Introduction
Food safety involves handling, storing, and food preparation activities, which prevent infections in human being while helping to ensure that the food contains sufficient nutrients to enable human being or the consumers have a healthy diet (Seward, 2005). On a daily basis, everyone comes into contact with food at one point or another. Unsafe food and water are those that have been exposed to dirt or germs or they are not in a good condition for a human being to consume. Unsafe food and water may lead to human infections and diseases such as diarrhea, meningitis, stomach illness among others. Foodborne diseases and foodborne infections are the illnesses that are associated with the eating of contaminated food and they are freely and inaccurately known as food poisoning (Seward, 2005). When such an illness spread to more than two people due to consuming the same meal or food product, the condition is known as a foodborne outbreak. The problem of foodborne infections and illnesses has been widely covered by the media and social networks to create awareness to the member of the public on the need of maintaining hygiene in preparation and consumption of food and food products. Consumption of unsafe food can cause both acute and chronic impacts to human health. The purpose of this paper is therefore to discuss the causes, forms, and impacts of foodborne infections in human health and the control measures necessary in regulation g the increasing cases of food poisoning. The paper will also discuss issues relating to food-related disease prevention, means for ensuring food safety inspections and government regulations and interventions in ensuring food safety.
Foodborne illness has been reported as one of the major causes of morbidity in the world. Chronic illnesses and disabilities experienced during birth outcomes such as miscarriage, meningitis, kidney failure among others are among the major effects of food-related diseases. The industrialized nations have been reported to be the reading in the foodborne illness cases across the globe for the past few years. The main attribute to the increase in foodborne diseases are the changes made in agricultural and methods of food processing, food distribution globalization, among other social and behavioral changes in human populations (Riemann & Cliver, 2006). Foodborne illnesses have therefore posed a great concern in the United State government in relation to public health with the cases of food-related diseases being reported to affect almost a quarter of the United State population. This situation has raised a great impact in the American population, which has been reported to decline the state’s economy. The government interventions have however managed to regulate this situation on the recent years thus reporting a decrease in the cases and impacts associated with food poisoning or food-related illnesses.
The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has taken the full mandate at the federal level in the United State for foodborne illness surveillance. The studies indicate that only a small percentage of the existing foodborne diseases are is reported to the state health department and CDC from the clinical lab. This reported portion is known as a passive surveillance system. This situation is in contrast with the foodborne disease active surveillance network, which is an active structure that involves the public health maintaining frequent direct interaction with the directors from clinical department to receive information and data on the identified cases of foodborne illnesses. The mostly monitored foodborne diseases are those that are caused by parasites like Cyclospora and bacterial agents such as E. coli, Salmonella, and Vibrio. The bacterial related food illnesses are mostly related to consumption of undercooked food. For example, taking oysters fetched from water contaminated with Vibrio parahaemoticus and Vibrio vulnificus bacterial (Sleet, Bonzo, & Branche, 1998). The reporting rate of the foodborne related diseases in the United State has been illustrated in a model called the burden of illness pyramid developed by the CDC.
Food may contain different forms of contaminants. Some of these contaminants are the pathogenic microbial agents like the bacteria, worms, protozoa, fungi, viruses, prions, and toxic substances. Food consuming food may also contain chemically related foodborne hazard such as heavy metals. Marine and mushroom toxins, pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides, and other harmful preservatives and additives (Riemann & Cliver, 2006). Medicinal residuals administered to food animals such as antibiotics and growth-promoting hormones also form a part of human food contaminants. There are also foreign materials and physical contaminants like bones, shells, seeds, glass, and metal fragments. Radioactive materials and materials used for food packaging also forms a part of food contaminants, which may lead to food-related diseases in a human being. Debris from insects and cleaning agents used in food processing environment forms a portion of miscellaneous contaminants that may found in food consumed by a human being.
Biological, chemical, and physical hazards are the “big three” categories of food hazard (Aytac & Taban, 2014). However, there are other hazards such as nutritional hazards, which are associated with excessive presence or deficiency of nutrients in food that may lead to diseases. The hazards in human-consuming food are probably introduced when harvesting, processing, shipping, or storing food. Media and the CDC have been publishing outbreak of diseases affiliated microbial agents to create awareness to the members of the public. Pathogens and food contaminant agent increase in frequency and scope have raised a major concern to all the environmental health workers across the world due to the increasing rate of spread of foodborne diseases. The epidemiology of the foodborne diseases has been altered by the rising newly recognized pathogens through the increase in occurrence and sequence of the emerging food-related diseases (Aytac & Taban, 2014).
One of the factors that have caused the increase in food disease-causing pathogens in the human food is the adaptability of these pathogens to the change in food production. The adaptability of pathogens to change in production processes leads to the development of new and resistible disease-causing pathogens, which are difficult to control. Globalization of food supply is another factor that leads to increase in foodborne disease-causing pathogens. A wide range of food-related infectious agents has been associated with the increasing intensity of production and animal concentration in a limited place. The infectious agents associated with the livestock have been noted to pose a potentially serious threat to human health. Fruits and vegetables originating from developing countries are other sources of potential hazards to the developed countries where they are consumed. Failure to the achievement of pathogen deactivating processes such as cooking, pasteurization, and chemical treatment may also pose a threat to human-consumed food.
Salmonella bacteria is one of the major cause of infections and deaths related to food infections in United State with around 50,000 cases being reported each year. These are bacteria that are commonly found in wild and domesticated animals that are used for human consumption. Salmonella bacteria may harbor in animals such as poultry and cattle. Pets such as cats and dogs may also act as a reservoir for Salmonella bacteria. Birds and other animals may be a chronical carrier of these bacteria. The transfer of Salmonella bacteria to the environmental faces can be from raw meat, seafood, or from animal wastes. Salmonella bacteria can also be transferred through contaminated water and soils. Some commonly reported cases of the outbreak of Salmonella bacterial related infections are due to consumption of raw and unpasteurized milk, eating cantaloupe imported from Mexico, and ingestion of alfalfa sprout during winter in British Columbia. Other reported case was the multistate outbreak of Salmonella serotype Agona infections.
Other forms of bacteria are the clostridium bacteria, which causes foodborne disease botulism associated with foodborne intoxication and Staphylococcus aureus associated with the intoxication of food with rapid onset. Salmonella aureus has depicted a toxic that is resistible to cooking at high temperature during its developmental stage and has indicated to thrive in a highly concentrated sugary and salty environment. The highly infectious Shigella bacteria, which causes bacillary dysentery infection (shigellosis). These bacteria are transmitted through contaminated water and food, which are handled in an unsanitary manner. Campylobacter jejuni is a bacterium associated with a foodborne illness known as Campylobacteriosis and is among the most commonly reported bacteria that cause foodborne infections.
Another type of bacterium is Listeria monocytogenes found in domestic mammals and several bird species. These bacteria are responsible for causing listeriosis illness, a disease associated with food infections. Worms such as trichinella cause a foodborne disease known as trichinosis associated with eating meat with nematodes. The agent of this disease is Trichinella spiralis found in many carnivores and omnivores. The transmission of this disease from the animals to a human being can be through eating meat that contains the infections and is not properly cooked. Tapeworms cause a parasitic disease to human being known as Taeniasis either caused by the beef tapeworm or the pork tapeworm. Consumption of raw or undercooked beef or pork containing these organisms can induce Taeniasis infections in a human being.
The viral agents such as the Hepatitis A virus (HAV) that are transmitted through consumption of contaminated food or water also causes food-induced illnesses. Foods that are at risk of transmitting this disease are the raw vegetables, shellfish, dairy products, and fruits among others. A good example of the impact of these infections is the hepatitis A outbreak that occurred in Tennessee affecting over 1000 people. There is also a waterborne norovirus infection, transmitted closely by the Norovirus in a closed environment like that of the cruise ship which led to the infection of over 1400 passengers and 10 crew ship members in 2002. Norovirus infections are associated with persistent diarrhea and vomiting, which comes in hand with dehydration. Other agents that are associated with food infections are the prions, heavy metals, mushroom toxins, and pesticide in food. Genetic modification of food, preservatives, antimicrobial in meat, and additives are also among the causative of food-related infections in a human being.
There are some chronic effects of food poisoning, which have been noted to be devastating and deadly. This section entailed a discussion of some of the serious effects associated with several common forms of food poisoning. One of the major long-term effects of food poisoning is the kidney heart failure, a situation known as Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) (Aytac & Taban, 2014). This is a serious illness, which is caused infections in the digestive system that releases toxic substances, which are known to damages red blood cells. The red blood cells destruction causes kidney injuries. The occurrence of HUS is due to kidney infections with a kind of E. coli bacteria. HUS is the common cause of the acute kidney disorder in children.
Less percentage of people infected with Shigella or Salmonella, infections have been noted to develop joint pains, eyes irritation, and pain while urinating. This is a situation known as reactive arthritis, which can last for months or even years. Persistence of this infection leads to the development of chronic arthritis. Chronic arthritis may also be developed by infections caused by Campylobacter. Food infections have also been noted to cause brain and nerve damage in a human being. Meningitis is one of the major infections caused by Listeria bacteria. This is an inflammation of the membrane that surrounds the brain. Listeria also affects newborn leading to long-term consequences such as retardation of child mental ability, seizures, paralysis, blindness, or deafness.
Food poisoning also causes a Guillan-Barre syndrome, which is a disorder that attacks the body nerves. This situation is led by the effect of human immune system attacking the body’s own nerves. The effect of this infection is a paralyze, which may last for several requires and it requires intensive care for its treatment and control. Over 40% of the Guillain Barre Syndrome cases in United State is triggered by Campylobacter infections (Aytac & Taban, 2014).
Studies indicate that over 3,000 people die every year in United State due to diseases and infections related to food poisoning. Salmonella, Toxoplasma, Listeria, Norovirus, and Campylobacter are the five types of organisms that have been identified to have caused over 88% of the deaths related to food poisoning in United State. Vibrio infections, which is usually associated with taking raw food is among the food illness that causes death to many people across the globe. Vibrio infection affects human bloodstream thus causing a severe lifetime threatening disease. More than half of these infections are fatal, which can lead to death with less than two weeks.
For a better health, food poisoning and food-related disease need to be prevented with appropriate measures being taken in place. Tips that need to be applied to prevent food poisoning involve ensuring hygiene and healthy living practices. The healthy living practices involve washing hands thoroughly with soap and water before and after handling raw food (Food Safety Council, 1980). One should also clean his/her hand after using the toilet, blowing nose, getting into contact with animals and when handling food staffs such as vegetables, fish, and meat. Worktops should also be thoroughly before and after food preparation. This includes after coming into contact with foods such as raw meat, raw eggs, and vegetables. Dishcloths and tea towel should be regularly cleaned and be left to dry before reusing them.
Raw meat and raw food, in general, should be kept separately from the prepared food and ensure that they do not get into contact. Foods that require being cooked before being taken should also be stored in a different place from where the food staffs that do not need to be cooked should be kept. Contamination in the food staffs can be transmitted through contact and therefore caution should be taken while handling food and food products. Food should be cooked thoroughly to ensure that all the infection-causing microorganisms are killed before the food is taken. Campylobacter can be reduced through keeping the food below 5 degrees temperature which prevents multiplication of harmful microorganisms that leads to food poisoning (“Long-Term Effects | FoodSafety.gov). People should also avoid using foods and foodstuff that are past the expiry dates since they may be containing harmful disease-causing microorganisms.
The federal body of the United State has designed regulations that assure the consumers of the quality of the food products aiming at protecting the members of the public from any possible risk that may be caused by chemicals and additives that are used in human being consuming food. The regulation and enforcement of the food safety and security in the United State are carried out by a special agency known as FIDA. The safety of the meat and poultry products is regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The following acts have been put in place to ensure safety in food production and supply to the final consumer in United State; a food and drug act that was formulated in 1906, Miller Pesticide Amendment, Food Additive Amendment 1960, Animal Drug Amendment 1968, and Food Quality Protection Act 1996 among others (Attrey, 2017). All these acts and policies are put in place to ensure that the members of the public are supplied with quality food and food products to enhance reduction in cases of food poisoning and spread of disease caused by food harmful microorganisms.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it is clear to say that food safety is an area of great concern in the health sector, which has been taken with a lot of caution by the government of United State. Lab reports have indicated different types of bacterial and viral microorganisms, which are prone in causing foodborne disease. The health department has reported that large percentage of the members of the public have been suffering from food-related disease, of which over 70% of these cases go unreported. Foodborne diseases cause a variety of human disorders, which may even result in death, individuals should, therefore, take a lot of caution and ensure a high level of cleanliness and hygiene while handling food to prevent diseases associated with food poisoning. The government should also enforce regulations that enhance food security to ensure the safety of the country’s citizens.
References
- Attrey, D. (2017). Relevant food safety regulations and policies. Food Safety in the 21st Century, 437-447. doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-801773-9.00035-2
- Aytac, S. A., & Taban, B. M. (2014). Food-Borne Microbial Diseases and Control: Food-Borne Infections and Intoxications. Food Engineering Series, 191-224. doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1378-7_8
- Food Safety Council. (1980). Proposed system for food safety assessment. Washington, DC: Author.
- Long-Term Effects | FoodSafety.gov. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/effects/index.html
- Riemann, H. P., & Cliver, D. O. (2006). Foodborne infections and intoxications. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
- Roberts, C. A. (2001). The food safety information handbook. Westport, CT: Oryx Press.
- Seward, R. S. (2005). Definition of Food Safety. Food Safety Handbook, 1-9. doi:10.1002/047172159x.ch1
- Sleet, D., Bonzo, S., & Branche, C. (1998). An overview of the National Centre for Injury Prevention and Control at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Injury Prevention, 4(4), 308-312. doi:10.1136/ip.4.4.308