High risk food for foodborne illness

In United States, Federal government estimates that there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illness annually — the equivalent of sickening 1 in 6 Americans each year.

Some foods are more associated with foodborne illnesses and food poisoning than others. They can carry harmful germs that can make you very sick if the food is contaminated.

High risk food that isn’t handled and used properly is the main reason for food poisoning. Examples of high-risk foods include:
*Raw or undercooked meat, poultry or its products
*Raw fish
*Raw shellfish
*Raw Milk, Raw Milk Soft Cheeses, and Other Raw Milk Products
*Eggs – especially foods made with raw egg, such as mousse and mayonnaise
*Unwashed fresh vegetables (including lettuce and salads)
*Unpasteurized fruit or vegetable juices
*Hot dogs, luncheon meats (cold cuts), fermented and dry sausage
*Meat gravies, sauces, pâté and meat pies
*Raw sprouts (alfalfa, bean, or any other sprout)

Cooked meat and poultry that is raw or undercooked have a higher risk of causing food poisoning. Salmonella and Campylobacter are two of the most common contaminates.
High risk food for foodborne illness

Cross contamination of bacteria in ready to eat food

Foods that can be eaten without further cooking should be produced under the best conditions of sanitation, and some foods of this type, such as milk power should be subjected to frequent bacteriological examination to determine that they are essentially free of Salmonella bacteria.

These foods are categorized as high-risks foods because they are particularly likely to become infected with pathogens.

If these bacterial are allowed to contaminate food which is to be eaten without further cooking, food poisoning can result.

Cross contamination from raw food may happened as a result of poor storage when juices from raw meat are allowed to drip on the cooked food, or via a chopping board, work surface or utensil used for both raw and cooked food.

In ready to eat foods there are no way to destroy micro-organisms that contaminate foods after the initial cooking process since they will not be heat treated before serving. Hence proper storage at low temperature is critical to prevent microbial growth.
Cross contamination of bacteria in ready to eat food

Eczema caused by food

Atopic dermatitis, more generally called eczema, is a skin condition. Eczema appears most commonly on the face, neck, elbows, wrists, knees, behind the ears and the scalp.

The main symptom is an itchy rash that tends to run in families; occurs in people with their allergic problems such as asthma; and follows a pattern on the skin that varies by ages.

Allergic reactions to certain foods are thought to stimulate T-cell migration to the skin, triggering eczema and other inflammatory skin reactions.

Onion can cause eczema

Although eczema may be caused by a large number of environmental triggers, approximately 40 percent of children with eczema also have a food allergy. Allergies to egg, milk, peanut, soy and wheat have a strong link with eczema symptoms.

For adult, the work of preparing food carries a high occupational risk. Occupational dermatitis in this trade is often if mixed irritant and allergic origin.

Sensitivity causing protein contact dermatitis had been found to be common among kitchen workers, who nearly all complain that their dermatitis is aggravated by contact with fish and certain vegetables.
Eczema caused by food

Mycotoxins cause cancer

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metablistes produced by filamentous fungi (molds). Mycotoxins are very powerful protein synthesis inhibitors, so they can affect the DNA, which is a problem in and of itself.

Because they affect the DNA, the cells start multiplying abnormally which can eventually develop into cancer. That mycotoxins can and do cause oesophageal cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer.

Fumonisins are carcinogenic mycotoxins by some Fusarium, primarily F. verticillioides growing in maize. At least 28 fumonisins (fumonisin B1, fumonisin B2, and fumonisin B3) analogs are now known and three of these occur naturally in maize world wide.

Fumonisins ingestion via feed prpeared from corn contaminated woth Fusarium could cause leukoencephalomalacia in horse, pulmonary oedema in pig, and liver cancer in rat.

The incidence of F. moniliforme is home grown corn has been correlated with human esophageal cancer rates in Transkei, southern Africa and in China. Corn naturally contaminated with F. moniliforme and associated with a field oubreak of LEM in horse in the US was also shown to be hepatocarcinogenic in rats.
Mycotoxins cause cancer

Nephrotoxicity

What is nephrotoxicity? Nephrotoxicity may be defined as the ability of a treatment to specifically impair renal function or cause pathological renal lesions. It may occur acutely or insidiously and may be reversible or progressive and irreversible.

A nephrotoxic agent may be defined as one which can produce morphological and functional alterations of the kidney after acute or chronic administration.

In principle the nephrotoxic effect is not cause by a distinct sensitivity of the kidney to drugs.  Firsts of all the nephrotoxicity of drugs is the consequences of the concentration of drugs in kidney tissue or in the urinary passage, which is connected with the elimination of drugs.

Nephrotoxicity from ingested foods is uncommon. E. coli O157:H7 may produce acute gastroenteritis, hemolysis and anemia, thrombocytopenia, and azotemia: the hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS).

Other exposures and conditions may produce this syndrome, including estrogen-containing contraceptive, cyclosporine-A and mitomycin-C.

Occasionally, acute renal insufficiency is seen in patients with aberrant ingestion-related behavior. In the case of Vichy water, Worcestershire sauce, milk, licorice and rhubarb such a high qualities of food are ingested that one component reaches nephrotoxic.
Nephrotoxicity

Egg contamination of salmonella

It has been reported that 2.6 -7% of la fresh eggs are contaminated with Salmonella. The USDA recommends cooking all eggs until the yolks are solid to ensure destruction of all salmonella.

Egg contamination occurs whilst forming eggs are bun the productive tract, but the presence of S. enteriditis in ovaries and oviducts does not mean necessarily mean that egg contents will become Salmonella –positive.

Approximately 0.9% of eggs were eaten without cooking. Salmonella outbreaks can contribute risk factors for human infection.

These risk factors included poor refrigeration practices, improper storage of pooled eggs, use of raw eggs, substantial time and temperature abuse of eggs, and exposure of highly susceptible individuals.

The principle site of contamination in egg contents appears to be either the yolk membrane of the albumen immediately surrounding it.

Salmonella are unable to traverse the yolk membrane of fresh eggs but can do so when the membrane permeability has been altered as a consequence of storage.

According to Food Safety News (Sept 24, 2015), between 25 May and 18 June 1024, five patients died at Heartlands Hospital in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham, England and the bacteria were traced back to eggs from the Bayern Ei (Bavarian Egg) factory in Germany.
Egg contamination of salmonella

Food associated with salmonellosis

Salmonellosis is a bacteria disease characterized by sudden onset of headache, abdominal gain, diarrhea, nausea, sometimes vomiting and almost always fever. Food-associated Salmonella infections in the United States are estimated by the US Department of Agriculture to cost $3 billion annually.

Shellfish, egg products, prepared salads, and to some extent, raw and cooked meats have often associated with the transmission of salmonellosis.

Salmonella enteritidis outbreaks are most frequently associated with the consumption of poultry products especially undercooked eggs and chicken.

Raw shellfish may be taken from waters contaminated with Salmonella bacteria and cooked shellfish meats may contaminated with humans since they are usually removed from their shell by hand.

Poultry of all types, beef cattle, and hogs may have salmonellosis or be carriers of the organisms causing the disease; hence under conditions of cooking in which these organisms are not destroyed, they may be transmitted by humans.  

Latest large outbreaks have been linked with eating tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, and peanut butter.

From 1998 through 2003, the US Department of Agriculture-Food Safety Inspection Service reported isolation of Salmonella from 11.2% to 22.5% of broiler and ground chicken samples, respectively.

As it is impossible for many raw foods to be produced free from Salmonella at source, it is important to establish animal husbandry and crop agriculture regimes that can make a positive contribution to minimizing the frequency and level of contamination of these primary raw materials by Salmonella.
Food associated with salmonellosis 

Foods that are most commonly associated with foodborne illnesses

*Raw foods of animal origin are the most likely to be contaminated; that is, raw meat and poultry, raw eggs, unpasteurized milk, and raw shellfish. Because filter-feeding shellfish strain microbes from the sea over many months, they are particularly likely to be contaminated if there are any pathogens in the seawater.

*Foods that mingle the products of many individual animals, such as bulk raw milk, pooled raw eggs, or ground beef, are particularly hazardous because a pathogen present in any one of the animals may contaminate the whole batch. A single hamburger may contain meat from hundreds of animals. A single restaurant omelet may contain eggs from hundreds of chickens. A glass of raw milk may contain milk from hundreds of cows. A broiler chicken carcass can be exposed to the drippings and juices of many thousands of other birds that went through the same cold water tank after slaughter.

*Fruits and vegetables consumed raw are a particular concern. Washing can decrease but not eliminate contamination, so the consumers can do little to protect themselves. Recently, a number of outbreak have been traced to fresh fruits and vegetables that were processed under less than sanitary conditions. These outbreaks show that the quality of the water used for washing and chilling the produce after it is harvested is critical. Using water that is not clean can contaminate many boxes of produce.

*Fresh manure used to fertilize vegetables can also contaminate them. Alfalfa sprouts and other raw sprouts pose a particular challenge, as the conditions under which they are sprouted are ideal for growing microbes as well as sprouts, and because they are eaten without further cooking. That means that a few bacteria present on the seeds can grow to high numbers of pathogens on the sprouts. Unpasteurized fruit juice can also be contaminated if there are pathogens in or on the fruit that is used to make it.
Foods that are most commonly associated with foodborne illnesses

Bacteria in General

Bacteria in General
Bacteria are single celled organisms that can cause foodborne illness in two ways

1. They can infect foods themselves, by their presence in the food as they feed on it
2. They can produced toxins, which can make food hazardous, as they breakdown. Bacteria, under good condition, can grow and divide quickly – each cell dividing into two approximately every 20 minutes.
   

Good conditions for bacterial growth require

• Food – especially high protein

• Acidity – neutral to low acid

• Temperatures –especially 40 – 140 degree F, ideal temperature is 90 to 100 degree F about body temperature

• Oxygen

• Moisture

When one or more of these six factor is present in a food product, creating the conditions for bacterial growth, that food product is a potentially hazardous food. Potential hazardous foods therefore include meats; poultry; fish; soy-based foods; eggs; milk and milk products; cooked pasta, rice, potatoes, or beans; garlic oil mixture; raw fruits and vegetables; and raw seeds and sprouts. Some of these items surprise many people – it’s not the mayonnaise that is the problem on a buffet; rather, it is the moisture content and low acidity of the items that are put into mayonnaise – potatoes, pasta, beans, etc. Some bacteria even produce spores that don’t reproduce but can survive heating and cooling so that as conditions improve the spore’s bacteria can become active again.
Bacteria in General

Typhoid Fever

Typhoid Fever
Typhoid fever is caused by the gram positive bacillus Salmonella typhi. Paratyphoid fevers, which are usually milder but may be clinically indistinguishable, are caused by Salmonella paratyphi A, Salmonella schotiilleri, or Salmonella hirschfeldii (formerly Salmonella paratyphi A, B, C). Children usually have a shorter incubation period than do adults (usually 5 – 8 days instead of 8 – 14 days).

The organisms enter the body through the walls of the intestinal tract and, following a transient bacteremia, multiple in the reticuloendothelial cells of the liver and spleen. Persistent bacteremia and symptoms then follow. Reinfection of the intestine occurs as organisms are excreted in the bile, bacterial emboli produce the characteristic skin lesions. Symptoms in children may be mild or severe, but children under age 5 years really have severe typhoid fever.

Typhoid fever is transmitted by the fecal oral route and by contamination of food or water. Unlike Salmonella species, there are no animal reservoirs of S typhi; each case is the result of direct or indirect contact with the organism or with an individual who is actively infected or a chronic carrier.

About 500 cases per year are reported in the United States, 60% of which are required during foreign travel.
Typhoid Fever

Other Important Food Infections

Other Important of Food Infections
Tuberculosis (caused by Corynebacterium tuberculosis) and brucellosis (caused by Brucella melitensis and also known as undulant fever) are disease that in the past were transmitted through milk but have been controlled in recent years by heat pasteurization of milk and the testing of dairy herds, which eliminated infected animals.

The ingestion of foods may be involved in infectious hepatitis when infected food handlers who careless in their personal habits are involved in preparing and/or serving food to others, or when contaminated shellfish are eaten raw or without adequate cooking.

Taenia solium (a tapeworm that may infest pork), Taenia saginata (a tapeworm sometimes found in beef), and Diphyllobothrium latum (tapeworm sometimes found in fish) all cause illness in humans, but none of these pose any hazard when foods are thoroughly cooked. Small worms of the genus Anisakis may also infected fish and cause illness in humans when the infected fish is not properly cooked.

Yersinia enterocolitica is another psychotropic organism that has been the causative foodborne pathogen in raw and pasteurized milk, and contaminated water. It is destroyed by normal pasteurization. Yersiniosis usually results in enterocolitis, characterized by diarrhea, fever and severe abdominal pain in the lower right quadrant. This illness has been incorrectly diagnosed as appendicitis and has resulted in unnecessary appendectomies. The organism is widely distributed and outbreaks have been traced to a wide variety of foods, such as milk that had contaminated chocolate syrup added to it after pasteurization and tofu that was packed in contaminated spring water.
Other Important Food Infections

Food Infections: Salmonellosis

Food Infections: Salmonellosis
Food infections are those in which the disease organism is carried through foods to the host (human or animal) where it actually invades the tissues and grows to numbers that cause disease.

Salmonellosis is caused when foods contaminated with Salmonella bacteria are eaten. At the present time, approximately 42,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported yearly. About 150- deaths annually are due to this disease. However, it is considered that only about 1% of acute digestive illnesses are reported in United States, so that actually there may be many more cases of this disease.

Typhoid fever, of which there are fewer cases than of salmonellosis, hence fewer deaths, is caused by an organism belonging to the Salmonella species, but this disease is usually not considered to be the ordinary salmonellosis for three reason:

• The ordinary Salmonella organisms will infect other animals as well as humans, while typhoid germ is known to infect only humans

• Typhoid fever is usually more severe than the ordinary salmonellosis

• In healthy adults, several hundred thousand to several million ordinary Salmonella bacteria (cells) must be ingested (eaten) to cause salmonellosis, while the ingestion of even one typhoid cell may cause typhoid fever.

It is known that antibiotics, especially cholramphenicol or some of the modified penicillin, are effective in treating salmonellosis, but since this disease is oftentimes not called to the attention of a physician, it may cause a more severe illness than if it were treated.
Food Infections: Salmonellosis