FST 10 Food Safety

What are the USDA FSIS Recall Lists?

- fee, poultry, pork

- mislabeled items

- listeria contamination

What are the FDA Recall Lists?

- recalls

- market withdrawals

- safety alerts

- oversees more than USDA

- produce, dog food, peanut butter, brands, tobacco, drugs, antibiotics

What are the CDC Outbreak Lists?

- E. coli, salmonella, listeria

- Multi drug resistant pathogen - must show all doctors immediately since they provide antibiotics, test for drug resistance

What is an outbreak?

- When 2 or more people get the same illness from the same contaminated food or drink, the event is called a food borne disease outbreak

- Has to be 2 people from 2 households, eating same commercial product

What is the economic loss w/ recalls?

- Recall has been considered as the food industry's biggest threat to profitability

- Different classes of recalls

- Class 1- severe damage + health risks to the consumer

- Class 2 - remote severe health consequences

- Class 3 - not likely to cause adverses health consequences

- Food Recall = brand damage, lost sales, direct costs

What is the economic loss w/ outbreaks?

- 20% of the 48 million cases (annual food borne illnesses) can be traced back down to known pathogens

- Hard to calculate, based on specific company

- These 9.4 million cases(20%) impose over $15.5 billion economic burden annually

- Costscomes from death, medical costs, productivity loss

What is foodborne illness in the USA?

- CDC estimates that 48 million cases per year

- 138,000 hospitalizations

- 3,000 deaths

- "estimated" because - Person becomes exposed, ill, seeks care, specimen obtained, lab tests for organism, confirmed case, then reported to CDC/health department

What are the foods involved in outbreaks?

- Foods of animal origin (most frequently)

- Contaminated fruits + veggies (increasing in the last decade because people eat more of it + more preservative methods)

What are the 3 main food safety hazards?

- Biological - bacteria, virus

- Chemical - allergens

- Physical - metal in food

What is microbiology?

- Study of microscopic organisms

- They can be single or multiple cell or no cell structure included

- There are several sub-disciplines of microbiology(bacteriology which studies bacteria, mycology studies fungi, virology studies viruses)

What are microorganisms?

- Bacteria - 1-2 - 10m, prokaryotes

- Fungi (molds + yeasts) - 3-4 um - 40 um, eukaryotes

- Viruses

What are the top 5 pathogens contributing to domestically acquired foodborne illnesses?

- Norovius

- Salmonella

- Clostridium perfingens(canned items)

- Camplybacter spp.(poultry)

- Staphylococcus aureus(20-30% are carriers)

What are the top 5 pathogens contributing to domestically acquired foodborne illnesses resulting in hospitalization?

- Salmonella

- Norovirus

- Camplybacter spp.

- Toxoplasma gondii

- E. coli

What are the top 5 pathogens contributing to domestically acquired foodborne illnesses resulting in death?

- Salmonella

- Toxoplasma gondii

- Listeria monocytogenes

- Norovirus

- Camplyobacter spp.

What are examples of bacterial foodborne pathogens?

- Salmonella spp.

- Clostridium botulinum

- Staphylococcus aureus

- Yersinia enterocolitica

- Listeria monocytogenes

- Vibrio spp.

- Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli

- Clostridium perfingens

- Bacillus cereus(dried products)

- Camplyobacter spp.

- Shigella spp.(human to human)

What is Escherichia Coli O157:H7?

- Established as a foodborne pathogen in 1971 when imported cheeses turned up in 14 American states + caused illness in 400 people

- Since meatborne outbreaks in US of 1982+93, status of bacteria as foodborne pathogen is unquestioned

- over 200 O serotypes recognized

30 H flagella antigenic types exist

- Diarrhea, severe enterohemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome

- Belongs to the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli group (EHEHC)

- All of these E. Coli strains in EHEHC group produce Shiga-like toxin

- ETEC Traveler's diarrhea. E. coli O68

- EIEC - They produce no toxins, but severely damage the intestinal wall through mechanical cell destruction. E. coli O124

- EPEC - A lesion which is characterized by microvilli destruction. E. coli O111

What is Salmonella?

- Gram negative facultative anaerobic bacteria

- Over 2,500 species - S. Enteritidis, S. Typhimurim, S. Infantis

- Can survive several weeks in a dry environment + several months in water

- Salmonellosis

- Nuts

What are effects of Salmonella poisoning?

- Gastroenteritis

- Fever

- Septicemia (blood poisoning)

- Infectious dose can be as low as 1 cell but most of the time 1-100 cells are considered infectious dose for many pathogens

- Depend on health status of infected people

What happened w/ the peanut corporation of America?

- In 2008, Salmonella contaminated + killed 9 people + 714 people got ill

- Most expensive food recall in US history

- Company tried to hide it + went to jail

What are pathogenic viruses + parasites?

- Viruses - Hepatitis A + E, Norovirus

- Worms - Trichinella spirali, Anisakis simplex

- Protozoa - Cyclospora cayetanensis, Toxoplasms gondii, Giardia lamblia

What is Norovirus?

- Self limiting, mild, gastroenteritis, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, low fever

- Transmitted through fecal oral route

- Infectious dose - 18 virus particles

- In foods like water, raw, understeamed shellfish, any food handled by infectious people

What is the difference between infection + intoxication?

- Infection - ingest live organisms, viable pathogens + multiply in body + can produce toxins in body

- Intoxication - ingest toxins, metabolic products of certain bacteria, naturally occurring toxins(shellfish) - chemical hazards

What are the common food sources of biological hazards?

- Beef, poultry, veggies, fruits, fish, eggs, juice

- Animals, environment, processing environment, kitchen, food handlers

- Don't rinse raw chicken because some chicken may contain the bacteria + the water will spread to sink, etc

What are chemical hazards?

- May depend on exposure

- Short + long term effects

- Based on toxicological studies, safe levels have been set

- Laws + regulations are designed to ensure exposure levels are safe when chemicals are properly used

- FDA, EPA, USDA enforce provisions of pertinent laws + regulations

What are chemicals used in food processing?

- Growth hormones, antibiotics (raising livestock)

- Pesticides, herbicides, defoliants (growing crops)

- Food additives, processing aids (production)

- Lubricants, paints (paint maintenance)

- Cleaners, sanitizers, pesticides (plant sanitation)

What are naturally occurring substances?

- Some toxic chemicals occur naturally (plants like mushrooms, animals like shellfish, microorganisms like mold + bacteria)

- Shellfish contains histamines which is the growth of bacteria in certain fish due to temperature abuse, bacterial enzyme reacts w/ free histidine in the fish

- Microorganisms - aflatoxin in peanuts 20 pub, patulin in apple juice 50 ppb

What are allergens?

- Chemical hazards

- Proteins that induce an allergic reaction

- Undeclared

- Shellfish, wheat, eggs, tree nuts, fish, soy, milk, peanuts

- Mild rash, anaphylaxis, death

- 1-2% adults have a food allergy, 5-6% children

What are physical hazards?

- Can cause foodborne illnesses in some consumers + typically results in personal injuries like broken teeth, laceration of mouth, choking

- Can be a food safety hazard or just an aesthetic contaminant

What is the difference between food safety hazards + aesthetic contaminants?

- Food safety hazards are potential physical hazards from foreign objects or extraneous matter capable of causing injury - glass, metal, rocks

- Aesthetic contaminants like insect fragments, hair, and sand typically don't cause injury

What is the regulatory guidance for physical hazards?

- FDA Compliance Policy Guide 555.425 "Foods - Adulteration Involving Hard or Sharp Objects)

- Ready to eat foods containing hard/sharp foreign objects

- 7-25 mm long is considered a hazard for general public

- Objects less than 7 mm may present a hazard if the product intended for special risk group(infants, elderly)

What are sources of physical hazards?

- Contaminated raw materials

- Poorly designed/maintained facilities + equipment

- Faulty procedures during production

- Improper employee practices

- Certain processes/operation (metal to metal contact, grinding, glass filling operations)

How do we control biological hazards?

- Prevent contamination of foods (keep them out)

- Inactivate of foodborne disease agents (kill them)

- Prevent multiplication of pathogens (control them)

What is important to know about controlling microbes?

- Growth - increase in #

- Survival - certain cells remain alive w/ parts died

- Death - decrease in #

How do we control chemical hazards?

- Prevent the contamination of foods (Good manufacturing practices + Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs), Cleaning vs.sanitizing)

- Control the storage temperatures

- Control of allergenic ingredients + prevention of cross-contact

- Antibiotics/hormones/pesticides (Follow the regulations, Approval of veterinary drugs by FDA, Assurance of correct use by USDA Animal + Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) + FSIS, Pesticides are regulated by EPA

- Labelling!

How do we control physical hazards?

- Minimizing physical hazards from raw materials + the facility

- Employee training + practice

- Use of metal detectors, magnets, x rays, screens, filters

What is HACCP?

- Hazard analysis and critical control points (1997)

- Control biological, chemical physical hazards from raw material production procurement + handling, to manufacturing, distribution + consumption of the finished product

What are the foodborne disease outbreaks % + food categories?

- 40% land animals

- 30% aquatic animals

- 24% plants (fruits, veggies, nuts)

- 6% other

What is the Food Safety Modernization Act?

- Signed into law in 2011

- Shifting focus from responding to foodborne illnesses to prevention because it's affecting health + economy

- 7 rules to prevent contamination

- It aims to ensure the U.S. food supply is safe by shifting the focus from responding to contamination to preventing it

What are the 7 rules?

- Produce safety rules

- Preventive controls for human foods (PC)

- Preventive controls for food for animals

- Sanitary transportation of human + animal food

- Accredited third-party certification

- Foreign supplier verification program

- Mitigation strategies to protect food against intentional adulteration

What is the differences between food quality + food safety?

- Food safety is part of food quality

- Food safety programs are part of food quality assurance programs