LIVING with the EARTH FOODBORNE ILLNESS Objectives

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LIVING with the EARTH FOODBORNE ILLNESS Objectives LIVING WITH THE EARTH FOODBORNE ILLNESS CHAPTER 8 FOODBORNE ILLNESS Objectives for this Chapter Objectives for this Chapter • A student reading this chapter will be able • A student reading this chapter will be able to: to: – 1. Recognize, list, and explain the major – 4. Explain the mechanisms by which these reasons for food protection programs. pathogens cause foodborne illness , and – 2. List and describe the major categories and describe how the life cycles of these subcategories of agents causing foodborne organisms are important in this transmission illness. of disease. – 3. Describe the major foodborne pathogens – 5. List and describe the major disease including parasitic,viral, and bacterial symptoms in humans for these foodborne diseases. pathogens. Objectives for this Chapter FOODBORNE ILLNESS • A student reading this chapter will be able • Worldwide Distribution of Foodborne to: Pathogens – 6. Describe and explain the HACCP system in – 1.5 billion children under the age of five suffer protecting against foodborne disease. from diarrhea, and tragically, over 3 million die – 7. Discuss recent regulatory efforts in the area as a consequence. of food potection. 1 Reason for Food Protection FOODBORNE ILLNESS Programs • Reasons for varying prevalence among • The implementation of programs to geographic regions minimize foodborne diseases is important – Climate because of the problems associated with – Population demographics morbidity, mortality, and economic loss. – Nutritional status – Cultural aspects Morbidity and Mortality Due to Morbidity and Mortality Due to Foodborne Disease Foodborne Disease • In the United States there are as many as • The causative agents and modes of 33 million cases of foodborne illness which transmission (means through which an are responsible for an estimated 9 causative agent is spread) are known in thousand deaths annually. less than 1% of the severe gastroenteritis cases. Economic Consequences of Foodborne Illness • Medical Costs Fig. • Loss of Wages 8-1 • Recall • Investigation • Litigation (Fig. 8-1) 2 CAUSATIVE AGENTS OF CAUSATIVE AGENTS OF FOODBORNE DISEASE FOODBORNE DISEASE • Foodborne illness is defined as any illness incurred from the consumption of • Radionuclides contaminated food. • Chemicals • Food Additives • Poisonous Plants and Animals • Pathogens (Table 8-1) Table 1b Table 1a Radionuclides Radionuclides • Radiation is introduced into the food chain • Radionuclides, which are deposited in the naturally from mineral deposits beneath environment accidentally, or intentionally, the earth’s surface or from the atmosphere as a direct result of human activity are of in the form of ultraviolet and cosmic rays. much greater concern. • Chernobyl • India vs. Pakistan 3 Chemicals Chemicals • Ironically, man is responsible for many • Chemicals enter the food from packaging chemical contaminants presently found in materials, agricultural applications of food. pesticides and fertilizers, by adding • Between 80%-90% of our exposure to preservatives or colorings to foods, or by potentially harmful chemicals is from food the release of industrial chemicals into the consumption. environment (Table 8-2). Packaging Materials • Acidic conditions will leach these chemicals from damaged packaging Table 8-2 containers – Antimony – Cadmium – Lead Symptoms Industrial Processes • Antimony •Mercury – Complications of the gastrointestinal, – Methyl mercury is an acute toxin which cardiovascular, and hepatic systems causes tremors, neurological complications, • Cadmium kidneyy, failure, and birth defects. – Kidney damage – Fungicides and animal feed – Minamata Bay, Japan • Lead – Neurological, kidney failure, bone integrity 4 Industrial Processes Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) • Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) – Widely used in industry, they are extremely • Rice oil-Japan, 1968 stable compounds that do not degrade easily, – 1000 with Symptoms theyy,y are resistant to heat, and they are also – Swelling of the eyes, rash, and highly toxic. gastrointestinal illness, five deaths. Pesticides Pesticides • Organochlorine compounds such as DDT • Many of the chemicals banned from use in and chlordane, organophosphates such as the United States are sold to developing parathion and malathion, and inorganic nations who use them extensively in compounds such as arsenics, have been producing crops for export to the American have all been applied to food in the form of market. a pesticide. Pesticides Food Additives • The EPA has banned DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, • Food additives are intentionally added to hepaclor, and kepone, yet traces of these food to alter taste, color, texture, nutritive compounds and their metabolites continue value, appearance, and resistance to to be found in our food. deterioration. • DDT and other chemicals of its class accumulate in the environment. 5 Food Additives Food Additives • Food additives are considered to be the • Food and Drug Act of 1906 least hazardous source of foodborne • In 1958, the Food Additive Amendment to illness, ranking behind pesticides, the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act required environmental contcontaminantsaminants, natural FDA approval before use. toxins, and microbial toxins. • Color Additive Amendment of 1950 Food Additives Food Additives • Saccharin • Monosodium Glutamate – Causes bladder cancer in lab animals – Chinese Restaurant Syndrome (headaches – Not covered under the Delaney clause and possible nausea), and lesions of the retina. – An allowable daily intake (ADI) of 120mg/kg has been established for individuals over one year of age. Food Additives Food Additives • GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) • Nitrates and Nitrites – GRAS substances are chemicals that had a – Prevent the growth of Clostridium spores. history of safe use before the 1958 Food Additive Amendment passed. – In the body, nitrates can be reduced to nitrites which in turn oxidize hemoglobin – There are approximately 700 GRAS and cause anoxia. substances. – In food, nitrites react with amines, to form – Currently, the FDA is reviewing their safety nitrosamines. and reclassifying if necessary. • Have caused cancer of the liver, kidney, bladder, stomach, and pancreas of laboratory animals. 6 Poisonous Plants and Animals Poisonous Plants and Animals • Plant Sources • By the process of trial and error, humans – Alkaloids have identified plants that were either • Herbs -the pyrrolizidine group harmful to man, or possessed little • Potatoes- Solanum alkaloids nutritional value, and excluded them from • Caffeine, teas- Xanthine alkaloids our diet. • Some plants and animals known to be harmful to man have a significant nutritional value and are still part of our diet. Plant Sources Animal Sources • Lectins • Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning – Lectins are plant proteins(the Leguminosae – Shellfish become toxic to humans when they family) that agglutinate red blood cells. feed on dinoflagellates such as Gonyaulax •Saponins catenella in numbers greater than 200/ml of – Saponins are glycosides that hemolyze red water. blood cells. – Symptoms include a tingling or burning – As we are experiencing dietary shift to sensation of the lips and gums, ataxia, and healthier foods such as alfalfa and soy paralysis of the diaphragm. based products, we can also expect an increase of saponin intoxications. FOODBORNE PATHOGENS • More than 40 potential foodborne pathogens have been listed by CAST (Table 8-3). Table 8-3 7 FOODBORNE PATHOGENS FOODBORNE PATHOGENS • Listed below are reasons for the surfacing • Parasitic Infections of new and old pathogens. – The Nematodes – Decrease in lactic acid bacteria • Trichinella spiralis (Fig. 8-2) – Contaminated water applied to food • Taenia solium (Fig. 8-3) – Abuse of Antibiotics • Taenia saginata (Fig. 8-4) – Dietary shift – Longer shelf-life, ready-to-eat Fig. 8-2 Taenia Trichinosis life cycle solium life cycle Fig. 8-3a Fig. Fig. 8-3b 8-4a Taenia saginata life cycle Taenia solium life cycle 8 Fig. 8-4b The Protozoans • Entamoeba histolytica (Fig. 8-5 a-b) – Affects about 10% of the worlds population. – Outbreaks occur where sanitation is poor, risky sexual habits are practiced, and in Taenia institutional facilities. saginata – Symptoms Range from mild diarrhea to life cycle amoebic dysentery. Entamoeba histolytica Fig. 8-5b life cycle Fig. 8-5a Entamoeba histolytica life cycle The Protozoans Fig. 8-6 • Giardia lamblia – Giardia lamblia is a protozoan flagellate found in areas with poor sanitation, and in unfiltered surface water supplies ( Fig . 8-6). – Giardiasis is most common among those who travel to endemic areas, in homosexuals, and in child day care settings. 9 Giardia lamblia The Protozoans – Cysts reach the surface water supplies • Cryptosporidium through the fecal deposits of beaver and – Primarily a waterborne pathogen, muskrats Cryptosporidium is transmitted via water – Syypmptoms consist of nausea, exp losive contaminated with feces from human and diarrhea (up to ten movements per day), and agricultural origins. fatigue. – Milwaukee, 1993 Cryptosporidium – Foodborne transmission of Cryptosporidium occurs via the fecal-oral route, usually from careless food handlers shedding the hardy Fig. 8-7 oocysts (see life cycle, Fig. 8-7) of the organism. Cryptosporidium life cycle Cryptosporidium FOODBORNE PATHOGENS – In healthy individuals, symptoms present as • Viruses mild diarrhea, nausea, cramps, and a low – microscopic particles that usually contain a grade fever. single strand of RNA – Immunocompppromised patients such as those – Require a host cell for replication
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