13. Food safety, food safety testing

From greek.doctor

Food safety

  • Definition: The scientific discipline describing handling, preparation and storage of food in ways that prevent food-borne illness
  • Five key principles of food hygiene (according to WHO)
    1. Prevent contaminating food with pathogens
    2. Separate raw and cooked foods
    3. Cook foods for appropriate length of time and at appropriate temperature to kill pathogens
    4. Store food at the proper temperature
    5. Use safe water and safe raw materials
  • Food-borne illness
    • Bacteria
      • Campylobacter jejuni
      • Salmonella
      • Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli
    • Bacterial toxins
      • Staphylococcus aureus toxin
      • Clostridium botulinum toxin
      • Bacillus cereus toxins
      • Clostridium perfringens toxin
    • Fungal toxins
      • Aflatoxin
    • Viruses
      • Enterovirus
      • Hepatitis A
      • Norovirus
      • Rotavirus
    • Parasites
      • Helminths (flatworms)
        • Taenia solium/saginata
      • Nematodes (roundworms)
        • Trichinella
      • Protozoa
  • In Hungary: National Food Chain Safety Office is responsible for national food safety
  • Labelling
    • “Best before” – a date after which the food may lose quality, but does not imply any serious health problems
    • “Use by” – a date after which it’s no longer legal to sell the product due to serious risk of food-borne illness
  • Taenia solium/saginata
    • Pigs/cows eat eggs -> we eat pork/beef -> flatworms grow to multiple meters in the small intestine
  • Trichinellosis – trichinella spiralis
    • Hosts
      • Pig
      • Wild boar
    • Trichinella adults invade intestinal wall of pig -> enter pig muscles -> lay larvae in the muscles -> pork is consumed by humans -> larvae grow to adults -> invade intestinal wall of human -> enter human muscles
    • Symptoms:
      • GI symptoms, myalgia, facial oedema.
      • Symptoms resolve after 4 – 7 weeks
    • Prevention
      • Trichinoscope – a special device for detecting trichinella larvae in meat
      • Appropriate heating of food – 20-30 min at 60℃
  • Aflatoxin
    • Produced by Aspergillus species
    • Causes cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma
    • Only produced in warm, humid environments