The Master Guide to Food Safety: Food Poisoning Prevention

By Matthew Okiroro

Almost every day, we come in contact with and eat foods of various categories and types. Eating and staying healthy and strong requires that the foods we eat are safe. The keys to food safety lie in handling, storage, and controlling time and temperature throughout the flow of food, and practicing good personal hygiene to prevent contamination and cross-contamination.

The main food safety concern for any food service establishment or restaurant and the general public is the risk of food borneillness outbreak, which may cost lives, huge amount of medical bills, and the disruption of business flow and family functions that are embarrassing to everyone.

Therefore, it is important to follow proper procedures that focus on these areas as you walk through the road of eliminating or reducing pathogens (bacteria that make people sick) in your foods and environment to a safe level.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483647524

Matthew Okiroro

Matthew Chris Okiroro is a retired food manager with over twenty years experience in food safety management in the United States of America and a recipient of the NATO Medal for Service and the Combined Federal Campaign Overseas (CFC) awards. He is a Nigerian American who worked hard to protect the United States Armed Forces, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces (NATO), and other international world peacekeepers from the wrath of food poisoning. Mr. Okiroro worked with Five Star Foods, Arlington, Texas, USA, and the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), an arm of the United States Department of Defense, where he retired in 2007. During this time, he worked with people of almost all nationalities and races, both in the United States and across the world. A manager and trainer, Mr. Okiroro is a graduate of the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (BSC) and a holder of numerous diplomas and food-safety certificates. He is married with children and maintains residence in Abuja, Nigeria.

Book preview

Copyright © 2013 by Matthew Okiroro.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2013909909

ISBN:   Hardcover        978-1-4836-4751-7

             Softcover         978-1-4836-4750-0

             eBook              978-1-4836-4752-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 05/07/2015

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One The Importance of Food Safety

Chapter Two Three Hazards That Make Food Unsafe

Chapter Three The Safe Stocking and Storage of Food

Chapter Four The Place of Personal Hygiene in Food Safety

Chapter Five Understanding the Effects and Control of Time and Temperature in Food Safety

Chapter Six The Preparation and Cooking of Safe Food

Chapter Seven General Cleaning and Sanitation

Conclusion

The Do Nots and Never Dos

Glossary

About the Author

DEDICATION

I humbly and wholly dedicate this book to the Almighty God, Jehovah, who made me, and my late parents, who brought me up to love and respect everyone, including my neighbor as myself.

To my late father, who never pointed a finger or blamed anyone to my hearing; hence, I worked hard to emulate him. And it pays off because almost every member of any community, tribe, country, and continent that I have been privileged to work in tried hard to help me.

And to my two best friends, Mr. Okechukwu Abaraoha and Mr. Sam Kyere, both of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, USA. The first, a Nigerian American, and the latter, a Ghanaian American, respectively, who have been my true friends for over thirty years, and it continues as if we just started; it is true that a good friend is better than a bad relative. They are my backbone!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The book The Master Guide to Food Safety is a work very close to my heart as I have a passion and commitment to excellence, food safety, and the promotion of healthy living in Nigeria, Africa, and all over the world. But the conceptualization of this first book came from the noggin of someone I hold in very high esteem, and that is in the person of Dr. Paul Orhii, director general of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

I would also like to acknowledge and commend Mr. Dennis U. Onyeagocha, former director, Department of Food and Drug Services of the Federal Ministry of Health; Ms. H. J. Keri, former director, establishment inspection of the (NAFDAC); and Mr. Mike Arias, ServSafe instructor at Ace Mart Restaurant Supply, USA, for their efforts and the valuable encouragements I received from them.

Importantly, I would also like to acknowledge the CEO, commanders, and all senior staff of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES, 1990-2007) Department of