Alberta Food Safety Basics for Special Events Booklet
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Alberta Food Safety Basics For Special Events Booklet Alberta Health Services Environmental Public Health Alberta Food Safety Basics for Special Events Booklet Table of Contents Introduction ………………………….………………………………………….………………. 3 Section 1: Special Events and Food Safety in Alberta………………………………….. 4 Section 2: Foodborne Illness ...………………………………………………….………...… 5 Section 3: Causes of Foodborne Illness………………………..…………..………….…... 8 Section 4: Facility Requirements at Special Events……...……………..……………..... 13 Section 5: Food Handling Requirements at Special Events…………………………… 17 Appendix A: Review Question Answers……………………….….……………..……….. 28 Appendix B: Foodborne Illness Chart ...……………………….….……………..……….. 30 Appendix C: Glossary…………………....……………………….….………………………. 33 Appendix D: Sink Requirements at Special Events……….….…………………...……. 34 Cover Photo Credit: Calgary Stampede for all photos except centre photo 2EPHE-12-002 Created: Nov/12 Revised: Jan/16 Acknowledgement: Selected course material was taken from the Alberta Health Services Home Study in Food Safety and the Food Safety Course For Provincial Food Handler Certification Manual. 2 Alberta Food Safety Basics for Special Events in Alberta Booklet and Test Who should read this booklet: This booklet can be read by anyone organizing or working in temporary food concessions in Alberta an introduction to food safety during special events. Read through each section of this booklet and do the review questions. Test: The test must be accessed and completed online. Tests sent in by email, fax or mail will NOT be accepted. The test is optional and has 25 multiple-choice questions. The passing mark is 80%. Once you pass the test, you will be able to view and print an Alberta Food Safety Basics for Special Events certificate which is valid for 3 years. This certificate replaces the Home Study in Food Safety for Special Events. How to access the test: 1. Go to the AHS-EPH Education Courses page: www.albertahealthservices.ca/eph/ Page3151.aspx 2. Click on Alberta Food Safety Basics for Special Events link ( https://www.coursesites.com/webapps/ Bb-sites-course-creation-BBLEARN/courseHomepage.htmlx?course_id=_408915_1) 3. Self-Enrol in this course 4. Open this booklet on the Alberta Food Safety Basics for Special Events page 5. After review the booklet, click the Mark Reviewed. This will appear once you have opened the booklet. 6. The test will appear. Click on link to access the test. 7. Once you have completed and received 80% on the test , view and print your certificate. Please note that this course does not meet provincial certification requirements. This course may meet training requirements for special events in Alberta. 3 SECTION 1. SPECIAL EVENTS AND FOOD SAFETY IN ALBERTA Special events are an important part of Alberta’s summers. The food offered at these events is often prepared with minimal equipment and space. Preparing food safely is very important and can be challenging at these outdoor events. Special events* and temporary food establishments operating in Alberta must be approved by Alberta Health Services (AHS). Environmental Health Officers/ Public Health Inspectors (EHO/PHI) may inspect temporary food concessions to ensure food is prepared in a safe and clean Over 1.8 million people attended the Calgary Stampede manner. To keep customers from getting a and the Capital Ex in Edmonton in 2011. foodborne illness, temporary food Photo Credit: Flickr.com concessions are expected to comply with the: Public Health Act (P-37, RSA 2000) Food Regulation (Part 4, AR 31/2006) Requirements listed in the AHS Special Event Packages for Organizers and Temporary Food Establishment Vendors on www.albertahealthservices.ca/eph/ Page8302.aspx under Special Events. Copies of the Public Health Act and Food Regulation are available at: Alberta Queen’s Printer Main Floor, Park Plaza, 10611 – 98 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2P7 Phone: 780-427-4952 Fax: 780-452-0668 Email: [email protected] Internet: www.qp.gov.ab.ca. or www.albertahealthservices.ca/eph/Page8302.aspx under Legislation. Copies of the Special Event Packages for Organizers and Temporary Food Establishment Vendors are available at: Internet: www.albertahealthservices.ca/eph/Page8302.aspx under Special Events Contact your local Environmental Public Health Office. * Click on underlined words to view the definitions, or see the Glossary on page 33. 4 Are you part of a special event? Special events operate less than fifteen (15) days per year and offer food for the general public. Ask yourself: 1. Can anyone attend my event? Are you advertising “Everyone is welcome”? 2. Am I serving food as part of a larger special event like a exhibition, fair or carnival? If you answered YES to both questions, you are involved in a special event. If you answered NO to either question, you may be part of a potluck, community organization function, or restricted function. Contact your local Environmental Public Health office for more details and to determine if your are part of a special event. Food businesses and booths that operate more than 15 days per year in Alberta, like food trucks, are considered mobile food establishments and must meet additional facility, food handling and educational requirements. Food Safety Education Food safety education is recommended for all food handlers at special events. Food safety education is mandatory for some special events. 5 SECTION 2. FOODBORNE ILLNESS Foodborne illness, commonly called food poisoning, is caused by consuming food or beverages contaminated with: harmful microbes (pathogens), like E. coli and Norovirus chemicals, like detergents and sanitizers physical objects, like glass and hair Each year an estimated 4.25 million Canadians are sick from foodborne illness. Anyone can become ill with foodborne illness. However, some people are at a higher risk for foodborne illness. These include: babies or very young children pregnant women seniors sick people Common symptoms of foodborne illness: diarrhea nausea vomiting stomach cramps Symptoms can last for several hours, days or months. Foodborne illness can be mild or very serious. People may have to stay off work. Sometimes people have to go to the hospital. Foodborne illness can even cause death. Crabby Cakes In 2010 more than 50 people became ill with diarrhea and abdominal cramps from Salmonella bacteria after eating contaminated crab cakes at an Alberta festival. The crab cakes were contaminated with Salmonella Photo Credit: dalboz17 @ flickr.com bacteria when cooked crab was ground in a meat grinder previously used for raw chicken. To keep people from getting sick, the meat grinder should have been cleaned and sanitized between uses, or there should have been separate meat grinders for raw and cooked meats. 6 Facts Food that contains pathogens or their toxins may look, taste, and smell normal. In many cases, foodborne illness is not caused by the last meal or food eaten. It can take time for symptoms to develop. For example, with a E. coli O157:H7 infection it can take 2-10 days for the signs of illness to appear, and 12-36 hours for the symptoms of Salmonella infection to appear. It takes only a small number of microbes to cause some types of foodborne illness. Eating 10-18 Noroviruses can cause foodborne illness. Eating less than 10 E. coli O157:H7 bacteria can cause foodborne illness that may result in kidney failure. 8 year old girl nearly dies after eating an undercooked hamburger. Washington, 1993. Click here to view story. The harmful microbes that cause foodborne illness can also be spread by contact with another person, touching an animal, contact with dirt or using unsafe water supplies to prepare food. For more information see Appendix B: Foodborne Illness Chart on page 30. Review 1. Name two groups of people who are at high risk for foodborne illness. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 2. List four common symptoms of foodborne illness. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 3. Food that contains pathogens or their toxins can taste normal. True_______ False________ 4. What causes foodborne illness? ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ 7 SECTION 3. THE CAUSES OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS 1. Harmful Microbes Microbes, or germs, are very small organisms that live all around us, but we cannot see them. They are on plants, animals and people, and in the air, soil, and water. Most microbes do not harm us, only a small number of microbes, called pathogens, cause illness, including foodborne illness. Pathogens that cause foodborne illness are divided into the following categories: parasites, moulds, viruses and Only 1% of microbes are pathogens and can make people sick. bacteria. Details about common pathogens are available in Appendix B on page 30. Parasites Parasites live in, or on, other organisms. Parasites do not grow in food but can contaminate food. Examples of parasites include Giardia and Cryptosporidium, which are tiny protozoa that can cause illness when someone drinks untreated contaminated water. Tapeworms and roundworms are also parasites. Moulds Moulds cause food to spoil, and can be seen if allowed to grow. Some moulds can also produce toxins that people may be allergic to. Viruses Viruses do not grow in food; they