The practice and condition of ensuring that food does not cause unacceptable harm when it is prepared, handled, stored, distributed, and consumed as intended.
Food safety addresses hazards that can enter or develop in food at different stages of the food chain. These can include biological hazards such as pathogens, chemical hazards such as toxins or contaminants, and physical hazards such as foreign objects.
Food safety is broader than food quality. Food can have poor taste, texture, appearance, or nutritional quality without necessarily being unsafe, while food that appears normal can still contain a harmful hazard.
QUICK FACT
Packaging is intended to protect food, not merely to make it easier to transport or sell.
COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH
- Food quality: concerns characteristics such as taste, appearance, texture, freshness, and other attributes that determine acceptability.
- Food contamination: refers specifically to the presence of unwanted agents in food.
SEE ALSO
