Food Safety: Why?

There are over 250 foodborne diseases that have been identified so far. Harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, or chemical or other foreign substances can enter our bodies if we eat contaminated food. Foodborne diseases are also referred to as “foodborne illnesses” and “food poisoning”. They can be mild or severe, acute or long term, or even life-threatening in worst cases.

Every year, there are about 600 million cases of foodborne illnesses occurring worldwide and over 400,000 deaths. Out of over 400,000 deaths, over 120,000 are of children under the age of 5. In U.S. alone, over 40 million people get affected every year.

The different kinds of food hazards can be categorized as biological, chemical, and physical.

Biological hazards consist of bacteria, viruses, or other parasites such as worms, fungi, or toxins generated from them. Most popular bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses are Salmonella, E. coli, Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens, Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter jejuni, Shigella, Listeria monocytogenes, etc.

Salmonellosis is a foodborne disease caused by the bacteria Salmonella. About 2 million cases of salmonellosis and 500 deaths are reported every year in the United States alone. Unrefrigerated food gives medium for Salmonella to grow easily. Eggs that are raw or lightly cooked also may contain Salmonella.

Clostridium botulism can cause a life-threatening foodborne disease known as botulism that attacks the nerves, weakens the muscles, and can even cause breathing difficulties and death. Foods such as tomatoes, tuna fish, green beans, asparagus, mushrooms, and beets may get infected by Clostridium botulinum when they are not canned properly. When garlic, carrot juice, or baked potatoes are not handled or stored properly, they can also provide a medium for this life-threatening bacterium to grow.

The greatest number and percentage of reported foodborne disease outbreaks and illnesses are those that are caused due to viruses. Most common viral agents are Hepatitis A and Norovirus. Worldwide, about 700 million cases are caused due to Norovirus every year. 

Chemical hazards refer to chemicals from pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, or heavy metals, preservatives or food additives, or sometimes marine and mushroom toxins or pollutants found in air, water, and soil. Antibiotics that are used to promote animal growth also sometimes cause illnesses upon consumption of the foods affected by them.

Physical hazards may encompass pieces of wood, glass, metal, plastic, or stones. These hazards can enter our food anywhere anytime during harvesting, processing, shipping, storing, cooking, or eating.

Therefore, it is essential to take care of the safety of our food that we eat – all the way from the farm to the fork as contamination can occur anywhere anytime from production to consumption. The good news is that all the foodborne illnesses are preventable!  

References:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

World Health Organization (WHO)