Food Technology Lecturer Öznur Eyilcim stated that during the production of materials such as women's stockings and hairnets, unwanted foreign substances like dust, lint, hair, small insects, and flies can easily settle on these materials. She added, “The contamination of these produced materials by contact with the environment and their carrying foreign substances poses a great risk to human health.”
Üsküdar Üniversitesi Health Services Vocational School, Food Technology Lecturer, Chemical Engineer Öznur Eyilcim evaluated the use of materials such as hairnets and women's stockings by some businesses to make filtered coffee, from a food safety perspective, due to increasing costs.
Food Safety Aims to Protect Consumers
Chemical Engineer Eyilcim pointed out that the increase in costs is an important reason for seeking easy and cheap production methods, stating, “The primary goal of food safety is to protect consumers from foodborne hazards by eliminating or preventing elements that would be harmful to health and threaten their safety. Contact of personal products like hairnets and women's stockings with any food product is absolutely a very significant food safety issue.”
Conditions in the Production of Materials Like Women's Stockings and Hairnets…
Emphasizing that food is exposed to physical, chemical, and biological risk factors, which threaten public health, Lecturer Öznur Eyilcim continued:
“If the use of materials like hairnets and women's stockings in filtered coffee is examined as a physical hazard, it is absolutely unsuitable for food safety. To illustrate, during the production of materials such as women's stockings and hairnets, unwanted foreign substances like dust, lint, hair, small insects, and flies can easily settle on these materials. Considering the importance of sterilization for foods, the presence of these foreign substances on materials that will come into contact with food, or the contamination of these produced materials by contact with the environment and their carrying foreign substances, poses a great risk to human health.”
Also Risky Chemically!
Chemical Engineer Eyilcim, stating that textile products produced under unfavorable conditions can create biological risks, noted:
“Factors causing biological risks such as viruses, parasites, and bacteria will significantly affect human health. Finally, when examined from a food safety perspective, the use of hairnets and women's stockings in making filtered coffee carries the greatest chemical risk. The structure of many garments, such as hairnets and women's stockings, can consist of polyamide-based synthetic fiber, which we call nylon, polyester, or acrylic.
Exposure of these substances to high temperatures can lead to dissolution due to structural degradation. Moreover, even if all these substances are harmless, synthetic dyes for coloring and harmful auxiliary chemicals for bleaching are also used during the production of hairnets and women's stockings.”
Disinfection-Appropriate Muslin Can Be Used
Lecturer Öznur Eyilcim stated that the use of hairnets and women's stockings during filtered coffee preparation can cause chemical substances to dissolve in hot water and lead to many diseases like cancer. She said, “For the coffee filtering process, disposable special filter papers or food-grade materials like reusable and disinfection-appropriate muslin 100% cotton new-generation filters can be used. Products like women's stockings and hairnets should never be used outside of personal use.”
Food Products Should Not Be Prepared Without Gloves
Lecturer Öznur Eyilcim stated that the biggest risk threatening human health in cafes and restaurants stems from cross-contamination, and continued:
“With this contamination, harmful bacteria and viruses, which are biological agents, transfer from one surface to another. The source of this contamination can be employees, work surfaces, used equipment, devices, and cleaning tools. When looking specifically at employees, hands are in direct contact with food, and contamination is frequently observed in food products prepared without using gloves. Insufficient disinfection of hands or various cloths used for hand cleaning pose a great risk to public health.
Furthermore, many practices such as insufficient cleaning and disinfection of work surfaces, or using equipment like spoons, knives, or cutting boards for multiple foods without cleaning them, cause contamination.”
Food Health and Safety Training for Employees is Essential
Chemical Engineer Öznur Eyilcim, noting that measures must be taken to eliminate factors threatening public health, concluded her words as follows:
“Firstly, businesses should be regularly inspected, and necessary actions should be taken when non-compliance with regulations is identified. Training employees on food health and safety is also another important point.
Consumers who witness the use of materials that are not suitable for food safety and threaten public health in cafes and restaurants must report their observations and complaints by calling the ALO174 Food Line, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.”