Nutrition Concepts & Controversies Chapter 12 Food Safety and Food Technology

Hazard analysis critical control point

a systematic plan to identify and correct potential microbial hazards in the manufacturing, distribution, and commercial use of food products.

Sushi

A Japanese dish that consists of vinegar-flavored rice, raw seafood, and colorful vegetables that are typically wrapped in seaweed.

Food hazard

A state of danger, used to refer to any circumstances in which harm is possible under normal conditions of use.

WHO

The agency of the United Nations charged with improving human health and preventing or controlling diseases in the world's peoples

Cross contamination

The contamination of a food through exposure to utensils, hand, or other surfaces that were previously in contact with a contaminated food.

Microbes

a shortened name for microorganisms; minute organisms too small to observe without a microscope, including bacteria, viruses, and others

Outbreak

Two or more cases of disease arising from an identical organism acquired from a common food source within a limited time frame. Government agencies track and investigate these occurrences but many go unreported.

Olestra

a nonnutritive artificial fat made from sucrose and fatty acids, however, it also rapidly depletes blood levels of many phytochemicals needed for healthy as well as deplete the valuable fat-soluable nutrients [carotenoids, alpha-carotene, beta-carotine, luten, and lycopene]

Arsenic

a poisonous metallic element. In trace amounts, it is believed to be an essential nutrient in some animal species. It is often added to insecticides and weed killers and, in tiny amounts, to certain animal drugs

Canning

a process that causes substantial loss of water-soluble vitamins. Fresh or frozen is better.

Biofilm

a protective coating of proteins and carbohydrates exuded by certain bacteria; it adheres bacteria to surfaces and can survive rinsing.

MAP, modified atmosphere packaging

a technique used to extend the shelf life of a perishable food; the food is packaged in a gas-impermeable container from which air is removed or to which an oxygen-free gas mixture, such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen, is added

Aflatoxin

a toxin from a mold that grows on corn, grains, peanuts, and tree nuts stored in warm, humid conditions, a cause of liver cancer prevalent in tropical developing nations. To prevent it, discard shriveled, discolored, moldy food.

Sulfite

an additive that can cause asthmatic reactions in sensitive people. Derivative of sulfur, while occuring naturally in tiny amounts, in measured and artificial (10 to 20X) amounts kills or retards growth of yeasts, which produce alcohol from complex carbohydrates---sugars---and release CO2 as a byproduct.

Reference dose

an estimate of the intake of a substance over a lifetime that is considered to be without appreciable health risk; for pesticides, the maximum amount of a residue permitted in a food. Formerly called tolerance limit.

Prion

an infective agent consisting of an unusually folded protein that disrupts normal cell functioning, causing disease. They cannot be controlled or killed by cooking or disinfecting, nor can the disease they cause be treated; prevention is the only form of control

Botulism

an often fatal food poisoning caused by botulinum toxin, a toxin produced by the clostridium botulinum bacterium that grows without oxygen in nonacidic canned foods

BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy)

an often fatal illness of the nerves and brain observed in cattle and wild game and in people who consume affected meats

Heavy metals

any of a number of mineral ions such as mercury and lead, so called because they are of relatively high atomic weight; many heavy metals are poisonous

Food contaminant

any substance occurring in food by accident

Contaminant

any substance occurring in food by accident; any food constituent that is not normally present

Pesticides

chemicals used to control insects, diseases, weeds, fungi, and other pests on crops and around animals. Used broadly, the term includes herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides

Safe hamburger

cooked until it has reached 160 degrees F; well done

GRAS (generally recognized as safe list)

established by the FDA, of food additives long in use and believed to be safe

Food borne illness

food poisoning transmitted through food or water by infectious agents or a poisonous substance transmitted which arise from microbial toxins, poisonous chemicals, or other harmful substances

Organic foods

foods meeting strict USDA production regulations for organic, including prohibition of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, drugs, and preservatives and produced without genetic engineering or irradiation

Margin of safety

in references to food additives, a zone between the concentration normally used and that which a hazard exists

Persistent

of a stubborn or enduring nature, with respect to food contaminants, the quality of remaining unaltered and unexcreted in plant foods or in the bodies of animals and human beings.

Enterotoxins

poisons that act upon mucous membranes, such as those of the digestive tract

Neurotoxins

poisons that act upon the cells of the nervous system

Prevent food poisoning

refrigerate perishables immediately and thaw frozen proteins (meat, fish, chicken, pork,...) in the refrigerator overnight.

Additives

substances that are added to foods but are not normally consumed by themselves as foods

Incidental additives

substances that get into food as a result of contact with food during growing, processing, packaging, storing, or some other stage before food is consumed.

Nonnutritive sweeteners

synthetic sugar substitutes but may be derived from naturally occurring substances, including herbs, or sugars but with negligible or no calories per serving; however, they come with side effects such as stimulating the appetite (hunger) promoting weight gain, decreasing healthy intestinal bacteria, and a wide range of symptoms including depression and headaches.

Toxicity

the ability of a substance to harm living organisms. Anything at high doses

FDA approval

the acceptance that a manufacture can use an additive in a small or tiny amount and only to foods agreed upon in advance.

Bioaccumulation

the accumulation of a contaminant in the tissues of living things at higher and higher concentrations along the food chain

MSG symptom complex

the acute, temporary, and self-limiting reactions, including burning sensations or flushing of the skin with pain and headache, even temporary blindness experienced by sensitive people upon ingesting a large dose of this chemical.

Irradiation

the application of ionizing radiation to foods to reduce insect infestation or microbial contamination or to slow the ripening or sprouting process

Acceptable Daily Intake, ADI

the estimated amount of a substance that can be consumed daily over a person's lifetime without any adverse effects.

Food safety

the practical certainty that injury will not result from the use of a substance.

Biotechnology

the science of manipulating biological systems or organisms to modify their products or components or create new products; also called genetic engineering or recombinant DNA technology

Pasteurization

the treatment of milk, juices, or eggs with heat sufficient to kill certain pathogens (disease-causing microbes) commonly transmitted through these foods; not a sterilization process. These products retain bacteria that cause spoilage

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria

these strains cause increasingly common and potentially fatal infectious diseases that do not respond to standard antibiotic therapy. Example MRSA

Growth hormone

this promotes growth and is produced naturally in the pituitary gland of the brain.

Country of origin label

this states the country where the food product originated from and is applied to imported meats, chicken, fish and shellfish, other perishable foods, certain nuts, peanuts and ginseng

Pesticide residue

what is left over after washing in warm water, scrubbing, and trimming fat from meat

Residues

whatever remains; in the case of pesticides, those amounts that remain on or in foods when people buy and use them