Food safety in-class assignment PDF

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Food safety in-class assignment...

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Assignment - Food Safety Celia and Alan did their weekly grocery shopping at the local supermarket. They bought fresh boneless chicken breasts, ground beef, fresh fruits and vegetables, milk, cheese and a frozen pizza. They were in the fast line, and packed their own groceries into 4 bags. 1. How should they pack their groceries? In my opinion, they should pack fresh boneless chicken breast and ground beef in 1 bag; fresh fruits and vegetables in the 2 nd one; milk, cheese and a frozen pizza in the 3rd. That’s because raw meats should be kept separately from ready-to-eat foods and fruits and vegetables, preventing foodborne illnesses. They took their purchases home and put them away. The pizza and beef went into the freezer. The chicken went into the top shelf in the fridge, since they believed it was the coldest part of the fridge. The fruits and veggies were stored on the next shelf below. The milk was left on the table while Celia was on the phone with a friend and Alan ran out to run another errand. 2. Where should groceries be placed in the fridge? Ready-to-eat/cooked foods, including milk, cheese and frozen pizza should be placed on the top (where the temperature is about 7 °C), above fresh boneless chicken breast and ground beef covered and kept in sealed containers (maintaining the temperature of about 3°C). And on the lowest level (usually in drawers with the highest temperature of 8-10°C) are fruits and vegetables. 3. What is the timeline for food safety when food is left out of the fridge? The food sitting at a room temperature (out of the fridge) is the “Danger Zone”, which is between 4°C and 60°C, by USDA. And it an sit there for 2 hours maximum, because at that range of temperature bacteria grows most rapidly, and the food may be unsafe to eat. At around 3 PM, Celia decided to start preparing dinner. She washed the chicken breasts in the sink with fast running, cold water, and then chopped the chicken and tossed the small pieces into a frying pan. She then cut up the veggies and put them in with the chicken for a stir-fry. For the salad, she used her knife and cutting board to cut tomatoes and cucumbers into small cubes and put them into a bowl. She added some olives and shredded lettuce and put the bowl onto the kitchen table for dinner. Then she set the table so everything would be ready for dinner. At 5 PM, Celia heated the frying pan and cooked the chicken and vegetables. They sat down for dinner at 6 PM.

4. What should Celia have done differently? Celia made salad at 3PM and didn’t put the cooked food into the fridge until 6PM. Meaning the food sat in room temperature (“Danger Zone”) for over 2 hours which makes it dangerous to eat. I think she should have put the salad in the fridge or start making it later, probably at 5PM or even 5:30PM. It will also taste better. The chicken breast with veggies may be stir-fried at 3:30PM and kept outside the fridge at a room temperature for less than 2 hours, then she cooked the food at 5PM at the temperature higher than 60°C. And it would be good if they finish the dish before 7PM, because the total amount of time of the cooked food at the TDZ is less than 4 hours in total and less than 2 hours after taken from the heat. 5. What is the timeline for bacteria growth? What are the risks in Celia’s plan for dinner? The salad is kept at the TDZ for more than 2 hours which causes bacteria to grow rapidly. The bacteria caused may be Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Enteritidis, Escherichia coli O157:H7, and Campylobacter. Moreover, Celia can get food poisoning, leading to fever, vomiting, diarrhea. If the food is left out longer, it may cause even death. 6. Where else did Celia create risks in the kitchen? Recap what went wrong and what the risks are. It doesn’t say if she used the same cutting board and knife to cut raw meat, veggies and ingredients for the salad. But if yes, then she should have clean and sanitize carefully before cutting tomatoes and cucumbers. This can cause the risk of cross contamination, there’s a higher chance of contracting a foodborne illness. Any other comments related to Celia’s and Alan’s knowledge of food safety? In my opinion, if they want to save themselves an extra wash, they can cut the bacteria friendly food last, for instance they can cut tomatoes and cucumbers first, and raw meat last. Also, if they should be better at time management. If they plan to have dinner at 6PM, they should count the time to start cooking, and shouldn’t start cooking to early and leave food outside until the dinner time. Otherwise, they should put in the fridge....