Is Haccp About Absolute Food Safety?

Hello,

Is over sanitised food good for health? Should we be achieving a microbiological limit/standard that has a laboratory test report that reads ABSENT OR NOT DETECTABLE for all our micobiological test parameters.

Perhaps, it time to ask ourselves whether we are on the right track. Would it be commercially viable to provide totally "clean food" which is currently done in the USA for a certain food program for school children. We may also need to ask WHY the US is taking this direction when others are not.

To be commercially viable, how safe should your food be. At what limit of food safety should be tell ourselves that we have done enough. Anything more is food for astronauts.

Regards
Charles Chew

Good old Grandad Timperley used to say "every-thin these days is too clean'. In his day before televisions and refrigerators (imagine that) the latest thinking on food safety (wad a load of cobblers) was wrapping your sausages in newspaper. He reckoned a bit of soil and earth was "good fer ye!' and far from harming you it helped "build yer defences' Whether there was any logic in his argument is up for debate - but I think there just might have been…

Regards,
Simon

Hi SImon,

Good old Grandad may well be right. Lets wait out for more comments to come through before we give our views.

Charles Chew

Hi,

I just want to add that it is incorrect to report as "ABSENT" in a Micro report. A correct report should be "Not Detectable" even if the food is irradiated.

Chalres Chew

Just to add to Grandad Timperley's theory see the following page from Asthma UK

Grandad Timperley Theory

Thanks Yorky.

Thats a great endorsement. Grandad Temperley's advice is definitely on the right track

Charles Chew

Really interesting Yorky. I'm sure Grandad Timps will be pleased his 'soil munching hypothesis' eventually came true.

Regards,
Simon

Hi Simon,

We all seem to agree that our foods these days are some what over sanitised. Back then, Grandad Timperley and friends probably eat everything that looked safe and served hot from the cook pot. Today, its the same hot food but cooked in a can or microwaved packed-in.

Ingredients have gone super-complex (example high-intense sugar, hydrogenated soy, oil and everything else becoming more unnatural)

Have you ever considered whether it is the way we prepare our foods that is killings us or are the "food scientists" that are on the big company's payroll that keep coming up with foods filled with all these "killers"

Honestly, I am not sure that we need HACCP if there is an industrial standard for implementing corporate moral conscience. If street food is safe to eat why not those from the factory?

Would the guy who prepare a hot-dog from his street stand be any different from the guy who prepares it from a food service centre - food safety wise? My answer to that is NO DIFFERENCE!

The operational procedure may be different but hygiene is probably better controlled in a street stand (assuming hygiene training was given) than a food service centre where staff turnover is normally higher...........anyway, the real issue is not about hygiene. I expect and welcome some disagreement on this.

Its really about the hot-dog, mayonnaise, mustards, tomato sauce etc..........its these that are killing us. What! Are you sure the oninons are non-GMO, what level of nitrite in the hot dog, sugar and sodium level in the mayo ...

Buyer beware

Regards
Charles Chew

We all seem to agree that our foods these days are some what over sanitised. Back then, Grandad Timperley and friends probably eat everything that looked safe and served hot from the cook pot. Today, its the same hot food but cooked in a can or microwaved packed-in.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I have attached an extract from a report 'Packaging's Place in Society'. The report provides some interesting insight into the food we consume and shows how the way we prepare our food has changed. Although the report is biased toward UK packaging consumption, it will be a similar situation in most developed countries.

Some food for thought.

Regards,
Simon

Yes, the HRM (Home Repalcement Meals) market has grown by leaps and bounds throughout the world. No country is spared.

The world of technologies have brought changes with sometimes devastating health impact....a price to pay for convenience and with the help of technology, the world's biggest food producers are having a ball of a time.

I do not mean to sound offensive here but a guy from an under developed country certainly have a better chance to survive in any part of the world than a guy who has been subject to sanitized foods.......As a matter of fact, I personnally bear witness to such an event.

Back to HACCP - lets get back to our senses. HACCP is NOT ABOUT producing zero tolerance foods and foods that have absolutely NO MICROBES. Its about producing safe food and that has a totally different meaning to what is termed as clean food in irradiation or other forms of food sterilization.

Does this all mean that sharing your foods with some unknown characters is a good thing?
If so who should you not invite to share with!

Charles Chew

Does this all mean that sharing your foods with some unknown characters is a good thing? If so who should you not invite to share with!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Definitely not an over-sanitised Westener...that's for sure!

Regards,
Simon