“Practicing food safety may save a life.”
This was the rationale behind the “Training on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for Food Handlers” for food kiosks operators at the CUB and CDH as well as for ambulant vendors conducted by the Food and Services Management Committee on February 5 and 7, 2024 at the administration building conference room, Miagao campus.
Dr. Johannes M. Magpusao, one of the members of the Food and Facilities Management Committee served as resource person. She emphasized the importance of food safety practices.
“Observing food safety practices results to clean and delicious food, healthy eaters, and happy customers. When these are not observed these results to illness such as upset stomach, fever, diarrhea, vomiting (or both), and dehydration. The worst scenario would be paralysis, meningitis, or death,” she explained.
Prof. Magpusao also pointed out that food safety is already a law through RA 10611 which is “An Act to strengthen the Food Safety Regulatory System in the Country to Protect Consumer Health and Facilitate Market Access of local foods and food products, and for other purposes.”
Violation of RA 10611 that results in the death of a person, upon conviction, will have the penalty of imprisonment and will be required to pay a fine.
Magpusao also explained the three kinds of food hazards, namely, biological, chemical, and physical that may get into food and cause harm.
“As food handlers, you need to exercise personal hygiene such as wearing clean clothes, you are to wash your hands properly and frequently particularly before handling food, you are not supposed to smoke as UPV is a smoke-free campus, not wear jewelries while in your station as these may drop on the food, keep a short, polish-free fingernails as long ones become a haven for bacteria and having polish is a chemical hazard” she also pointed out.
Moreover, she emphasized that people should not leave food in room temperature for over four hours as bacteria multiplies very fast in this temperature and causes spoilage, thus, the need to refrigerate.
“Please practice PACK: protect food from contaminants, act like a food surgeon, control processes and parameters, and know your responsibility,” she reminded the participants.
Magpusao is a faculty member of the School of Technology and is most qualified to conduct trainings on food safety, being a certified Servsafe Food Safety Protection Manager and having served as a food safety consultant for the Department of Science & Technology. She earned her BS Food Technology degree at the UP Visayas School of Technology, her master’s degree in Food Technology at the KU Leuven and Ghent University in Belgium, and her PhD in Food Science from the University of Otago, New Zealand.
The Food and Services Management Committee augments the functions of the Auxiliary Services Office in managing various current and upcoming facilities of UPV. The members are Frediezel De Leon, Mary Lyncen Fernandez, Jo-an Bedia, Milyn Leghid, Emiliza Lozada, Johannes M. Magpusao, Aileen Paguntalan, Ronie Fabillo, Chelsea Paguntalan, Mary Ann Sedero, and chaired by Rose Mueda. Wilma Esponila and Kimar Gargarita serve as support staff.
