Achieving food safety success in the new environment where consumers, purchase prepared foods on a more frequent basis rather than cooking at home is becoming a more difficult process to achieve. This means going beyond the traditional training, testing, and auditing approaches to be able to manage the risk of causing food poisoning, such […]
Read MoreFridge and Freezer Temperature Records Procedure
NOTE: Each refrigerator in your kitchen that holds perishable, semi-perishable (whole unprocessed vegetables) and potentially perishable (frozen) foods must be checked for their holding temperature twice a day (first thing in the morning and then in the mid-afternoon), on a daily basis. Basic procedure for clients testing the temperature of their fridge and freezer facilities: 1) […]
Read MoreListeriosis Product Recall
A listeriosis product recall has been implemented following an announcement by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) on Sunday that the source of the present outbreak was an Enterprise facility in Polokwane. Two national food manufacturers and distributors have been ordered by the South African government to start a listeriosis product […]
Read MoreHot and Cold Food Temperature Checking Procedures
How to accurately and hygienically take temperatures on the buffet: All temporary hot and cold food holding facilities must be checked for their temperature holding abilities. These include but are not limited to bain maries, upright warmers, undercounter warmers, cold displays, ice wells, cold tops, etc. All such holding facilities in the production areas and […]
Read MoreWater Saving Without Compromising Food Safety
South Africa is famous for its sunshine, but as per the Cape drought a relatively dry country, with an average annual rainfall of about 464mm (compared to a world average of about 860mm). South Africa is one of the 30 driest countries in the world. This means all south Africans need to save water. […]
Read MoreLegionella risk in the drought, does the risk increase or decrease?
As we all know, there is a severe drought plaguing the Western (and increasingly) Eastern Cape Provinces of South Africa (and not so long before that, a drought affecting the interior provinces too). Obviously Legionella pneumophila being a water-borne organism, this is likely to impact on its prevalence of and thus the diseases caused by […]
Read MoreFood Poisoning or a Stomach Virus?
Are you feeling sick to your stomach and not sure if you’re suffering from a stomach bug or have food poisoning? On the surface, food poisoning and gastroenteritis (stomach flu) seem similar. Symptoms like abdominal cramping, fever, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and headaches. It is however, very important to distinguish between the two. Stomach flu […]
Read MoreAntibiotic Resistance and Food Safety
Antibiotics have revolutionised the treatment of infectious diseases and they have undoubtedly saved millions of lives, but with the emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is threatening their effectiveness. In the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die annually as a direct […]
Read MoreListeriosis Food Poisoning Update
The recent outbreak of Listeriosis caused by Listeria monocytogenes in South Africa The health department has released an update on the Listeriosis outbreak. At this stage the source of the contamination has as of yet, not been identified. The investigation is ongoing and there are now 727 confirmed laboratory cases, and 61 confirmed deaths as […]
Read MoreListeriosis Alert & Advice
As you are undoubtedly aware of the recent outbreak of Listeriosis in South Africa, there is a lot of news on what Listeriosis is and how to prevent it from happening, and there is a lot generic information being shared. Listeria monocytogenes food poisoning (Listeriosis) is a very serious disease and we urge you […]
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