FATTOM FACTORS THAT EFFECT BACTERIA GROWTH Learning Goals

FATTOM FACTORS THAT EFFECT BACTERIA GROWTH

Learning Goals • Students will be able to: • Define the terms related to the growth of microorganisms • Identify the methods of growth of microorganisms • Explain the relationship between the growth of microorganisms and food items

What is a Microorganism? Microorganism: a form of life with that maintains various vital processes too small to be viewed by the unaided eye. Ex. bacteria, protozoa, and some fungi and algae.

What is FAT TOM? There are 6 factors that impact bacteria growth F - Food A - Acidity T - Temperature T - Time O - Oxygen M - Moisture

Food Like all living things, bacteria need food to survive. Some food provide friendlier environments for disease producing organisms to grow than others (based on the rules of FAT TOM). These are called potentially hazardous foods. Typically, these are foods high in moisture and protein Examples of PHFs? Dairy Meat Poultry Eggs Seafood Sliced Melon

Acidity Bacteria grows best in neutral environments. The measure of acidity or alkaline makes a difference!

Temperature Avoid the Danger Zone! Potentially hazardous foods should be kept below 41ºF and cooked above 135ºF (40ºF to 140ºF).

Time After 4 hours, microorganisms will have grown to a high enough level to cause illness. This includes processing, delivery, receiving, etc. A single bacteria can multiply to over a million in 5 hours (if this is a pathogenic bacteria, food poisoning could be very real at this point!!

Oxygen Aerobic bacteria need oxygen to grow. Anaerobic does not You cannot count on oxygen to control bacteria growth. You can’t see it, so you don’t know what you are dealing with!

Moisture is essential for bacteria growth. All potentially hazardous foods have higher levels of water, creating ideal growing conditions. Non-PHFs will have little to no water in them.

Think-Pair-Share Divide a piece of paper into 3 sections titled PHF, Not PHF, and PHF after cooking. With your face partner come up with as many foods as you can in each column in 2 minutes. PHF Ex. Chicken Not PHF Cracker PHF after cooking Pasta Be prepared to share