Food plays a very
vital role in maintaining proper health. It gives us the energy and nutrients
to grow and develop, be healthy and active, to move, work, play, think and
learn. It also helps in the prevention and cure of diseases. However, if the foods we eat are improperly handled, prepared and cooked, it may cause serious illnesses and can even cause death of a person.Therefore, food safety and sanitation is very important. Food safety is essential in
protecting individuals from bacteria and parasites that can be passed through
food consumption. By practicing safe food handling, illnesses and
fatalities can be prevented which is far better than detection. One example of food crime is food poisoning.
Recently this year, there were at least 1,925 people in the southern Philippines who got
sick after eating the fruit-flavored candy. Most
of them were schoolchildren. The victims complained of stomach cramps, diarrhea,
vomiting and headaches after consuming the durian, mango, and
mangosteen-flavored treats that were sold by the vendors outside the schools.
The
police had arrested nine street vendors who obtained the sweets from the same
producer which was the Wendy's Delicious Durian Candy. The owner of that company
was also under investigation after turning herself in to the police. Because
the vendors had not made sure that the products they bought and sold were safe,
they should also be charged for their negligence.
The
test results indicated consisted of bacteria which can be found in human skin
and hair which likely caused the contamination of the sweets. Some of the
possibilities are the producers of the candies did not wash their hands before
making the candies, or their sweat dripped in to the candy. It can also be that
the candy touched the armpit of the candy makers or they did not wash their
hands after they go to the comfort room. All of these sound very unsanitary. The bottom line there is that hygiene is often overlooked by a lot of food establishments today which caused trouble to many. People’s health and safety should be their top priority since they should be satisfying their customers’ wants and needs. They should not compromise the quality of the food just to minimize their costs.
Another example is in Lau’s
Buffet King in Newcastle which had shut down for eight days earlier this year
after officers uncovered a catalogue of health and safety issues. Lau’s Buffet
King is a popular Chinese restaurant in the United Kingdom. It has been fined
£3,000 after cockroaches were found next to tubs of open ice-cream. Their customers complained for
months of seeing cockroaches scuttling across tables and floors in Lau’s Buffet
King.
These are true scenarios wherein we would never want to experience in
any of the restaurants we would find in our place at any day of the month. People
go and dine at restaurants because they wanted to eat delicious foods yet in
return, they were not satisfied because of the unsanitary practices of a
particular restaurant. These should be the focus of their management, which is
to provide quality goods and services to their customers because we deserve the
best. They should also never settle for anything less and should also prevent
any insects and parasites than detecting them when it would be too late for
them to take actions in their company.
