Food safety and food security: is it the same?

The concepts of food security and food safety are quite similar and often confused. While the two definitions go hand in hand, they differ in several important respects that you should consider.

But why is it important to know the discrepancies between the two factors? Every individual must know the basic principles of food safety to ensure healthy eating.

Would you like to find out how they are different and what you can learn from both? Then this article is for you, shall we continue?

What does food safety mean?

In short, it represents the standards of hygiene in the food chain, and what does this mean? Simple: the preservation and monitoring of sanitary measures to ensure the highest quality of food. If these methods of care and preservation are respected, you can eat what you want with complete peace of mind.

On the other hand, food products are extremely delicate, and mishandling them can lead to a host of problems. In fact, most digestive ailments and diseases are directly related to lack of safety.

Bad cooking, washing with dirty water or crossing raw food can trigger all kinds of diseases. In addition, excess fertilizer or poor conditions in distribution facilities, among other things, pose a serious health risk.

Difference between food safety and food security

Food security includes the population’s ability to acquire food. Here, different individual aspects such as work, access to food products and amount of income are considered.

It also involves the various external factors that can affect people’s diets. It also has to do with the problems that are triggered by poor diet.

Food safety is the state of quality that food possesses throughout its processing until it reaches your pantry. It also includes methods to ensure the purity and condition of the final product.

Tips for food safety

At Monouso we would like to give you some advice to ensure that your products enjoy maximum hygiene. Avoid illnesses and digestive problems and enjoy your favourite dishes without any worries:

• Wash your hands regularly, especially before you eat. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? What many people don’t know is that the hands are the main receptor of bacteria, so you should take more care of them.
• Keep your food well refrigerated.
• Make sure that they are well cooked.
• Separate your utensils. Use a special table and knife for each type of meat. Wash them properly at the end.
• Use only potable water for cooking.
• Freeze only raw food and divide it up to thaw it easily. Never heat any kind of food to be re-cooled.

Remember that it is not only up to producers and distributors to ensure the well-being of your products. Don’t forget to be cautious, follow the advice above and keep your kitchen clean to enjoy the maximum safety of your food.