1 Food: It Shouldn’t Be a Mystery Alan M. Tart Regional Retail Food Specialist U.S. Food and Drug Administration Atlanta, GA

2 Objectives Name several examples of chemical, physical, and biological hazards found in food Review principles of microbiological growth & survival Identify at least one nutritional risk in food Discuss how to prevent, eliminate, or reduce hazards/risks of concern

3 Foodborne Illness in the U.S.

4 The Problem – Foodborne Illness Estimated 76 million illnesses 325,000 hospitalizations annually; hospital stays estimated at more than $3 billion and 5,000 deaths! Mead et al., Emerg. Infect. Dis. 5:

5 Factors Affecting Foodborne Illness in the U.S. Globalization of the food supply Food consumption patterns Methods/Surveillance/ Awareness Changing production and processing practices Evolution of new strains Increased longevity

6 Controlling Food Safety Hazards

7 Hazard A physical, chemical, or biological property that may cause an unacceptable consumer health risk.

8 Physical Hazards Poor handling procedures in the food flow Examples: plastic, bones, wood, glass, metal fragments,

9 Naturally Occurring Chemical Hazards Scombrotoxin Ciguatera Toxin Shellfish Toxins Tetrodotoxin Toxic Mushrooms Allergens

10 Biological Hazards Includes bacterial, viral, and parasitic organisms Dennis Kunkel

11 Percentage of Foodborne Illness Attributable to Known Pathogens Mead et al., 1999

12 Bacteria, Viruses, and Parasites – What’s the Difference? Bacteria grow in food and in the body Bacterial Infection vs. Intoxication Viruses and parasites cannot grow in food, only in the body.

13 Factors Needed for Bacterial Growth Food Acidity Time Temperature Oxygen Moisture – Available Water

14 Oxygen Requirements of Bacteria AerobicAnaerobicFacultative Oxygen DependentOxygen Intolerant

15 Vegetative Bacteria Found on many raw animal foods (meat, fish, eggs, milk), as well as processed foods Examples Salmonella E. coli O157:H7 Listeria monocytogenes Vibrio spp. Control Measures Cooking No bare hand contact with RTE food Handwashing Not working when ill Temperature control

16 Staphylococcus aureus High numbers of cells produce heat stable toxin in ready-to-eat food Caused by bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food and temperature abuse Poor competitor on raw foods Normal reheating will not destroy toxin

17 Bacterial Spore Formation Spore – survival mechanism for certain bacteria Heat resistance exceeds normal cooking temperatures Spore-forming organisms C. perfringens C. botulinum B. cereus Control Measures Proper cooling Hot and cold holding

18 Clostridium botulinum Proteolytic strains of Type A and B will not grow below 10 ° C (50 ° F) Non-proteolytic strains of type B and E will not grow below 3.3 ° C (38 ° F) C. botulinum will not grow at a water activity of 0.94 or less

19 Recent Botulism Outbreaks Most cases of botulism are due to home- prepared foods Nearly all of the recent botulism outbreaks due to commercial foods are the result of extreme temperature abuse of refrigerated foods (2 or more days at room temperature) Outbreaks due to commercially processed low acid canned foods are rare

20 Recent Botulism Outbreaks Refrigerated pasta sauce in a plastic pouch in a cardboard carton Refrigerated bean dip in a 16 oz plastic tub with a snap fit lid Garlic in oil Sautéed onions left in a warm skillet overnight Frozen shredded potato patty Refrigerated carrot juice in a plastic bottle Baked potato wrapped in foil

21 Foodborne Viruses Hepatitis A 83,000 cases (5% foodborne) Noroviruses Formally known as Norwalk-like viruses 23M cases (40% foodborne) Noroviruses are the #1 cause of foodborne illness in the U.S. (67%) Example outbreaks Other viruses Mead et al., 1999 F.P. Williams, U.S. EPA

22 Viruses and Cooking Viruses display variable resistance to heat Important controls No bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food Proper handwashing Not preparing food when ill

23 Why Viruses are Such a Problem 10,000,000 - # of viral particles you start with in 1 ml of feces 1,000,000 - # of virus particles left after properly washing your hands (2 log reduction) (Ayliffe et al., 1978) 100,000 - # of virus particles transferred from an ungloved hand to food (10%) (Montville, 2001) In contrast, it takes ~10 virus particles to make you sick

24 Behavioral Causes of Foodborne Illness

25 Foodborne Illness Risk Factors Food from Unsafe Sources Inadequate Cooking Improper Holding Temperatures Contaminated Equipment/Cross Contamination Poor Personal Hygiene

26 Food from Unapproved Source

27 Food from Unapproved Source

28 Food from Unapproved Source

29 Unapproved Cheese Product

30 CDC’s EHS NET OUTBREAK/ NONOUTBREAK STUDY - Contributing Factors Identified in Outbreaks, EHS-NET, C- Contamination Factors P- Proliferation Factors S- Survival Factors Infected Person Handling Food Bare Hand Contact Holding Food at Room Temperature Insufficient Time/Temp. During Initial Cooking Cross Contamination from Raw Animal Food Raw Food Contaminated at Source

31 Nutritional Risks in Food

32 Nutritional Risk in Food Obesity epidemic Genetic causes Environmental causes Health risks associated with obesity

33 Questions? Alan M. Tart Regional Retail Food Specialist U.S. Food and Drug Administration 60 8 th Street, N.E. Atlanta, GA (404)