Nutrition Food Safety/Food Hazards

Foodborne Illness

When a person is ill from eating contaminated food; illness or disease caused by ingestion of unsafe food

Foodborne Illness Stats

• Estimated cases (in U.S. each year): 48 million cases annually= 1 in 6 people

• Serious= 128,000-medical treatment

• Deaths= 3,000 deaths

• Cost= $152 billion per year medial

Who is at risk for foodborne illness

Immunocompromised:

• Very young

• Very old

• Otherwise ill

Of those sources we know:

• 61% food service (human error contamination)

• 32% home

• 7% commercially prepared

Microbes (Pathogens)

Very tiny, living organisms, especially those that make us sick

• bacteria

• viruses

• fungi

• parasites

Infectious agent

Microbes that have the potential to make use sick are pathogenic

Non-infectious agent

• Non-living substances that can make us sick

• Chemicals, physical (lest common) contaminants

Foodborn Illness

• >250 types of foodborn illness occur annually

1. Biological (>80%)

2. Chemical (6%)

• Cleaners

• Agricultural chemical residue

• Toxic metals leached from pipes/equipment

3. Physical (<4%)

• Stones

• Shell fragments

• Glass, metal shards

• Jewelry (stones)

Outbreak Illness

More easier to track (better data)

Sporadic illness

1 or 2 people get sick

Biological Hazards

1. Bacteria

2. Viruses

3. Parasites

4. Fungus

• Prions

Bacteria

Can survive without a living host

• Salmonella

• Campylobacter jejuni

Salmonella

• Undercooked poultry/beef, eggs, tomatoes, peppers, cantaloups

• #1 bacterial foodborne illness: million + (cases/year)

Campylobacter jejuni

Undercooked poultry, unpasteurized milk, water

Bacteria: Preformed Toxins

Bacteria produce a toxin in the food that makes humans sick

• Staphylococcus aureus

• Clostridium botulinum (C. bot.)

Staphylococcus aureus

• From skin wounds, hair, sneezing

• Foods that are handled by people a lot - mayo salads, deli meat

• MRSA: methicillin-resistance serotype

Clostridium botulinum (C. bot.)

• From soil, human intestinal tract

• Oxygen-free food packaging

  • Canned products

  • Vacuum-packed products

  • MAP = Modified Atmosphere packaging

Bacteria: Enteric Toxins

Bacteria produce a toxin in the gut that makes humans sick

• Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli

• Soil, water, intestinal tract of humans and animals

• Ground beef, sprouts, fresh apple cider

Viruses

• Need a living host to multiply

• Most can survive freezing and cooking

• Highly contagious- very few cells required to transmit

→ Norovirus

→ Hepatitis A

Norovirus

• Shellfish, prepared foods like cold salads & sandwiches, fresh fruit

• Most common cause of any foodborn illness: 5+ million

Hepatitis A

• Shellfish prepared food like mayo salads & sandwiches, water

Parasites

Also need a living host, cannot survive cooking or 7-day freeze

• Cryptosporidium

Cryptosporidium

• Lives in the GI tract of infected humans, animals

• #1 source in U.S: untreated water (recreational water, streams/rivers)

Fungus

• Molds and other fungi

• May produce invisible toxin

→ Aspergillus

Aspergillus

• Wheat, rice, peanuts, soybeans

• Aflatoxin may result in liver damage, liver cancer, death

Prions

• Not a living microbe

• They are a protein

  • Trigger other proteins in the body to “unravel”

  • Fill a cell, cause cell to rupture

  • Prions “leak” into surrounding tissues - domino effect

• Resilient - can’t cook or acidify them to neutralize

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

Deer, moose, elk

Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (BSE)- Mad cow

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease & varient creutzfeldt-Jakob

• Incubation period: years

• Symptoms: loss of motor control, confusion, paralysis wasting

• Cannot be treated, fatal

Commercial Food Safety

• Canning/Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP)

• HTST Pasteurization

• UHT Pasteurization

• Irradiation

Canning/Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP)

Prevents growth of aerobic pathogenic and spoilage microbes

• Fill the can with food under vacuum to remove oxygen

HTST Pasteurization

Minimizes pathogenic, spoilage microbes

• High-Temperature-Short-Time Treatment

• 161 F for 15 seconds

UHT Pasteurization

Eliminates pathogenic, spoilage microbes

• Ultra-High-Temperature Treatment

  • 280 F for at least 2 seconds

• Sterile packaging (aspetic)

Irradiation

Eliminates pathogenic and spoilage microbes

• Ionizing gamma rays (energy) damages or destroys microbes and insects

• Does not harm the food; food does not absorb radiation

• Does not affect nutrient content, taste or appearance

• Extends shelf life

• Meat, poultry, shellfish, eggs, fruit, vegetables, spices