Food safety refers to the condition and practices that preserve the quality of food to prevent contamination (microbial, physical or chemical) and foodborne illness. Symptoms of foodborne illness includes: abdominal cramping, diarrhea, which may be bloody, nausea, vomiting, fever, headache, fatigue and body aches. Due to increasing number of foodborne illnesses, food safety becomes an important concern in the world.
In Singapore, the department: Agri-Veterinary Authority(AVA) observes a stringent food safety standards to ensure that food consumed in Singapore are safe. Food are usually manufactured, then undergoes processing and distributed to the retail sotres. Lastly, it will be consumed by the consumers. Thus, it is everone's responsibility to ensure the safety of the food.
Good maufacturing practices and hygiene practices should be oberved during the processing or manufacturing. It is the job of the food industries to provide safe food to the consumers. It is the job of the consumers to buy food that are in good conditions, example: in good packaging without openings or non-dented cans or eggs and meat that does not have any foul odour. The consumers also have to ensure when preparing and cooking food at home, good hygiene is practiced. Food should also be throughly cooked. Storing of food at the right temperature is also another essential factor of preventing food from turning bad fast. Example: Do NOT store raw and cooked food together or side by side in the refrigerator. This is to prevent cross-contamination which can lead to foodborne illness. Instead, store cooked food above raw food in the fridge.
Absolute sterility in food is not possible to obtain, however, we should still keep food safe at an acceptable level. Although different countries has different food safety standards, but everyone has a common ultimate goal which is: to provide safe food for everyone and ensuring that people will get healthier through eating.
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Induction package - 1st entry
Induction Package
Based on the problem statement, it states that:
“The Managing Director is very concerned about the outbreak of Avian Flu in various countries, particularly from regional countries where he obtains the ingredients for the manufacture of all his products.”
Avian Flu (bird flu) is an infectious disease of wild and domestic birds, caused by a range of virus known as Types A influenza viruses. For domestic birds such as chicken, turkeys and ducks, avian influenza is often fatal, afflicting the respiratory and nervous system, opening the way for dangerous bacterial infections. Symptoms of avian flu resemble those of other influenzas: fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches. “Although humans have a degree of immunity to the influenza subtypes that circulate during the winter flu season, the human immune system is unaccustomed to recognizing and fighting off avian influenza. This makes the avian viral strains all the more dangerous.” – Christopher King, B.A., M.J. (Editor of Science Watch).
Thus, ingredients such as whole eggs and egg yolks (from the recipe of Mum’s Pound Cake) might be affected by the avian flu as chickens are affected. It is found that chickens with avian flu will no longer be able to produce any eggs. Even if they do, the infected eggs will be of “poor quality”, breaking easily. Thus, eggs found in the market are usually safe and inspections of eggs imported to Singapore will also be stringent, ensuring safety of the food. However, as avian flu outbreak, all the chickens (in the same region or area) will be slaughtered immediately. This will cause a decline in the chicken’s population, reducing the amount of eggs being produced at the same time. There will be a lack in supply of eggs, causing the company to have insufficient eggs to manufacture their frozen cakes.
Substitute for eggs such as eggs in liquid form, egg powder, flax seeds, bananas or even silken tofu in a baked recipe can be considered. A commercial egg replacer can also be used. However, different recipes may require different types of egg substitutes. Below are some examples of making egg substitutes
(Quoted from:http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/f/eggsubstitute.htm):
1) Bananas and Applesauce
Smash up or blend about a half a banana or 1/4 cup applesauce to use as an egg replacer in baked goods such as muffins, pancakes or yeast-free quick breads, such as pumpkin bread, and of course, banana bread! Bananas and applesauce add the perfect amount of thick moisture, like eggs, but they won't help your dishes rise or turn out light and fluffy, so be sure the recipe you are using includes a bit of baking powder or baking soda to help it rise if needed.
2) Tofu
Tofu is the best way to substitute eggs in dishes such as a quiche, fritatta or egg salad. The texture of silken tofu or crumbled regular tofu is surprisingly similar to boiled or cooked eggs when used in a similar recipe and, by adding a bit of mustard, turmeric or nutritional yeasts to your dish to give it a yellow hue, your eyes will be tricked as well as your taste buds! Because other recipe adjustments are probably needed to make an egg-free fritatta, for example, it’s best to follow a recipe rather than just replacing the eggs with tofu.
Silken tofu is also an appropriate egg substitute in baked goods. To use, blend 1/4 cup silken tofu with liquid ingredients until tofu is smooth and creamy. While it won't alter the flavor of a recipe, using tofu as an egg substitute will make baked goods a bit on the heavy and thick side, so it works well in brownies, and pancakes, but wouldn't work well in something like an angel food cake that needs to be light and fluffy.
Based on the problem statement, it states that:
“The Managing Director is very concerned about the outbreak of Avian Flu in various countries, particularly from regional countries where he obtains the ingredients for the manufacture of all his products.”
Avian Flu (bird flu) is an infectious disease of wild and domestic birds, caused by a range of virus known as Types A influenza viruses. For domestic birds such as chicken, turkeys and ducks, avian influenza is often fatal, afflicting the respiratory and nervous system, opening the way for dangerous bacterial infections. Symptoms of avian flu resemble those of other influenzas: fever, cough, sore throat, and muscle aches. “Although humans have a degree of immunity to the influenza subtypes that circulate during the winter flu season, the human immune system is unaccustomed to recognizing and fighting off avian influenza. This makes the avian viral strains all the more dangerous.” – Christopher King, B.A., M.J. (Editor of Science Watch).
Thus, ingredients such as whole eggs and egg yolks (from the recipe of Mum’s Pound Cake) might be affected by the avian flu as chickens are affected. It is found that chickens with avian flu will no longer be able to produce any eggs. Even if they do, the infected eggs will be of “poor quality”, breaking easily. Thus, eggs found in the market are usually safe and inspections of eggs imported to Singapore will also be stringent, ensuring safety of the food. However, as avian flu outbreak, all the chickens (in the same region or area) will be slaughtered immediately. This will cause a decline in the chicken’s population, reducing the amount of eggs being produced at the same time. There will be a lack in supply of eggs, causing the company to have insufficient eggs to manufacture their frozen cakes.
Substitute for eggs such as eggs in liquid form, egg powder, flax seeds, bananas or even silken tofu in a baked recipe can be considered. A commercial egg replacer can also be used. However, different recipes may require different types of egg substitutes. Below are some examples of making egg substitutes
(Quoted from:http://vegetarian.about.com/od/vegetarianvegan101/f/eggsubstitute.htm):
1) Bananas and Applesauce
Smash up or blend about a half a banana or 1/4 cup applesauce to use as an egg replacer in baked goods such as muffins, pancakes or yeast-free quick breads, such as pumpkin bread, and of course, banana bread! Bananas and applesauce add the perfect amount of thick moisture, like eggs, but they won't help your dishes rise or turn out light and fluffy, so be sure the recipe you are using includes a bit of baking powder or baking soda to help it rise if needed.
2) Tofu
Tofu is the best way to substitute eggs in dishes such as a quiche, fritatta or egg salad. The texture of silken tofu or crumbled regular tofu is surprisingly similar to boiled or cooked eggs when used in a similar recipe and, by adding a bit of mustard, turmeric or nutritional yeasts to your dish to give it a yellow hue, your eyes will be tricked as well as your taste buds! Because other recipe adjustments are probably needed to make an egg-free fritatta, for example, it’s best to follow a recipe rather than just replacing the eggs with tofu.
Silken tofu is also an appropriate egg substitute in baked goods. To use, blend 1/4 cup silken tofu with liquid ingredients until tofu is smooth and creamy. While it won't alter the flavor of a recipe, using tofu as an egg substitute will make baked goods a bit on the heavy and thick side, so it works well in brownies, and pancakes, but wouldn't work well in something like an angel food cake that needs to be light and fluffy.
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