Verification of the HACCP System in School Foodservice Operations: Focus on the Microbiological Quality of Foods in Heating Process and After-Heating Process

Jeon, In Kyung; Lee, Yeon Kyung

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate and improve the microbiological quality of HACCP application in school foodservice operations. The microbiological quality of foods and utensils were evaluated two times at each critical control point (CCP) with 3M petrifilm in five Daegu elementary schools. Two processes were evaluated: Heating process and after-heating process. The CCPs of the heating process were receiving, cooking and serving temperatures. The CCPs of the after-heating process were personal hygiene, cross contamination avoidance and serving temperature. After the first experiment, 31 employees of five schools were classroom educated, trained on-site, and pre- and post-tested on HACCP-based sanitation with the goal of improving the microbiological quality of the foodservice. Scores representing knowledge of holding, thawing, washing, food temperature, sanitizing and food-borne illness increased after education. In the heating process, internal food temperatures in the first and second experiments were higher than 74 degrees C, the holding temperature in the first experiment was less than 60 degrees C. In the second experiment, the serving temperature improved to a satisfactory level. The microbiological quality in the second experiment improved by decreasing the time from cooking to serving. In the after-heating process, the ingredients were boiled before being cut in the first experiment. In the second experiment, ingredients were cut before being boiled, improving microbiological quality. Also in the second experiment, cooking just before serving food improved its microbiological quality through time-temperature control. These results strongly suggest it is essential to measure microbiological quality regularly and to educate employees on HACCP continuously, especially time-temperature control and cross contamination avoidance in order to improve foodservice quality.