Food Toxicity: Contamination Sources, Health Implications And Prevention

Abdul Majeed*

 

Department of Botany, Government Degree College Naguman Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

*Corresponding Author:
Abdul Majeed
Department of Botany, Government Degree College
Naguman Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.
Tel:92 91 6224488
E-mail:
majeedpsh@gmail.com

Received date: July 06, 2017; Accepted date: July 07, 2017; Published date: July 12, 2017

Citation: Majeed A (2017) Food Toxicity: Contamination Sources, Health Implications And Prevention. J Food Sci Toxicol. Vol. 1No. 1:2

Visit for more related articles at Journal of Food Science and Toxicology

Currently, human population of the world is 7.4 billion and it is projected to reach to 9 billion by the year 2050 [1,2]. One of the major issues concerned with rapidly increasing human population is to produce sufficient and healthy food while sustaining the environment and ecosystem. It is estimated that 60% increase in global demand for food is likely to occur by the year 2050 [3]. However, every year a significant proportion of food is wasted due to contamination with microorganism, fungi and toxic chemicals they produce in addition to non-biological contaminants such as heavy metals and other hazardous chemicals [4-6]. Uncontrolled contaminants, whether biological or non-biological, often lead to food toxicity and cause several food borne diseases, thus imparting negative health effects, societal and economic disturbances [7,8]. Estimated cases of hospitalization due to food toxicity exceeds 3.2 million which results in 5000 deaths year-1 alone in USA [7] with more or less similar situation in other countries. Thus, there is a crucial need to address food toxicity and its consequences.

Sources of food toxicity are diverse, both biological and environmental in nature. Major biological sources of food toxicity are viral, bacterial and fungal contamination which cause different gastrointestinal disorders, predominantly diarrhoea, cholera, typhoid fever and hepatic viral diseases [9] while environmental sources include fertilizers and pesticide application and diverse chemical wastes emitting form industries which make their way to food through several means, ranging from direct pathogenic infestations to pre-harvest irrigation with contaminated water, application of fertilizers and pesticides to chemical wastes [5,10,11]. Food contamination with biological and environmental pollutants occurs through several stages of production and processing. Fresh produce is generally more vulnerable to microbial infestation during postharvest storage while grains, dairy and meat products could harbor pathogens and toxic chemicals both at pre and post-storage and processing conditions [12,13], which indicates that storage and processing conditions play an important role in food safety. Some of the most frequent pathogenic bacteria linked with food toxicity are Salmonella spp. and some species of Escherichia coli [14] which have been reported for food borne disease outbreaks while to some extents, fungal pathogen Aspergillus flavus, Fusarium verticillioides and other related species and their mycotoxins have been also of concerns from food safety perspective [13].

Nevell et al. [7] has identified more than 200 microorganisms and other environmental factors associated with food toxicity and related food diseases which have drastic effect on human health, generally resulting in more than 3.2 million cases of hospitalization which results in 5000 deaths year-1 in USA. In England and Wales, 21,997 cases of hospitalization and more than 600 deaths due to different food borne disease occur every year [15]. Similarly in Australia, 18000 cases of hospitalization with 80 deaths year-1 are prevalent due to diverse food borne disease, predominantly gastroenteritis [16]. In developing countries, the number episodes of food borne diarrhoea and other diseases exceed 1.5 billion with un-estimated cases of hospitalization but 5 million deaths annually [17]. Overall in the world, more than 93 million cases of Salmonella triggered food toxicity results in 1.55 million deaths year-1 [18]. These figures indicate that global food toxicity is a major concerns for public health and put pressure on food stake holders to assure food safety for preventing increasing cases of food borne illnesses.

Both the consumers and food producers need to crucially address the emerging threats and health issues due to food toxicity. Since, many people eat vegetables and fresh produce in raw form which serves as potential vehicles for transmission of many form of microbes [13,14] and increases the chances of food borne disease risks, thus, changes in consumption pattern might offer a safe approach in reducing risks of food toxicity. Consumption of meat and dairy products not properly processed is often associated with risk of haemolytic uremic, haemorrhagic colitis and diarrhoea [19] which could be avoided by appropriated methods of processing and proper cooking. Use of contaminated water for irrigation of vegetables, fruits and crops and during processing of fresh produce is also considered as a source of food toxicity, this issue must be directed to have produce free from contaminants. Environmental factors, storage condition and processing techniques have great influence on the safety of food and chances of contamination; removing of dusts and other polluted sources such as insects, rodents and toxic chemicals, reducing moisture during storage and provision of adequate space [20] could have positive outcomes in reducing food contamination and associated diseases. Moreover, the application of emerging technologies such gamma irradiation and cold atmosphere packaging techniques have been widely recognized as safe alternative to chemical preservatives for food preservation and processing which have been helpful in reducing microbial infestation and decay of food products [21,22]. For a healthier life and better world, food safety is a must focused agenda for food producers, traders, policy makers and consumers, which can be attained collectively by employing hygienic practices, integrated safety measures and by the use safe food processing technologies.

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