Dangerous foods-reasons

Although the food supply in the United States is still one of the safest in the world estimates, CDC, Centers for Disease Control that every year more than 300,000 Americans are hospitalized and 5,000 die from FOODBORNE illness. Preventing FOODBORNE illness and death remains a major public health challenge.

A FOODBORNE disease is any disease caused by ingestion of food. Although the term is often used food poisoning, most FOODBORNE diseases is not actually the result of toxins, chemicals or toxic substances created by the food, but is caused by one of several forms of micro-organisms in food. The most frequent causes of food borne diseases is bacteria, including Salmonella, e. coli, Listeria and Shigella. Some bacteria secrete toxins as they grow; for example, secretes Clostridium bacteria botulin toxin, which can be fatal.

An estimated 55% of FOODBORNE diseases is caused by incorrect cooking and storage of foodstuffs and 24% of poor hygiene, in particular the lack of washing hands before handling food. Only 3% of cases are from a source that unsafe food.

In a FOODBORNE illness symptoms may begin in hours to eat food, or they may be delayed as much as three days. Symptoms vary with different micro-organisms, and may include one or more of these: nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, gastroenteritis, fever, headache and fatigue. Babies and small children, pregnant women and their unborn children, the elderly, chronically ill and the other whose immune systems are compromised are in greatest danger. In most cases, there will be a period of acute illness, then an upswing as the body Rids itself of toxic agent.

Escherichia coli or e. coli for short, is a common bacterium found commonly in the ground, and usually in human and animal Intestinal tracts. There are hundreds of different varieties of e. coli, most of which is harmless, but some varieties may cause serious illness. Certain strains of e. coli can cause severe diarrhea and also infect the genital organs and urinary tracts.

In September 2006, led a widespread outbreak of e. coli infection in raw spinach to over 205 confirmed illnesses and three deaths across the country. U.s. Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to buy or eat raw spinach from any source. California's Department of Health Services and the US Food and Drug Administration worked together in the investigation. In their joint final report they correctly identified the environmental risk factors and the areas was probably involved in the outbreak, but they were not definitively determine how the contamination occurred.

E. coli involved in the contaminated spinach is e. coli http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2039 Beef sausage this variety was first discovered in 1982, when it was found to be the causal agent in the event of an outbreak of diarrhoea is caused by eating undercooked beef. E. coli Beef sausage producing toxins that damage the lining of the intestines. The result is severe, bloody diarrhea. Vomiting, stomach cramps, and swine fever may also be present. Centers for Disease Control estimates that this e. coli strain is responsible for an average of 73,000 cases of infection and 61 deaths each year in the United States.

In 2007 made several withdrawals of ground beef products, where the beef was contaminated with e. coli. A restaurant in Effingham, Illinois, was identified as the source of the e. coli outbreak, resulted in at least six confirmed cases of e. coli O157: H7 among customers in September 2007. Outbreaks also occurred among students at an Indiana elementary school.

More than half of us FOODBORNE diseases are viral. Most FOODBORNE viral infections have an incubation period of 1-3 days before the victim experiencing symptoms. The symptoms are similar to those specified for bacterial infections. In healthy individuals is a FOODBORNE viral disease is self-limiting; as the body Rids itself of the infected food and the viral particles, abate the symptoms.

Some FOODBORNE diseases have more far-reaching effects, cause long-term health problems or even death. FOODBORNE illness is a major cause of reactive arthritis, a painful inflammation of the joints and other tissues. Its disease is 1-3 weeks after the initial event, and it can persist for up to one year.

Other infectious agents in food include mycotoxins produced by fungal agents such as Aspergillum, found in tree nuts, peanuts, and corn and cottonseeds; Ergot, which infect cereals and Fusarium, which infects maize, are all fungal toxins. There is still much to learn about FOODBORNE illness. Around 60% of all outbreaks of FOODBORNE diseases, source of infection cannot be identified.

In addition to individual disease and disorders impose food contamination and the resultant diseases significant economic and social strains. In the United States costs medical costs and lost productivity caused by food borne diseases more than 35 billion dollars annually.