance of food safety - both for the health and safety of consumers, and for the reputation of a food or restaurant brand.

Rita Habash, 3M Healthcare, said:

"From primary food production to food processing, right down to the restaurant trade and customers, what remains the same is that safe and healthy food is a requirement for all types of food."

So just how easy is it to ensure food safety?

The WHO has developed five keys to safer food which it recommends that any company or individual that handles food should abide by. Food handlers should 1) keep themselves and surfaces clean, 2) always separate raw and cooked foods, 3) cook food thoroughly, 4) keep food at safe temperatures, and 5) use safe water and raw materials.

"These guidelines are really important for safe food handling and can make the difference between serving healthy, nutritious and safe to eat food, and food which might cause damage to health," said Rita. But while these guidelines are excellent for practicing safe methods, it can still be difficult to guarantee food safety.

"At 3M, we always recommend that anyone operating in the food industry also goes one step further than just following safe practices, to actually ensuring food safety for consumers by implementing reliable testing methods," added Rita.

3M has developed a range of reliable and accurate food monitoring solutions to enable those dealing with food to optimise food safety and hygiene. The applications all relate to the need to monitor and control contamination from food residues or microbes. These range from surface hygiene monitoring to biomass detection, rapid microbial detection, and detection of allergens and pathogens that may be harmful to the consumer. Implementing such solutions allows those operating in the food industry to be faster and more effective, to provide excellent food quality and to inspire confidence in their food or restaurant brand.

"Our rapid 3M Clean-Trace hygiene monitoring systems can be used in all kinds of industry settings such as restaurants, cafeterias, supermarkets, sandwich manufacturers, dairies and bakeries, for example. The unique systems give immediate results, meaning no time is wasted in ensuring safe food," explained Rita.

3M's hygiene monitoring systems:

- 3M Clean-Trace Surface ATP is a user-friendly surface hygiene test, 3M Clean Trace Surface ATP sets the standard when it comes to rapid surface hygiene detection. A self-contained, simple device contains all the necessary reagents to determine whether surfaces and equipment are sufficiently clean. Clean-Trace™ Surface ATP is simple, fast, safe and reliable, allowing you to use one swab at a time with no waste. Just swab, click and measure!

- 3M Clean-Trace Water ATP is designed to rapidly assess the contamination level in a water sample by detecting the presence of microbial contamination with the ease of "dip, click and read" technology. The test is ideal for measuring the residual contamination in Clean In Place (CIP) rinse water. It is used extensively in the water treatment industry to assess the efficacy of microbial control measures.

- 3M Clean-Trace Surface Protein Plus is an alternative route to rapid hygiene testing. The 3M Clean-Trace Surface Protein Plus easily accesses hard-to-reach areas to tell you in minutes whether a surface or a piece of equipment has been cleaned effectively. The test is a key tool in maintaining hygiene standards bringing you peace of mind in real time.