FOOD SAFETY

Excerpts from the paper: HYGIENIC QUALITY OF FOODS SERVED ON AIRCRAFT

Microbiological quality of cold meals served on aircraft: Inadequate refrigeration and storage at too high a
temperature leads to a growth of bacteria and enterotoxin formation.

Number of aircraft-meal-associated outbreaks where contributing factors have been detected or

suspected in 1947-1999
Contributing Factor Salmonella spp. S. aureus Vibrio spp. Shigella spp.
Contaminated raw material 1 NR 1 NR
Cross-Contamination 2 NR 2 NR
Inadequate Refrigeration 5 4 1 1
Inadequate Heating 1 1 NR NR
Infected Food Handler 5 1 2 1
Flight Kitchen in Endemic Area 1 NR 2 NR
Risk Items in Menu 3 NR 2 1
Inadequate Personal Hygiene 1 NR NR NR
Inadequate Hygiene Level in Kitchen 3 1 NR 1
NR = Not Reported

Contributing Factors to the Outbreaks Associated with Aircraft Meals

The most frequent factor leading to the foodborne outbreak via airline food was insufficient refrigeration. The
next was contamination of the food by an infected food handler. Similar reasons have been shown to be
important errors generally leading to foodborne outbreaks (WHO 1995).

Excerpts from: WORLD FOOD SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR AIRLINE CATERING

SOP - Dispatch, Transport and Aircraft Loading

Purpose - To prevent growth of pathogens during dispatch,
transportation and aircraft loading.
Scope - All potentially hazardous food (PHF – see below) for
consumption on aircraft.
Procedure -
Dispatch:
· Cold Food:
- Ensure that temperature prior to dispatch does not exceed
5°C/41°F.
· Hot Food:
- Ensure that core temperature prior to dispatch is not lower
than 63°C/145°F.
- Temperature is to be taken as close to the point of dispatch
time.

Transportation and Loading: Transportation and loading of food is expedited in such a way that:
· Cold Food: - Food surface temperature does not exceed 10°C/50 °F
· Hot Food: - Food surface temperature is not lower than 60°C/140°F
Monitoring procedure: Temperature is to be taken as close to the point of dispatch time.

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“Potentially Hazardous Foods” (PHF) - It is common to group foods into:
1. Raw foods, which need to be cooked or washed prior to service.
2. Ready-to-eat (RTE) foods, which are in principle ready for consumption.
· Raw PHF include
o Raw foods of animal origin (e.g. poultry, raw eggs, meats, fish, shellfish), to be cooked before service.
o Raw fruit and vegetables for service and consumption in raw state, if grown by use of fecal contaminated
fertilizer.
· Ready-to-eat PHF are ready-to-eat foods, which support rapid growth of pathogens when exposed to unsafe
temperatures.
Main groups of ready-to-eat high-risk foods include:
o Cooked poultry, eggs, meat, fish, shellfish, rice, pasta, sauces, soups
o Composite products which contain such foods, e.g. meals, pâtés, terrines, salads
o Dairy foods, e.g. pasteurized milk, cream, soft cheeses
o Cream and custard desserts and pastries
o Mayonnaise and dressings with pH above 4.5
o Cold-smoked foods, e.g. fish
o Dried foods, e.g. dried meats with aw above 0.9
o Hot-smoked foods, e.g. fish, poultry
As the name indicates, high-risk foods are the targets for control whereas the low-risk foods, as the name
confirms, are of far less importance in a safety context, as they do not support growth of bacterial pathogens.
· Raw and ready-to-eat non-PHF
This group includes foods which in general do not harbor vegetative pathogens in harmful amounts and which
do not support rapid growth of such pathogens.
Non-PHF include a variety of commonly used foods, e.g. bread, sweets and pastries, jam and marmalades,
fruit and vegetable (except if grown by/being in contact with fecal contaminated fertilizer/matter),
pasteurized fruit juices, blanched/cooked vegetables, various preserved retail foods e.g. mustard, ketchup,
acid dressings, canned foods, well-dried meats (aw < 0.9), etc.

OF INTEREST: Excerpt from the Warsaw Convention

Chapter III - Liability of the Carrier
Article 17
The carrier is liable for damage sustained in the event of the death or wounding of a passenger or any other
bodily injury suffered by a passenger, if the accident which caused the damage so sustained took place on
board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

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