2 pp. / Warm temperatures increase the risk for food-borne illness which can spoil cook-outs and picnics. This article provides information about the necessary precautions to take in order to assure the food you serve is safe to eat.

1p. / Keeping food safe to eat is as simple as keeping hot foods hot, cold foods cold, and all foods clean. This article outlines particular options for keeping coolers cold.

1p. / Most of the "bad food" reported illnesses are due to bacterial contamination. Nearly all of these cases can be linked to improper food handling, both in our homes and in restaurants. This article briefly discusses the causes of food contamination and how to handle food safely.

2 pp. / Revision of 1997 title by Meer and Misner / From 1988 to 1992, 66% of all food-borne illnesses caused by salmonella enteritidis involved eggs or foods containing eggs. Contamination of eggs may occur on the inside as well as the outside of the shell. This article outlines the proper refrigeration, cooking and handling methods to prevent most egg safety problems.

Globally, investigations into food-borne illnesses show that the majority of cases involve poor hand hygiene of the food handler. The challenge of providing safe food therefore requires new strategies for evaluating cross-contamination of pathogenic micro-organisms on the food handler's hands, which might be detrimental or hazardous to the health of the patient Although food-borne diseases may be multifactorial in aetiology, no standards or evaluation systems, such as an occupational health surveillance programme, are available to monitor and ensure that food is free of pathogens. The formulation and implementation of standards may contribute to ensuring that food handlers comply with hand hygiene practices during food handling. Such practices guarantee that food reaching the patient is safe. The objectives in this research project originated from the occupational health practice and gave direction of the empirical research project. The literature was reviewed to discover what is currently known concerning the food handlers' hand hygiene during food handling and food-borne illnesses and the theoretical framework gave direction and guidance to the survey design of the empirical research, which was quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. The food handlers from the food preparation sections of the four major healthcare services in Potchefstroom, in the North West Province, South Africa, were the target population and the sampling method was all-inclusive (n=110). Eighty (75.47%) food handlers participated in the research project. The design entailed three steps. The first was conducted with a questionnaire, to identify the food handlers' compliance with hand hygiene during food handling. The second step involved determining the prevalence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on the food handlers' hands. The results were used for the formulation of standards for the hand hygiene of food handlers. Finally, recommendations for practice, education and research were made. The implementation of these recommendations could contribute knowledge to the body of nursing and promote good hand hygiene practices in the healthcare service. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Globally, investigations into food-borne illnesses show that the majority of cases involve poor hand hygiene of the food handler. The challenge of providing safe food therefore requires new strategies for evaluating cross-contamination of pathogenic micro-organisms on the food handler's hands, which might be detrimental or hazardous to the health of the patient Although food-borne diseases may be multifactorial in aetiology, no standards or evaluation systems, such as an occupational health surveillance programme, are available to monitor and ensure that food is free of pathogens. The formulation and implementation of standards may contribute to ensuring that food handlers comply with hand hygiene practices during food handling. Such practices guarantee that food reaching the patient is safe. The objectives in this research project originated from the occupational health practice and gave direction of the empirical research project. The literature was reviewed to discover what is currently known concerning the food handlers' hand hygiene during food handling and food-borne illnesses and the theoretical framework gave direction and guidance to the survey design of the empirical research, which was quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature. The food handlers from the food preparation sections of the four major healthcare services in Potchefstroom, in the North West Province, South Africa, were the target population and the sampling method was all-inclusive (n=110). Eighty (75.47%) food handlers participated in the research project. The design entailed three steps. The first was conducted with a questionnaire, to identify the food handlers' compliance with hand hygiene during food handling. The second step involved determining the prevalence of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on the food handlers' hands. The results were used for the formulation of standards for the hand hygiene of food handlers. Finally, recommendations for practice, education and research were made. The implementation of these recommendations could contribute knowledge to the body of nursing and promote good hand hygiene practices in the healthcare service. / Thesis (M.Cur.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Food Science and Technology, Durban University of Technology, 2015. / Listeria monocytogenes have been implicated as a public health concern worldwide. The study explored the survival of non-adapted, heat adapted and chlorine adapted L. monocytogenes on tomatoes; as well as the survival of non-adapted, heat adapted and chlorine adapted biofilms after exposure to sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), levulinc acid, sodium hypochlorite solution. Contact time of 1, 3 and 5 minutes was used. The survival of L. monocytogenes was monitored at 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours. The sanitizers were used individually or combined as follows; 1% sodium dodecyl sulphate individually; 0.5% levulinic acid individually; 200 ppm sodium hypochlorite solution individually and 0.5% levulinic acid/0.05% sodium dodecyl sulphate in combination (mixture). The samples were kept at 4 °C throughout the period of assessment. The effect of these sanitizers on pH, total soluble solids (TSS) and titratable acidity (TA) was also determined. Furthermore, the attachment of L. monocytogenes on tomatoes was investigated using a scanning electron microscope. Highest log reduction of non-adapted L. monocytogenes were observed on tomatoes treated with 1% SDS and least log reduction was achieved when tomatoes were treated with sodium hypochlorite solution. Though the log reduction achieved by 0.5% levulinic acid was higher that sodium hypochlorite solution, it was lower than log reduction achieved when 0.05% SDS / 0.5% levulinic acid mixture was used for all contact times. Using non-adapted L. monocytogenes, SDS was able to destroy all L. monocytogenes at 1, 3 and 5 minutes contact time. The trend was the same when heat adapted and chlorine adapted L. monocytogenes were used. There was no significant log reduction observed with biofilms. More favourable results were observed as contact time was increased from 1 to 5 minutes. Though there was a decrease in surviving bacteria from 1 to 3 minutes contact time, this decrease was not significant. The study investigated if exposure to sanitizer has an effect on pH, titratable acidity (TA) and total soluble solids (TSS) of the tomatoes. It was revealed that levulinic acid and mixture can have detrimental effect on pH, TA and TSS of tomatoes. The TA and TSS of samples treated with levulinic acid and mixture varied significantly (P ≤ 0.05) compared to the control sample. Although the TA and TSS of samples treated with SDS and sodium hypochlorite solution were different from the control, the differences were not significant. As much as sanitizers have the potential to reduce the bacterial population in fresh produce they may not completely destroy pathogens. Chlorine based sanitizers such as sodium hypochlorite though frequently used in the fresh produce industry, are not the best sanitizer to be used against food borne pathogens. Other sanitizers such as SDS used alone or in combination with another sanitizer can achieve better results than the widely used sodium hypochlorite solution as observed in this study. Stress adapted pathogens become less responsive to sanitizers during subsequent treatments. Through this research, it was established that biofilms are resistant to sanitizers. Though application of sanitizers in fresh produce is cheaper and simpler to apply, there is need to monitor varying concentrations of sanitizers, contact time and minimise contact with sub-surfaces as this could lead to sensory quality losses.