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.