Food borne diseases

Food Standard and Quality Control

Lesson 01 : Food Quality

Food borne diseases

  • Foodborne diseases are a growing public health problem worldwide.
  • This can be defined as a disease caused by consuming contaminated foods or drink. A wide variety of microbes and toxic substances can contaminate foods.
  • There are more than 250 known food borne diseases. The majority are infectious and are caused by bacteria, viruses and parasites.
  • Other food borne diseases are essentially poisonings caused by toxins or chemicals contaminating the food.
  • All food borne microbes and toxins enter the body through the gastrointestinal tract and often cause the first symptoms there.
  • The most common clinical presentation of food borne disease takes the form of gastrointestinal symptoms; such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea .
  • Sometimes these diseases can also have neurological, gynaecological, immunological and other symptoms. Multi organ failure and even cancer may result from the ingestion of contaminated foodstuffs, thus representing a considerable burden of disability as well as mortality.
  • It is important to have reliable epidemiological estimates on the burden of food borne diseases to assess the impact of food safety measures and advise policy-makers on the cost-effective use of resources. As of today there is no precise and consistent global information in this regard.
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Last modified: Thursday, 16 February 2012, 10:31 AM