Chapter 12: Food Safety Concerns
Serious signs and symptoms of food-borne illness
- Decreased urination and other signs of dehydration - Prolonged vomiting - Diarrhea for more than 3 days - Severe intestinal or rectal pain - Fever exceeding 102 degrees - Stools containing blood or pus - Trouble breathing, muscular weaking, mental confusion, or other symptoms or signs of nervous system impairment
Tips to reduce food-borne illness (purchasing)
- Select frozen foods and highly perishable foods last - Choose products with latest best by dates -Do not by damaged containers -Examine eggs - Only pasteurized milk and juices - Deli and bakery staff wear new gloves - Pack meat, fish, and poultry in separate bags - Take groceries home immediately - Keeps eggs in their carton
Tips to reduce food-borne illness (preparing)
- Wash hands for 20 seconds before and after touching food - Clean food surfaces - FDA recommends cutting boards with unmarred surfaces made of easy-to-clean, nonporous materials, such as plastic, marble, or glass. - Replace cutting boards with streaks from cuts - Cutting boards reserved for meats, fish, and poultry, and another for fruits and vegetables, and a third for breads. - Sanitize all surfaces that come into contact with raw meats
Delaney Clause
Food manufactures cannot add a new compound that causes cancer at any level of intake.
The _____ is the primary government agency that oversees the safety of most foods in the United States. a. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) b. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) c. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) d. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
a. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
In the United States, _____ is responsible for most outbreaks of food-borne illness. a. Norovirus b. Clostridium botulinum c. Stomach flu d. E. coli
a. Norovirus
_____ are disease-causing microbes a. Pathogens b. Toxins c. Teratogens d. Oxidants
a. Pathogens
When you travel to countries outside the United States, you can reduce your risk of "traveler's diarrhea" by a. Eating whole fresh fruits and vegetables b. Avoiding water that has not been bottled and sealed c. Purchasing foods from street vendors d. Consuming ice with beverages
b. Avoiding water that has not been bottled and sealed
Alfatoxins are a. Responsible for 30% of food-borne illnesses in the United States b. Harmful compounds produced by certain molds c. A type of parasitic worm d. Medications that are effective against viral toxins
b. Harmful compounds produced by certain molds
Which of the following food preservation processes effectively destroys microbes? a. Freezing b. Sterilization c. Smoking d. Chilling
b. Sterilization
Irradiation of a food is a. An untested technology b. Not recommended because the process increases nutrient losses c. Considered to be a safe process by the FDA d. A widely accepted method of food preservation in the United States
c. Considered to be a safe process by the FDA
In the United States, common sources of food-borne illness include all of the following except a. Norovirus b. Staphylococcus aureus c. Fungi d. Salmonella
c. Fungi
Which of the following substances are not direct food additives? a. Sulfites b. Enrichment nutrients c. Pesticide residues d. Emulsifiers
c. Pesticide residues
Which of the following foods is most likely to support the growth of pathogens? a. Overripe bananas b. Pasteurized milk c. Raw ground meat d. Commercially canned tomato soup
c. Raw ground meat
Food-borne illnesses are usually characterized by a. Flulike signs and symptoms b. Coughing, sneezing, and respiratory inflammation c. Megaloblastic anemia and nervous system defects d. Abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting
d. Abdominal cramps, diarrhea, and vomiting
Which of the following practices can help reduce the growth of food-borne pathogens? a. Washing hands before preparing food b. Keeping cold food cold and hot foods hot c. Cooking foods to proper internal temperatures d. All of the above are correct
d. All of the above are correct
_____ is the commercial heating process that destroys harmful bacteria in milk and fruit juices a. Sporulation b. Sedimentation c. Detoxification d. Pasteurization
d. Pasteurization
Check your steps program
1. CLEAN. Wash hands and surfaces often 2. SEPERATE. Do not cross-contaminate. 3. COOK. Cook to proper temperatures. 4. CHILL. Refrigerate promptly.
"Danger zone" for temperature safety of food
40 - 140 degrees
Fermentation
Ancient method of food preservation that is still used to produce a variety of foods, including yogurt, wine, pickles, and sauerkraut.
Food additive
Any substance that becomes incorporated into food during production, packaging, transportation, or storage.
Pesticide
Any substance that people use to control or kill unwanted insects, weeds, rodents, fungi, or other harmful organisms. - Insecticide: Control or kill insects - Rodenticides: Kill mice and rats - Herbicides: Destroy weeds - Fungicides: Limit the spread of fungi, such as mold and mildew
Common sources of food-borne illness: Bacteria
Bacillus cereus, campylobacter jejuni, clostridium botulinum, clostridium perfringens, escherichia coli, listeria monocytogenes, salmonella species, shigella species, staphylococcus aureus, vibrio vulnificus, yersini enterocolitica
Responsible for most cases of food-borne illness
Bacteria and viruses
Major kinds of pathogens
Bacteria, viruses, protozoa, and fungi
Clostridium botulinum
Causes botulism or its toxin. Common in low acid, home-canned foods. Should boil at least 10 minutes before eating.
Vermin
Common route for transmitting harmful microbes. Animals that often live around sewage or garbage, such as flies, cockroaches, mice, and rats.
Traveler's diarrhea
Consuming food or water contaminated with pathogens. Abrupt onset of abdominal cramps and loose or water bowel movements. May include nausea, vomiting, intestinal bloating, and fever. Generally last 3-7 days without treatment.
Pathogens
Disease-causing agents. Many infect the digestive tract, inflaming the tissue and causing an "upset stomach".
Food-borne Illness
Disorder that is caused by consuming disease-causing agents in food or water
Who regulates the proper use of pesticides?
EPA
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
Enforces food safety laws for domestic and imported meat and poultry products.
Food preservation methods
Heating, adding salt/sugar, smoking, curing, chilling/freezing, drying, fermenting, canning, and irradiating
Irradiation
High amounts of energy to kill pathogens. Look for radura symbol. Meats, spices, fresh fruits and vegetables.
Food-borne Infection
Illness that results when a pathogen in food inflames the intestinal tract or other body tissues.
Food intoxication
Illness that results when poisons produced by certain microbes contaminate food and irritate the intestinal tract.
Unintentional food additives
Industrial chemicals, pesticide residues, and mold toxins. Food Quality Protection Act of 1996 established the safety standard of "a reasonable certainty of no harm".
Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)
Ingredients used prior to 1958, considered safe when experts generally agreed that the substance was safe for its intended use.
Common biological and physical food contaminants
Insect parts, rodent feces or urine, dust and dirt, and bits of metal or glass from machinery used to process food. FDA permits very small amounts of unavoidable, naturally occurring substances such as dirt and insect parts.
Contaminated food
Item that is impure or unsafe for human consumption
Emergency food supply
Long storage life, require no refrigeration, and can be eaten without cooking. Canned meats, fruits, and vegetables.
Viruses
Microbe consisting of a piece of genetic material coated with protein
Common sources of food-borne illness: Viruses
Norovirus, rotavirus, hepatitis A
Heating
One of the oldest ways to preserve foods. Heat can kill or deactivate pathogens, and the process destroys naturally occurring enzymes in foods that contribute to food spoilage.
Parasite
Organism that lives in or on another organism, often deriving nourishment from its host.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Oversees the quality of our drinking water.
Shelf life
Period of time that a food can be stored before it spoils
Pasteurization
Process that kills pathogens in foods and beverages as well as many microbes responsible for spoilage.
Common sources of food-borne illness: Protozoa and parasitic worms
Protozoa: cryptosporidium, giardia, toxoplasma Parasitic worms: trichinella and anisakis
Drying
Reduces a food's water content
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Regulating nearly all domestic and imported food sold in interstate commerce and enforcing federal food safety laws. Establishes standards for safe food manufacturing practices.
Local health departments
Responsible for inspecting restaurants, grocery stores, dairy farms, and local processing companies.
Fungi
Simple organisms that live on dead or decaying organic matter. Molds, yeast, and mushrooms. Certain molds produce alfatoxins.
Protozoa
Single celled microorganisms that involve complex cell structures
Bacteria
Single-cell microorganisms that do not have the complex array of organelles that plant and animal cells contain.
Direct food additive
Substance intentionally added to food for a purpose.
Indirect food additive
Substance unintentionally added to food. No purpose.
Salting and sugaring foods
To grow, bacteria need plenty of water; yeasts and molds can grow when less water is available. Pathogens less likely to survive.
Food Additives Amendment
U.S. legislation that requires evidence that a new food additive is safe before it can be marketed for use. Manufacturer of a new food additive must provide evidence of the substance's safety to the FDA before the additive can be used.
Cross contamination
Unintentional transfer of pathogens from one food to another
Reduce risk of traveler's diarrhea
Use hand sanitizers, drinking only commercially bottled water, boiling water before drinking it, eating foods that are fully cooked and served hot, and not eating locally provided fresh fruits and vegetables that have been washed in unsanitary water.
Integrated pest management
Variety of methods for controlling pests while limiting damage to the environment. - Method includes growing pest-resistant crops, using predatory wasps to control crop-destroying insects, and trapping adult insect pests before they can reproduce.