Food Intolerance Archives

History and Background to HACCP

History and background of HACCP is more interesting that one might think it is. Indeed, HACCP is not new food safety system. It has been used in the food manufacturing industry since the 1960s and is widely accepted as the most effective way of preventing foodborne illness. It was conceived in the 1960s, and it was a collaborated effort between the Pillsbury Company, NASA, and the U.S. Army Laboratories with the objective to provide safe food for space expeditions.

What is Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP

Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, or HACCP is a systematic preventive approach to food safety. As a matter of fact, it considers biological, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished product to be unsafe. As a result, HACCP designs measures to reduce food risks to a safe level.

Short History and Background to HACCP

Space food is a type of food product created and processed for consumption by astronauts in outer space. The food has specific requirements of providing balanced nutrition for individuals working in space. At the same time, it has to be easy and safe to store, prepare and consume in the machinery-filled weightless environments of manned spacecraft.

It is never good to contract food poisoning. Not to mention getting sick in space!

Since then, HACCP has been recognized internationally as a logical tool for adapting traditional inspection methods to a modern, science-based, food safety system. Based on risk-assessment, HACCP plans allow both industry and government to allocate their resources efficiently by establishing and auditing safe food production practices.

Application of HACCP

HACCP has been increasingly applied to industries other than food, such as cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. This method, which in effect seeks to plan out unsafe practices based on science, differs from traditional “produce and sort” quality control methods that do nothing to prevent hazards from occurring and must identify them at the end of the process. Of course, HACCP is focused only on the health safety issues of a product and not the quality of the product, yet HACCP principles are the basis of most food quality and safety assurance systems.

For most of us, term HACCP sounds scary and confusing, ‘What does this all mean?’ we often wonder. In simple terms, HACCP involves controlling the safety of ingredients and supplies coming into food business and what is done with them thereafter.

HACCP involves:

Identifying what can go wrong.
Planning to prevent it.
Making sure we are doing it!

Benefits of HACCP

HACCP provides businesses with a cost effective system for control of food safety from ingredients through production, storage and distribution to sale and service to the final consumer. The preventive approach of HACCP not only improves food safety management but also complements other quality management systems.

The main benefits of HACCP are:

Saves your business money in the long run.
Avoids you poisoning your customers.
Food safety standards increase.
Ensures you are compliant with the law.
Food quality standards increase.
Organises your process to produce safe food.
Organises your staff promoting teamwork and efficiency.
Due diligence defence in court.

Since April 1998, food businesses in Ireland have been required by law to have a food safety management system based on the principles of HACCP.

Online Food Safety Training

Please remember – it is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity!

Myelearnsafety offers fully online Food Safety (HACCP) courses.

To find out more, please check our Courses page.

Alternatively, should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to let us know via email info@elearn.ie

eLearn Safety – Online Health and Safety Training

Difference Between Food Allergy and Food Intolerance

Difference between food allergy and food intolerance is significant. When someone has a food allergy, their immune system wrongly sees the food as hostile and the body’s defence mechanism springs into action. This produces a range of symptoms which can vary from mild itching to severe breathing difficulties or even shock. These symptoms usually happen immediately after eating the food. Unfortunately, in extreme cases, food allergy can have fatal consequences.

When someone is intolerant to a food, the immune system is usually not involved. In this case, the symptoms take much longer to develop and are generally not life-threatening. However, food intolerance can adversely affect long-term health.

Are food allergy and intolerance forms of food poisoning?

No. In a case of food poisoning, someone has become ill due to eating food that is contaminated with harmful bacteria or toxins. Contaminated food should not be eaten by anyone. With a food allergy or intolerance, the offending food is safe to eat for the majority of people. However, it triggers an unhealthy reaction in some people. For example, peanuts are nutritious and tasty foods enjoyed by a great many people. However, for someone with a peanut allergy they can be very dangerous.

It is very important that a food hypersensitivity (food allergy, food intolerance or coeliac disease) is diagnosed medically. Self-diagnosis is extremely risky and is not a relevant form of diagnosis. Many of the symptoms associated with these conditions are common to a number of other illnesses. It is important to remember that food poisoning from eating contaminated food, and food aversion where someone just doesn’t like a particular food (but will not be ill if they eat it) are not food hypersensitivities!

If you diagnose yourself, you may cut out of your diet certain foods that are safe and nutritious. At the same time continuing to include foods that may be risky. If you think you have a food hypersensitivity, you need to talk to your General Practitioner.

What happens in an allergic reaction?

Essentially, when the immune system reacts to a food ingredient during an allergic reaction, it triggers the release of chemicals such as histamine from cells in the body. This causes some or all of the following symptoms:

itching or swelling in the mouth and throat,
hives anywhere on the body,
runny nose and eyes,
reddening of the skin,
feeling sick,
diarrhoea and/or vomiting.

If the reaction is severe, other symptoms can occur including:

a sudden feeling of weakness (caused by a drop in blood pressure),
breathing problems (your throat might start to swell up or close).

This is an anaphylactic reaction, also known as anaphylactic shock, and is life threatening. It requires immediate treatment by adrenaline injection followed by expert medical assistance. Usually the symptoms happen within seconds or minutes of being exposed to the food but the reaction can be delayed for several hours.

What are the symptoms of an intolerance to a food?

The symptoms of an intolerance to food include those of an upset digestion e.g., diarrhoea, bloating, upset stomach, etc. Weight loss, lethargy or anaemia can occur as well as migraine headaches and psychological effects such as confusion and even depression. However, these usually manifest over longer periods of time as well as a variety of other symptoms that can result from poor nutrition. In some cases the symptoms of a food intolerance resemble those of a mild allergic reaction.

Many of the symptoms of a food intolerance are also associated with other disorders of the digestive system such as Crohn’s Disease and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

What foods cause an allergic reaction?

Although peanut and nut allergies are probably best known due to the many media reports into related fatalities, any food can cause an allergic response in a susceptible person. To date, allergies to over 180 foods have been documented worldwide. Most of these are very rare and some are associated with particular populations or regions of the world. Cod fish allergy is common in Scandinavia, as is rice allergy in China and celery allergy in France. These allergies are less common on the island of Ireland where, like other Western countries, the more frequently encountered allergies include those to peanuts, tree nuts, egg, crustaceans, milk and wheat.

What foods can people be intolerant to?

There is also a wide variety of foods associated with food intolerance. The most frequently encountered in an island of Ireland context include milk (lactose intolerance) and gluten (coeliac disease, wheat intolerance) but also certain food additives such as Monosodium glutamate (MSG).

A person with lactose intolerance cannot digest milk properly (lactose is a milk sugar). Lactose cannot be absorbed by the body resulting in symptoms such as cramps and diarrhoea.

A person with coeliac disease reacts to gluten which is a protein found in foods such as wheat, rye, barley and oats. This results in damage to the gut with effects on nutritional status and general wellbeing.

Some people have reported symptoms such as flushing, temperature increase and headache after eating the flavour enhancer MSG. These symptoms are also known as ‘Chinese Restaurant Syndrome’, related to the fact that MSG is a frequent ingredient in many Chinese dishes.

Other foods to which susceptible people are known to react include red wine, cheese, caffeine and salicylates which are found in certain vegetables, herbs, spices, fruits and chocolate.

Can you be allergic or intolerant to more than one food?

It is possible to have allergies to more than one thing. In addition, it is also possible to be intolerant to certain things and allergic to other things. It all depends on how similar the offending chemicals are in the food or pollen or whatever material you are allergic to. This is called cross-reactivity, so if you have an allergy to a food, you can react to another substance (not necessarily another food) if it contains a protein like the protein that causes your allergy in the first place.

For example:

Cross-reactivity may result in someone who is allergic to prawns also being allergic to shrimps, crab and lobster.
Quite often peanut allergic people are also allergic to lupin flour.
Hen’s egg is cross-reactive with other eggs and cow’s milk is cross-reactive with milk from goats and sheep.
Someone with a wheat allergy can also be allergic to rye and grass pollen.
Some cross reactions are less obvious: an allergy to house dust mites may lead to an allergy to shellfish (molluscs and crustaceans) while an allergy to latex rubber increases your risk of becoming allergic to certain fruits and vegetables.
Those who are allergic to pollen, particularly birch or olive pollen, may develop allergic symptoms when they eat hazelnuts, apples, cherries, pears or carrots.

Find out more here: safefood, or here: The Food Safety Authority of Ireland. In addition, you can learn about safe food handling by completing fully online food safety courses developed by eLearn Safety.