Food Contamination Essay

Introduction When food is unsafe for consumption is called food contamination. Food contamination occurs when foods are spoiled because they might contain microorganisms, such as bacteria , parasites, or toxic substances that make them unsafe for consumption.Bacteria and parasites on uncooked food can linger on the food if not handle or cooked properly. Food contamination is serious because it results in diseases that affect appromiaxally seventy-six million people in the United States, 300,000 leading hospitalizations and an estimate of 5,000 deaths yearly. Signs you should look for when contaminated food is consumed like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal, cramping, and fever. While food poisoning is often caused by bacteria, it can also result from eating poisonous plants some mushrooms for instance and animals pufferfish. Every year more than 76 million people get sick from food poisoning, especially during the summer when food may not be kept cold enough to stop bacteria from growing. when contaminated food is consumed it can last about 2 days. When Hands are not wash in between foods like meat to vegetables. Raw meat has many bacteria on its surface and when hands touch it and then it touches the vegetables your hands are transferring the bacteria to the vegetables. since people normally don’t cook vegetable like lettuce and carrots they are eating all the bacteria and viruses that is on the vegetable surface. Contaminated food can be cause by the environment because pesticides, heavy metals, and other chemical agents can enter the food supply.There are many chances for food to become contaminated as it is produced and distributed to markets and resturant salmonella, E. Coli, shigella, campylobacter, and botulism are some common types of bacteria that can contaminate foods. Salmonellae is mostly found in the intestinal tract of animals.. salmonellae occurs most often in institutions like child care centers and nursing homes. Shigella occur in the gastrointestinal tract of men.What can cause Campylobacter is handling raw food poorly and eating raw poultry meat. Campylobacter has the foremost cause of diarrheal illness in the United States.a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by a nerve toxin this is called Botulism which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. A major cause of food borne illnesses is Escherichia coli. E. Coli resides in intestines and these are harmless. Chapter One: Social life Impact When people cross path with food contamination they get effect with bacteria and viruses that the body can’t fight off causing them to become sick. Food poisoning last at least 2 days and people have job to attend but they can’t because the are to sick to work. each day they are sick they are losing money and can not take care of their families. Resturants get affect by food contamination because they can possibly lose costumer or even shut down.An American’s home is the most likely place where that person will suffer the effects of food contamination – although restaurants generate more headlines and more concern for most people.the growth of certain bacteria, and is a concern of the business as well as the consumer. A single case of food poisoning can instantly cause a restaurant to no longer exist. To prevent contamination which might result in illness, chopping boards should be sanitized thoroughly and frequently. The employees’ hands should also be washed regularly. It is acceptable to handle raw food with bare hands, however with cooked or ready to eat food disposable gloves or other utensils such as spoons, spatulas, or tongs should be used. Latex gloves should be changed at least once every hour or if they become torn or contaminated. It is never acceptable to reuse gloves after they have been removed once (Public Health). Chapter Two: Environment Impact The enviroment can play a major part on food contamination simply because of the animal living condition. When animals are slaughter there fecal matter can be crossed contaminated with the meat causing contaminated poultry.Contaminated water that contains animal manure and human sewage can cause fresh fruits and vegetables to be contaminated. Food processing is also possible to contaminate from infected food handlers. Poor hygiene in the home can also be a factor of many bacteria on raw food.Among the most serious food-borne diseases is Salmonella enteriditis, usually found in raw and undercooked eggs and which can cause death from salmonellosis. Salmonella is generally to be considered the chief among the microbiological threats from the food supply. Symptoms include nausea, fever, headache, abdominal pain and vomiting but careful Chapter Three: Economic Impact Farmers are losing money when they are producing contaminated product. Restaurants and food market will not buy there products because they are contaminated. If restaurants buy contaminated food they lose money in two way. one way is they buying food products that are contaminated and they can’t use them the second way is if they use the contaminated food people can get food posioning and can threaten the business by the lose of costumers and possible chance of the restaurant shutting down.People are rediscovering the beneï ¬ ts of buying local food. It is good for your local economy because buying directly from family farmers in your area helps them stay in business. There are between 20 million and 40 million reported cases of food contamination annually in this country with the cost in medical bills, lost wages and product recalls as high as $10 billion, according to federal estimates caused by the microbial contamination of such foods as poultry, eggs, dairy and seafood. economic impact of food poisoning is substantial. The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that food poisoning costs the United States between 5 and 6 billion dollars annually in direct medical care and lost productivity the Refrences http://www.diet.com/g/food-contamination http://www.emedicinehealth.com/food_poisoning/page3_em.htm#Food%20Poisoning%20Symptoms http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology/types.htm