Causes of food contamination
There are three ways that food can be contaminated:
- biological hazards (microorganisms)
including bacteria, fungi, yeasts, mould and viruses
- chemical hazards
including cleaning chemicals or foods with naturally occurring toxins, such as green potatoes
- physical hazards
including dangerous physical objects such as plastic, glass, elastic bands, wood chips or bandages.
Beware! Selling contaminated food could lead to customer illness or injury, legal action taken by the local council and the customer, bad publicity including the closure of the premises or loss of your job.
You must follow the correct food handling techniques to ensure that food is not contaminated.