Assessment of food safety in food service establishments

Abstract

Although nowadays quality assurance standards and guidelines are widely applied in the food industry its application in food service establishments yet lacks behind. The objective of this study was to analyse the applicability of current standards and guidelines to the Food Service Establishments (FSE) sector. This paper describes the typical microbiological hazards that are commonly found at food service establishments, the contextual situation wherein the food service establishments work in comparison to the manufacturing industries, the requirements that food safety management systems (FSMS) for food service establishments must have, and some current standards/guidelines that have been tailored for the food service establishments.It was found that major pathogen microorganisms involved in foodborne outbreaks from food service establishments are Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella, Yersinia, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens and Staphylococcus aureus; and that FSE work within a complex contextual situation that may hinder the applicability of current QA-standards. It was proposed that a guideline/standard (that will be translated into the FSMS) must be reliable to control the microbial hazards, simple to be easily applicable, and flexible to adapt to own circumstances. Some guidelines/standards, such as "Safer food, Better business", have those requirements and had good results but are not widely adopted.

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“…Additionally, there are home-based caterings, also known as productive families, where food is prepared and catered from home (Osaili et al, 2022). FSEs typically handle a variety of meals that need to be prepared in advance, often in the same area, under time pressure, and with uncertain customer numbers (Chinchilla, 2009;Sun & Ockerman, 2005;Worsfold, 2001). Commercial FSEs have unique characteristics related to product, process, organization, and supply chain, such as highly sensitive ingredients, reliance on suppliers for raw materials, limited technological resources, and high employee turnover (Luning et al, 2013).…”

“…Food safety risks may also differ because of the different characteristics of FSEs (Luning et al, 2013). In general, the food safety management systems (FSMS) in FSEs differ substantially from those of the food industry, as FSEs need to prepare a large number of meals that must be partly prepared in advance, often in the same area; further, the number of clients is not known beforehand and the workers stand for long periods performing repetitive activities (Chinchilla, 2009;Sun & Ockerman, 2005;Vieira et al;Worsfold, 2001). Several studies have reported that food safety problems occur within the catering industry because of staff and FSE characteristics, such as education levels, large numbers of complex meals, food provision to numerous vulnerable consumers, variety of operations, and limited knowledge of the staff concerning food safety (Griffith, 2000;Pichler et al, 2014;Silva et al, 2021).…”