1.
Food safety and quality control
Course code: 3618
Food hazards – Physical, chemical and biological
hazards – Definition, Controlling measures
Neena M,
Assistant professor,
Department of Food Science and Nutrition
The American College, Madurai – 625 002.
neenurajeev51@gmail.com,
neena@americancollege.edu.in

2.
The object of the topic is to,
 Impart a knowledge about Food safety and its importance on
the sustainability.
 Make the learners to identify the food hazards in food systems.
 Impart the knowledge on the Controlling measures to prevent
the presence of food hazards and contamination.

3.
Food safety?
 Food Safety as an "assurance that food is acceptable for human consumption
according to its intended use." (Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006 ).
 Food Safety ensures that food is safe for human consumption and involves handling,
preparation, and storage of food in ways that prevent food borne illness.

4.
Food safety vs Food quality
Food safety
1. Assurance that food will not cause
any harm to the consumers.
2. Attributes that cannot be directly
observed, but instead require
laboratory procedures for their
measurement.
3. This includes, Microbiological and
chemical laboratory analysis to
ensure food is safe.
Food quality
1. Attributes that influence a product’s
value to consumers.
2. This includes both negative
attributes such as spoilage,
contamination, adulteration, food
safety hazards as well as positive
attributes such as colour, flavour,
texture.
3. sensorial properties social
considerations, safety.

5.
Food Hazards
Physical, chemical and biological hazards
– definition, controlling measures

6.
Food Hazards
 A biological, chemical or physical agent in, or condition of, food with the potential to
cause an adverse health effect. Food safety hazards include bacteria, viruses, parasites,
hazardous chemicals, and foreign materials that can cause an adverse health effect to a
consumer.
 Hazard is the relative probability that harm or injury will result when substance is not
used in a prescribed manner and quantity.
1. Physical Hazards 2. Chemical Hazards 3. Biological Hazards

7.
Physical Hazard
• Physical hazard is any physical material not normally found in food, which causes illness or
injury and includes wood, stones, parts of pests, hair etc.
• Low in incident rate and Personal injuries are not life-threatening but could cause personal
distress to the consumer.

8.
Preventive measures
 Usage of detection equipments to identifying physical hazards in foods.
 There are a number of methods that can be used for different processes
 magnet to detect ferrous metals
 metal detector to identify ferrous and non-ferrous metals
 X-ray equipment to find out all types of physical hazards
 screen or sifter to separation by size
 aspirator for segregation by weight
 Riffle Board for removal of stones from beans
 bone separator to mechanically-separate meat.
 Preventive maintenance of equipment.
 Routine inspections and maintenance of the equipment is good practice.
 Usage of Screens and filters in liquid processing.

9.
Chemical Hazard
• Chemicals or deleterious substances which
may be intentionally or un-intentionally
added to foods. This category of hazards
includes pesticides, chemical residues, toxic
metals, polychlorinated biphenyls,
preservatives, food colours and other
additives.
• There are different types of chemical hazards associated
with food:
• Naturally occurring chemical hazards
• Intentionally added chemical hazards
• Incidental chemical hazards

10.
Naturally occurring Chemicals
• Naturally occurring chemical hazards are present in many foods. For example,
there are toxins found in many varieties of mushrooms and some seafood.
• These chemical hazards are often classified as biological hazards.
• Examples,
 Toxins produced by Clostridium botulinum, Staphylococcus aureus,
Bacillus cereus
 Scombrotoxin (histamine) – fish
 Saxitoxin - paralytic shellfish toxin
 Ciguatoxin - finfish
 Mycotoxins - produced by Moulds (fungi).

11.
Intentionally added chemical hazards
(Direct and indirect additives)
1. Direct additives
1. Direct additives are compounds such as preservatives; these include
nitrites, sodium benzoate, and resulting agents.
2. Additives such as colors and nutritional additives (such as vitamins) are
also direct.
3. All direct additives must be included on all labels. You can see from the
table the risks of using direct food additives improperly.
2. Indirect food additives
1. Indirect food additives includes adhesives, paper and paperboard
components, polymers, adjuvants, protection aids, and sanitizers.
2. In most cases these indirect food additives are undesirable and migrate
into the food from inappropriate packaging.

12.
Unintentionally added chemical hazards
• There are a number of unintentionally introduced chemicals
added to foods by agricultural processes including
pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, fertilizers, antibiotics and
growth hormones.
• These substances are prohibited in certain countries and
some countries allows with the limitations of usages.
Preventive measures
☺ By strictly following certain Organizational, national
level standards and business-to-business requirements
than legislative suggestions.
☺ Routine and complete screening, proper sampling and
analysis for chemical hazards at all stages from form to
fork .

13.
Biological Hazards
 Biological hazards are living organisms and include microbiological organisms like viruses,
bacteria and parasites.
 Those micro-organisms which are associated with food and cause diseases are termed food-
borne pathogens. There are two types of food-borne diseases from microbial pathogens—
infections and poisoning.
Examples
 Salmonella species
 E. coli O157:H7
 Shigella species
 Campylobacter jejuni
 viruses and parasites

14.
Preventive measures
 Product Specification: It is important to be aware of the presence and number of microorganisms
in food.
 Control Mechanisms: Physical and chemical control mechanisms significantly affect the survival
and multiplication of microorganisms.
 Cross-Contamination: Cross-contamination must be managed so that materials cannot
contaminate others.
 Cleaning and Disinfection: The equipment used for producing, processing, and storing products
should be sanitized on a regular basis
 Conditions for Use: Providing information on how to correctly store and cook the product can
reduce the risks of biological hazards.

15.
Food Allergens
• A person has a food allergy when they cannot tolerate one or more foods and their
immune system is involved in creating the symptoms.
• Tingling or itching in the mouth, rashes, Swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat or
other parts of the body, Wheezing, nasal congestion or trouble breathing. Abdominal
pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. Dizziness or fainting.

16.
Food travels from farm to fork- edible products as they move throughout
the food supply chain.
Harvesting Processing Packaging& labelling Transportation
Storage Preparation Serving
Control points for hazards must be identified during the process and storage of food
products. Such can be done by using a hazard analysis technique.