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Types of Foodborne Illness
There are 3 basic types of foodborne illness:
- Microbiological
- Chemical
- Allergies
Did You Know?
The most common food-borne infections are caused by the bacteria such
as Campylobacter, Salmonella, Listeria
and viruses. They enter the body through the gastrointestinal tract and
the first symptoms often occur there.
Many reported food-borne
illnesses are not part of recognized outbreaks but are registered as
individual cases.
Food can
become contaminated at different stages in the food chain.
During slaughter meat can be contaminated by coming into contact with
small amounts of intestinal contents. At the food processing
stage
microbes can be introduced by cross-contamination from another raw
agricultural product or from infected humans handling the food. In the
kitchen microbes can be transferred from one food to another by a
kitchen utensil used to prepare both without washing in
between.
Bacteria
need water to survive and grow. Food can be changed to reduce
the amount of water it contains. For example: salted, smoked, or dried
food.
Lower water will not
kill bacteria, but it will stop them from growing.
Proper
cooking of the food stuffs kills most of the pathogenic microbes.
"Danger Zone" is between 4ºC and 60ºC (40ºF
and
140ºF).
Keep cold food
cold (less than 4ºC or 40ºF).
Keep hot food hot
(higher than 60ºC or 140ºF).
Browse Related Topics:
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Egg-associated Salmonellosis
Egg-associated
salmonellosis is an important public health problem
in the United States and several European countries. A bacterium,
Salmonella
enteritidis,
can be inside perfectly normal-appearing eggs, and if the eggs are
eaten raw or undercooked, the bacterium can cause illness. During the
1980s, illness related to contaminated eggs occurred most frequently in
the northeastern United States, but now illness caused by S.
enteritidis
is increasing in other parts of the country as well. Consumers should
be aware of the disease and learn how to minimize the chances of
becoming ill.
How
eggs become contaminated
Unlike
eggborne salmonellosis of past decades, the current epidemic is due to
intact and disinfected grade A eggs. Salmonella enteritidis
silently infects the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates
the eggs before the shells are formed.
Most
types of Salmonella
live in the intestinal tracts of animals and birds and are transmitted
to humans by contaminated foods of animal origin. Stringent procedures
for cleaning and inspecting eggs were implemented in the 1970s and have
made salmonellosis caused by external fecal contamination of egg shells
extremely rare. However, unlike eggborne salmonellosis of past decades,
the current epidemic is due to intact and disinfected grade A eggs. The
reason for this is that Salmonella enteritidis silently infects
the ovaries of healthy appearing hens and contaminates the eggs before
the shells are formed. More...
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