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Food Poisoning and Intoxication: A Global Leading Concern for Human Health

2018; Elsevier BV; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/b978-0-12-814956-0.00011-1

Mohammad A. Al-Mamun, Tuhina Chowdhury, Baishakhi Biswas, Nurul Absar,

Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology

Food, the major fundamental unit of living life, has several types of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, such as hydrogen ion concentration (pH), water activity (aw), redox potential (Eh), different types of nutrients, antimicrobial substances, temperature, and environmental conditions for storage that regulates the growth of pathogenic microorganisms responsible for food spoilage, poisoning, and toxicities, as well as foodborne illness. Sometimes food may also become poisonous due to the ingestion of some toxic chemicals or may be contaminated by pathogenic microbes due to the mistreatment of food, improper way of food processing and preparation, mixing of different types of flavoring agents without knowing its ingredients and reactions, intake of reheating food, unhealthy cooking and consumption policy, consumption of already contaminated food or foods infested by insects, use of the excessive amount of preservatives, or improper way of storage which may be the main causes of sickness; hospitalizations eventually leading to the death and can be referred to as foodborne diseases. Meat and poultry products, beef, or pork and their by-products are the vehicles for the transmission of foodborne diseases transmission. Recently, the outbreaks of food-related diseases and studies of sporadic gastrointestinal diseases etiologies indicate intake of food prepared at the restaurant and travel foods as vital sources of infection and are highly risky for the patients with immunodeficiency, diabetes, and pregnant woman. The incidence of foodborne illness in developing countries is less well understood and occurs extensively than in the developed countries, where the consumption of unhygienic food and water are the leading causes of death. Now it becomes necessary to understand how food becomes unsafe to eat and the proactive measures to be taken to keep the food safe.