Food sanitation

Food sanitation (식품위생/食品衛生) refers to sanitation to ensure food safety.

In general, sanitation is the hygienic means of promoting health through prevention of human contact with the hazards of wastes as well as the treatment and proper disposal of sewage wastewater. Hazards can be either physical, microbiological, biological or chemical agents of disease. Wastes that can cause health problems include human and animal feces, solid wastes, domestic wastewater (sewage, sullage, greywater), industrial wastes and agricultural wastes. Hygienic means of prevention can be by using engineering solutions (e.g. sewerage and wastewater treatment), simple technologies (e.g. latrines, septic tanks), or even by personal hygiene practices (e.g. simple handwashing with soap).

Key words
food, sanitation, sanitory treatment, food safety, bacteria

Statutory ground
In Korea, food sanitation is largely regulated by the Food Sanitation Act (식품위생법/食品衛生法).

Article 3 (Handling Foods, etc.) of the Food Sanitation Act
 * (1) Any person shall collect, manufacture, process, use, cook, store, subdivide, transport or display foods or food additives for the purpose of sale (including offering such foods or food additives to many, unspecified persons for purposes, other than sale; hereinafter the same shall apply) in a clean and sanitary manner.
 * (2) Apparatus, containers and packages used for business purpose shall be han- dled cleanly and sanitarily.
 * (3) Criteria for sanitary handling of foods, food additives, apparatus, containers or packages (hereinafter referred to as “food, etc.”) as referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2) shall be determined by Ordinance of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. 

Article 4 (Prohibition against Sale, etc. of Harmful Foods, etc.)
 * No one shall sell, collect, manufacture, import, process, use, cook, store, subdivide, transport or display any of the following foods, etc. for the purpose of sale:
 * 1. Rotten, stale or unripe foods, which are likely to harm a human body;
 * 2. Foods which contain or are likely to contain poisonous or harmful substances, or are smeared or likely to be smeared with such substances: Provided, That foods deemed not to cause any harm to a human body by the Commissioner of the Korea Food and Drug Administration are excluded herefrom;
 * 3. Foods that are or may be contaminated with microbes causing diseases, which are likely to cause harm to a human body;
 * 4. Foods likely to harm a human body due to their uncleanness, other substances mixed with or added to such foods or other grounds;
 * 5. Foods which have failed to undergo safety evaluation, among agricultural, livestock or fishery products subject to safety evaluation under Article 18 or foods deemed to be inedible as a result of safety evaluation;
 * 6. Foods, the import of which is prohibited, or foods imported without making an import declaration under Article 19 (1);
 * 7. Foods manufactured, processed or subdivided by persons, other than business operators.

Several Tips
In summer sultry weather, which gets food poisoning, it's a problem to eat or chuck it out the food which just edge past the use-by date. It's agonizing beyond that of Hamlet.

To be brief, fermented or dried foods being salty or sugary would not get us sick even though they past the use-by date. Firm cheese is edible by cutting off any mold though it becomes dusty with mold.

A bottle of milk, which is firmly on the side of sour, should not be for drink but may be used in making cake. However, you should be cautious of meat and poultry. As a matter of fact, raw meat is in the process of contamination inside the show window of markets owing to intensive factory farming.

In a bid to ensure the safety of food, several measures are effective to prevent bacteria from increasing. Among others, pickles preserved in acidic liquids like vinegar are no problem when past by-use date. Honey and jam, wholly sugary stuff, are edible and perfectly harmless.

Fermented fish right after a process of fermentation, or dried food could not make us suffer from an upset stomach. In the same vein, eggs would not pose a problem. Such eggs long after the benchmark may be used in a sponge cake or hardboiled in a salad. Of course, they must not be eaten scrambled, fried or soft-boiled.

On the contrary, poultry and pork should not be consumed under any circumstances. They are the biggest source of food poisoning. It's because the tremendous stress imposed on intensively reared animals has weakened their immune systems, and made them prone to becoming riddled with bacteria.

You should be careful of one more thing - microwave warming. It is nothing like as safe as cooking thoroughly in the oven). A microwave does not more often than not give an even temperature throughout. Accordingly you have to give it a longer cooking time than the packet advises for food security.