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.

 

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

How Do You Stop Food Bacteria Growing

How do you stop food bacteria growing is a difficult question. However, the answer is more straightforward than one would think. Bacteria that cause food poisoning grow at temperatures between 5°C and 63°C (the Danger Zone). This is above refrigeration temperatures and below cooking temperatures. Bacteria grow best at warm temperatures, approximately 25°C to 40°C. By adopting proactive safe food handling practices, this problem can be successfully addressed.

 

How Do You Stop Food Bacteria Growing – Basics

The basics of how to do you stop food bacteria growing are very simple. If food is kept out of the danger zone, either cold at refrigeration temperatures less than 5°C, or hot at greater than 63°C, most bacteria will stop growing, although they do not die. Therefore, food should be kept hot in a hot holding cabinet or kept cold in a refrigerated display unit to prevent any bacteria that may be present on the food from multiplying. Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use on the label.

 

Important Guidelines

The following is a list of guidelines that should always be observed:

• Never leave food out on counter tops at room temperature, more than two hours is too long.
• Food should be kept in a hot or cold display unit and not left sitting on top where customers can contaminate the food by handling or sneezing.
• You should have sufficient space to carry out food preparation safely. There should also be sufficient space for food storage.
• Keep hot food hot!
• Keep cold food cold!
• Never use food past its ‘use-by date’ as it could be unsafe, plus it is illegal to do so. Food can be used after its ‘best-before’ date provided that the food is still in a fully acceptable condition. Where this is done however, it is strongly recommended to indicate to the consumer that the food is past its ‘best-before’ date.
• Always ensure good stock rotation for all foods whether stored in a hot cabinet, fridge or dry goods store.

 

Common Food Poisoning Bacteria

The most common food poisoning bacteria:

• Salmonella bacteria. Salmonella are most commonly found in poultry but are also found in pig meat and other foods. Salmonella food poisoning is mainly associated with eating contaminated chicken and eggs and their products.
• Campylobacter has relatively recently been recognised as causing food poisoning and now it exceeds Salmonella as the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning in Ireland. It is present in a wide range of animals and birds and is commonly found on raw poultry meat.
• E. coli O157 and related E. coli are found in the gut of cattle and is mainly associated with eating undercooked minced beef, e.g. beef burgers, but cross contamination from raw meat can transfer these bacteria to other foods. They can cause serious illness and may even result in death.
• Staphylococcus aureus is typically found on the hands and in and around the nose of healthy adults. During food preparation food handlers can easily transfer it on to food.

You can find further useful information on how you can stop the spread of food poisoning bacteria and other food safety relevant information on the FSAI website. In addition, you can learn about safe food handling by completing fully online food safety courses developed by eLearn Safety.

 

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

 

Handling Food Safely

Handling food safely for consumer use is not only a moral obligation – it is a legal one! Each year thousands of people get seriously ill due to food poisoning. Some of these people may die. Those most at risk include the very young, the elderly, people who are already ill and pregnant women.

The spread of food poisoning bacteria can be prevented by good food handling practices and by maintaining good personal hygiene.

 

Handling Food Safely Examples

These are some of the examples of handling food safely:

• Never allow raw food to come into contact with cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
• Store raw foods separately from cooked and ready-to-eat foods.
• Alternatively, store raw food on the bottom shelf in the fridge and store cooked and ready-to-eat food on the top shelves.
• Keep food covered or store it in sealed food containers.
• Wash your hands between handling raw and cooked and/or ready-to-eat foods.
• Use separate work areas, utensils and equipment for preparing raw and cooked/ ready-to-eat foods. If this is not possible, clean and disinfect utensils and work surfaces carefully between these tasks.
• Ensure that your service cloth is kept clean and is replaced frequently.

 

Examples of Good Personal Hygiene

Good personal hygiene is one of the most important principles of handling food safely. These are some of the examples of good personal hygiene:

• Wash hands regularly!
• Did we mention Wash Your Hands regularly!
• Wash your hands thoroughly using hot water and liquid soap:

• • Before starting work.
  • Before handling cooked and/or ready-to-eat food.
  • Before using disposable gloves.
  • After handling raw food.
  • After using the toilet.
  • After handling rubbish.
  • After smoking.
  • After touching your hair or face, sneezing, coughing and using a handkerchief.
  • After performing routine cleaning tasks.

You can watch Hand Washing in the Hospitality video HERE.

 

General Handling Food Safely Advice

The following is general advice on handling food safely:

Be clean and tidy

• Be clean and tidy and wear clean protective clothing such as an apron or overall when handling or serving food.
• Keep hair clean and covered under a cap or hairnet. Long hair must be tied up.
• Keep nails clean and short.
• Don’t wear strong perfume, nail varnish or excessive make-up.
• Restrict your jewellery to a plain wedding band and small earrings.

Treat food with care

• Do not handle food unnecessarily.
  • use tongs where possible.
• Do not pick your nose, lick your fingers, taste food with your fingers, eat, chew gum, cough or sneeze near food that you are preparing or serving.
• Cover cuts and sores with a blue waterproof dressing.
• Inform your immediate supervisor if you have diarrhoea or an upset stomach. If you are ill you should not prepare or handle food but may perform alternative duties until the illness has passed.

 

Food Safety Training

It is a legal requirement that staff who are involved in a food environment are trained and/or supervised commensurate with their work activity.

For this reason and to learn more about food poisoning and how to prevent it, the eLearn Safety has developed fully online food safety courses. These courses are designed to introduce participants to food safety and hygiene issues. In addition, all courses are based on the training criteria set down by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s Guide to Food Safety Training at appropriate level.

Afterwards, on completion of any of our food safety training courses, participants will be able to understand their requirements under Irish food safety legislation as well as following best work practices at appropriate level.

Likewise, you can find further useful information on how you can stop the spread of food poisoning bacteria and other food safety relevant information on the FSAI website.

 

Consequences of Poor Food Handling

According to the BBC some 113 people have become ill with E. coli in recent weeks in the UK. Experts believe it is most likely linked to a nationally distributed food item. According to the UKHSA the location of reported cases is as follows:

• 81 in England.
• 18 in Wales.
• 13 in Scotland.
• 1 in Northern Ireland (for this case, evidence suggests that they acquired their infection while visiting England).

At the same time, in Ireland the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that nine Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses during the month of May for breaches of food safety legislation.

Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in May include: evidence of rodent infestation, including dead rodents in multiple areas, including under a fridge and under shelves on the shop floor; raw fish defrosting at room temperature in a dirty container on the floor of the kitchen area; accumulation of dirt, cobwebs and dead insects on floors; inadequate cleaning and a build-up of waste stored in a room next to toilets with foul odour and flies present; no hot water, soap or paper towels available at the wash hand basin in the staff toilet; absence of an adequate food safety culture particularly regarding training of staff.

 

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

Who can be Described as a Food Handler?

According to some reports, many food businesses are unsure who can be described as a food handler.

A Food Handler is anyone who works in any type of business that handles/stores food whether they are full-time or part-time members of staff, seasonal or occasional workers or voluntary staff members.

 

Who can be Described as a Food Handler – Required Competencies

All food handling employees should be competent to handle/manage food depending on:

• their level of responsibility,
• whether they work in a high or low-risk area, and
• the length of time they have been working in a food handling business.

 

Food Handling Levels as per FSAI Guidelines – Level 1

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has developed food safety training guidelines divided into three levels. We’ll cover the Level 1 here.

The Level 1 specifies the standards expected of employees who have been working for less than three months in a food business. This level is split into two stages.

• Stage I outlines what all employees must be able to demonstrate before they start handling food in food handling premises.
• Stage II outlines what all employees must be able to demonstrate within 1 month of starting to work in food handling premises.

So Level 1, Stage I describes the food safety skills required of staff before they handle food in any food handling premises. Even though food handling staff have had training at this stage, they will require supervision to ensure that they are demonstrating good food safety practices.

You can compare the food safety training with getting a driving licence. The training is the same as driving licence – you need to know the rules before going to the road, or in the case of food safety training, to the kitchen. You need this foreknowledge, but once on the road, or in the kitchen, you must obey traffic signs and road laws, i.e. food safety rules for safe food handling. The training is just a permit to go on the road/to the kitchen and once there you have to follow strict rules to make sure that your environment is safe for you and for those around you.

 

Essential Food Safety Skills at Level 1

The following is a list of the 9 food safety skills that food handling employees should be able to demonstrate before starting to work in a food handling business:

1. Wear and maintain uniform/protective clothing hygienically.
2. Maintain a high standard of hand-washing.
3. Maintain a high standard of personal hygiene.
4. Demonstrate correct hygiene practice if suffering from ailments/ illnesses that may affect food safety.
5. Avoid unhygienic practices in a food operation.
6. Demonstrate safe food handling practice.
7. Maintain staff facilities in a hygienic condition.
8. Obey food safety signs.
9. Keep work area clean.

Having been trained to Stage 1 before starting work, Stage II provides information on what your employees need to know after they have been working in food handling premises for a month.

 

Additional Food Safety Skills at Level 1

The following is a list of the 11 food safety skills to be demonstrated by food handling employees at this stage:

1. Demonstrate legal responsibility in ensuring safe food for the consumer.
2. Recognise how food can be made unsafe by biological, chemical, physical or food allergen hazards.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of cross-contamination and the hygiene practice necessary to prevent it.
4. Explain the difference between high and low-risk activities.
5. Avoid unnecessary handling of food, food utensils and surfaces.
6. Record the temperature of food as required.
7. Keep appropriate food safety records.
8. Keep pests out of the food operation and operate a satisfactory waste disposal system.
9. Take action when aware of unhygienic practices that may put the safety of food at risk.
10. Co-operate with authorised enforcement officers.
11. Check deliveries appropriately.

Remember! There is a legal requirement – Regulation (EC) 852/2004 that all food handlers undertake food safety training commensurate to their duties.

 

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