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Food Safety and Technology: Impact on Consumers

15. Food Safety and Technology: Impact on Consumers. Food-Borne Illness. Symptom or illness from food or water that contains an infectious agent or toxic substance Commonly called food poisoning 76 million reported cases each year Over half unknown or unreported. People at Risk.

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Food Safety and Technology: Impact on Consumers

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  1. 15 Food Safety and Technology: Impact on Consumers

  2. Food-Borne Illness • Symptom or illness from food or water that contains an infectious agent or toxic substance • Commonly called food poisoning • 76 million reported cases each year • Over half unknown or unreported

  3. People at Risk • Developing fetuses, infants, and young children, whose immune systems are still immature • The very old and the frail elderly • People with chronic illnesses (diabetes) • People with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) • People who are receiving immune-system-suppressing drugs (transplant recipients and cancer patients)

  4. Government Regulators • Multiple government agencies are involved in ensuring the safety and quality of the food supply: • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) • U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

  5. Public Health Issue • More foods are mass-produced • Combination of ingredients from a much greater number of sources • Contamination can be difficult to trace • Federal oversight has decreased

  6. Causes of Food-Borne Illnesses • Food infections: consumption of food containing living microorganisms • Food intoxications: consuming food in which microbes have secreted poisonous substances called toxins

  7. Microbes Contaminate Food • Bacteria and viruses are the most common microbes causing food-borne illnesses • Most common bacterial contaminants: • Campylobacter jejuni • Salmonella • Viruses: hepatitis A and E, rotaviruses ABC Video E. Coli at Home

  8. Microbes Contaminate Food • Helminths, commonly called worms, include tapeworms, flukes, roundworms • Parasite: benefits from and harms its host (Giardia) • Fungi: plant-like spore-forming organisms (yeasts and molds) • Prion: self-replicating protein particle that causes mad cow disease or bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)

  9. Microbes Release Toxins • Toxins are responsible for illnesses • Neurotoxins damage the nervous system, cause paralysis • Clostridium botulinum: found in bulging cans, foods improperly canned at home, raw honey • Enterotoxins target the gastrointestinal system, cause severe diarrhea and vomiting • Mycotoxins are secreted by fungi

  10. Toxins Without Microbes • Poisonous mushrooms • Marine toxins • Solanine (greening process in potatoes)

  11. Body Defense Mechanisms • Antimicrobial enzymes in saliva • Hydrochloric acid in the stomach • Vomiting or diarrhea to expel the offender • Activate immune system: white blood cells • To diagnose a food-borne illness: obtain and culture a specimen • Keep the person hydrated and comfortable

  12. Microbes Multiply in Foods • Temperature: 40−140°F (4−60°C) is known as the “danger zone” • Humidity • Acidity • Oxygen content

  13. Preventing Food-Borne Illness When preparing foods at home, be sure to: • Wash hands and kitchen surfaces often • Separate foods to prevent cross-contamination • Chill foods to prevent microbes from growing • Cook foods to their proper temperature

  14. Preventing Food-Borne Illness • Standard rule for storing leftovers: 2 hours/2 inches/4 days • Foods should be cooked thoroughly • Food should be thawed in the refrigerator • When traveling: avoid raw foods, choose bottled water without ice

  15. Preserving Food • Natural methods • Salting • Sugaring • Drying • Smoking • Cooling

  16. Preserving Food • More modern techniques include: • Industrial canning • Packaging techniques (aseptic) • Preservatives (antioxidants, mold inhibitors, sulfites, nitrites, nitrates) • Irradiation • Genetic modification

  17. Food Additives • Natural or synthetic • Flavoring agents • Colorings • Nutrients • Improve texture or moisture content

  18. Food Additives • Flavoring agents: essential oils, extracts, or spices • Flavor enhancers: do not have flavor of their own • Examples include maltol and MSG

  19. Food Additives • Food colorings • Natural colorings beet juice (red color), beta-carotene (yellow), caramel (brown) • Tartrazine (FD&C yellow #5) causes an allergic reaction in some people, and its use must be indicated on the product packaging

  20. Food Additives • Vitaminsandother nutrients: • Vitamins E and C (ascorbic acid): antioxidant • Iodine (table salt) helps to decrease goiter • Vitamin D and calcium for bone health • Folate (breads, cereals) to decrease neural tube defects during fetal development

  21. Food Additives • Texturizers, stabilizers, or emulsifiers to improve the texture of foods • Thickening agents • Humectants maintain correct moisture levels • Desiccants prevent moisture absorption from the air

  22. Safety of Food Additives • Delaney Clause • Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list • Adverse Reaction Monitoring System (ARMS)

  23. Food Residues • Food residues: chemicals that remain in foods despite cleaning and processing • Persistent organic pollutants (POPs): chemicals released into the atmosphere from industry, agriculture, automobiles • Mercury and lead: neurotoxins • Industrial pollutants

  24. Pesticides • Pesticides: protect against weeds, insects, fungi; increase crop yields • Insecticides, herbicides, fungicides • Can be natural or synthetic • Remain on foods, causing health risk • Children: especially sensitive to pesticides • EPA controls use of pesticides

  25. Growth Hormones • Recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH): genetically engineered growth hormone given to cows • Increases muscle mass; decreases fat • Increases milk output • Causes mastitis in cows, resulting in increased antibiotic use in the cows • Antibiotic-resistant bacterial strain: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)

  26. Organic Foods • Food grown without synthetic pesticides • Standards regulated by USDA • May have higher nutrient content • Insufficient evidence to support the claim that organic foods are more nutritious than non-organic foods

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