Carmen, Cebu - Basic sanitation is the ability to maintain hygienic conditions through services like garbage collection, industrial/hazardous waste management, and wastewater treatment and disposal. It also refers to having access to facilities for the safe disposal of human waste (feces and urine). While food safety on the other hand has a correlation with proper sanitation and hygiene that can affect one’s health.

In the Philippines, we have different Sanitation Codes to ensure food safety and proper food handling. PD 856 is one of them. Different sections tackle the importance of food handling from the issuance of permits down to food storage. Many agencies are involved in food sanitation and hygiene including the Bureau of Foods and Drugs now the Food and Drug Administration, the Department of Agriculture, National Food Authority, among others.

How do sanitation and hygiene in food safety affect health? More than 200 diseases, from cancer to diarrhea, are brought about by contaminated food that contains dangerous bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemicals. Food-borne illnesses have the potential to cause death and permanent disability. In 2018, there were approximately 17,000 cases of acute bloody diarrhea in the Philippines according to World Health Organization. Food can become contaminated at any point along the supply chain, from production to consumption. While food producers bear the primary responsibility for food safety, many food-borne diseases are caused by improperly prepared or mishandled food at home, in food service establishments, markets, or even on farms.

To prevent foodborne illnesses, we need to remember the 4 basic steps to keep us and our family healthy:

• Cleanliness - Always wash your food, hands, counters, and cooking tools.
• Keep apart / separate - Keep raw foods to themselves. Germs can spread from one food to another.
• Cook - Foods need to get hot and stay hot. Heat kills germs.
• Chill - Put food in the fridge right away. 2-Hour Rule: Put foods in the fridge or freezer within 2 hours after cooking or buying from the store. Do this within 1 hour if it is 90 degrees or hotter outside.

How we handle our food affects our health. Always remember the 4 basic steps above and follow Kumainment No 6 – Tiyaking malinis at ligtas and ating pagkain at tubig. // ND II Geraldine Mae S. Pausanos, RND