Food Poisoning Outbreaks Related to Food Trade

What is the Local Situation?

• The trend for food poisoning outbreak is increasing in recent years.
• In the recent five years, an average of over 700 food poisoning outbreaks affecting more than 2500 people occurred in Hong Kong each year.
• Around 60% of them occurred in food premises and some of the domestic food poisoning outbreaks were due to consumption of ready-to-eat food purchased from food premises.
• Food poisoning outbreaks occur in a seasonal pattern in which summer is the peak season.

What are the Culprits?

• Among all food poisoning outbreaks, bacterial food poisoning is the most common culprit. The three commonest bacteria that account for majority the food poisoning outbreaks in food premises in Hong Kong are Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus.
• Apart from bacterial food poisoning, food borne illnesses caused by viruses (e.g., norovirus) have become more and more important in recent years.
• Besides, food poisoning caused by natural toxins (e.g., ciguatoxin, shellfish toxins ) and chemicals (e.g., pesticides) often cause much public concern.

What are the High Risk Foods?

• Common food items involved in food poisoning outbreaks occurring in food premises include siu mei & lo mei, sushi & sashimi, oysters, seafood, hotpot, salad, poon choi and other ready-to-eat food; or food served in bulk, e.g., buffet and lunch boxes.

What are the Important Contributing Factors?

• From our experience on investigation of food poisoning outbreaks, the common contributing factors are
  (i) cross contamination of ready-to-eat food by raw food,
  (ii) cross contamination by food handlers,
  (iii) inappropriate storage of ready-to-eat food at temperature of 4-60^OC,
  (iv) prolonged storage of ready-to-eat food at room temperature (>4 hours), and,
  (v) inadequate cooking, especially in case of seafood.

Safety Tips for Food Trade

• Good food hygiene practice is the most important step to attract consumers and business.
• Management of food premises should always adhere to Food Hygiene Code and be vigilant about the environmental, personal and food hygiene.

A) Environmental Hygiene:

• The hardware of food premises should be always maintained at good conditions. Cleaning, sanitizing and maintenance of food premises, equipments and utensils should be made in accordance with the licensing conditions.

B) Personal Hygiene:

• Food handlers should abstain from duty if they are sick. Proper hand washing can effectively prevent food borne illnesses, especially before preparing food and after going to toilet.

C) Food Hygiene:

• Bacteria grow quickly at temperature of 4-60^oC. Therefore, good temperature and time control can effectively minimize the risk of food poisoning outbreaks in food premises. Food Safety Plan can give you a clear overview on how to minimize food hazard, reduce the possibility of food poisoning outbreaks and improve consumers' confidence in the product.

Summer Tips

• The ambient temperature is closely related to the incidence of food poisoning outbreaks as bacteria usually grow faster at high room temperature. Summer is the peak season for food poisoning outbreaks. Proper storage of ready-to-eat food at appropriate temperature and good time control are the most important tools to combat food poisoning outbreaks.