Food Safety
rev: 03Apr11
Is There a Problem?
Surprisingly little is known about the problem of food-borne illnesses,
and less is being done to solve it. What we do "know" is a conservative
estimate made from sparse data:
Food-borne Illnesses
|
Each Year |
Each Day |
Every Hour |
| Illnesses |
76,000,000
|
208,219
|
8,676
|
| Hospitalizations |
323,000
|
885
|
37
|
| Deaths |
5,200
|
14
|
0.6
|
One big problem with accurate data is under-reporting of illnesses. This
is followed by illnesses undiagnosed as food-related since no tests are
done to determine the cause of a particular illness.
Those figures include only those illnesses caused by bacteria, viruses,
and parasites. Illnesses caused by other possible sources, such as chemicals,
are not included.
Top Causes of Death
| Disease or agent |
% |
# |
| Salmonella, nontyphoidal |
30.6
|
553
|
| Listeria monocytogenes |
27.6
|
499
|
| Toxoplasma gondii |
20.7
|
375
|
|
Total
|
78.9
|
1,427
|
Top Causes of Hospitalization
| Disease or agent |
% |
# |
| Noroviruses |
32.9
|
20,000
|
| Salmonella, nontyphoidal |
25.6
|
15,608
|
| Campylobacter spp. |
17.3
|
10,539
|
|
Total
|
75.8
|
46,147
|
Top Causes of Food-borne Illness
| Disease or agent |
% |
# |
| Noroviruses |
66.6
|
9,200,000
|
| Campylobacter spp. |
14.2
|
1,963,141
|
| Salmonella, nontyphoidal |
9.7
|
1,341,873
|
|
Total
|
90.5
|
12,505,014
|
.
Despite these figures, some of these illnesses are regarded as "not
serious". This may be because in normally healthy individuals, symptoms
pass in a few days. However, those who become one of the above statistics
may dispute the classification.
Bacteria
Salmonella
Disease called: Salmonellosis (sal mon el OH sis).
Source: Animal feces, including human
Incubation Period: 12 hours to 3 days
Symptoms: Diarrhea, fever, stomach pain. Can spread to bloodstream
and cause death.
Duration: 4-7 days."It may be several months before bowel habits
are entirely normal." Reiter's syndrom or arthritis can result.
Treatment: Antibiotics. Some strains are now resistant due to
the use of antiboitics in feed animals.
Remarks:
There are about 2,000 types that cause human illness.
Listeria monocytogenes
Also called: Listeria
Disease called: Listeriosis
Sources:
Campylobacter spp.
Also called: Campylobacter jejuni (campylobacter or campylobacter enteritis)
Disease called: Campylobacteriosis
Sources
Intestinal tract of healthy animals and birds, especially chickens.
Droppings from animals and birds carry the bacteria to the ground where
it can contaminate surface water.
Illness caused by the bacteria itself, not by toxins made by the bacteria.
Viruses
Noroviruses
Also called: Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs), caliciviruses, small
round structured viruses (SRSVs).
Sources: Feces or vomit of infected people. (fecal-oral transmission,
not respiratory)
Incubation Period: Usually 24-48 hours. Symptoms can occur as
early as 12 hours.
Symptoms: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea (watery non-bloody), abdominal
cramps. Low-grade fever occasionally.
Treatment: None.
Duration: 24-60 hours.
Contagion: Highly contagious. As few as 10 viral particles maybe sufficient.
Victims may be contagious from before the onset of symptoms out to 2 weeks
after recovery.
Complications: Dehydration. "Norovirus disease is usually not
serious, although people may feel very sick and vomit many times a day."
There are many different strains so immunity is temporary and limited
to the strain just encountered..
Parasites
Toxoplasma gondii
Illness: Toxoplasmosis (TOX o plaz MO sis)
Source: Ingestion of cat feces. (Cats get it from eating infected
meat/prey.)
Detection: Blood test.
Millions of people have the parasite, but a normally healthy immune
system prevents symptoms from appearing.
Glossary
gastroenteritis
(GAS-tro-en-ter-I-tis) Inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Experienced
as .
Copyright 2003 by Ken Westover at Cliff Canyon Publishing
Co. All rights reserved.
This material may not be distributed without the
written permission of the author.
E-mail questions or comments to cliffcan@indra.com.
0304111029