When food hygiene is referred to, it is meant the conditions and measures to be taken to ensure the safety of various foodstuffs from production to consumption. Food can be contaminated at any point in the cutting or harvesting, processing, storage, distribution, transport and preparation processes. If adequate food hygiene is not provided, foodborne diseases and deaths may occur.

The World Health Organization (WHO) assists member states in implementing systematic disease prevention and health education programs targeting food producing companies, including consumers, and supporting safe food use.

Diseases that people get as a result of consuming contaminated food are an important cause of illness, disability and death in the world. In fact, foodborne diseases, in particular diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi, are preventable.

At this point, training is key. To ensure food hygiene, it is recommended to keep food clean, not to keep raw and cooked food together, to cook food well, to keep it at safe temperatures, and to use safe water and raw materials.

The Food Hygiene Regulation was issued by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock in 2011 to determine the criteria for food hygiene that food companies must comply with from the first production to the consumer in order to protect consumers in terms of food safety.

In the food hygiene inspection and controls by the competent authorities, these legal regulations and TS 13027 standard criteria are complied with first.

In short, food hygiene is the necessary precautions and conditions to control the risks that threaten food and to ensure that a foodstuff is suitable for human consumption considering its intended use.

The main standard used in the control and inspection works carried out by the competent authorities is as follows:

• TS 13027 General rules for hygiene and sanitation in food production and sales facilities