Food Science Shock

Nurhazwani Binte Salleh (0604625D)
Temasek Polytechnic, Applied Food Science and Nutrition
TA05_2
Subject: Food Safety

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PLEASE PROCEED TO FOOD SAFETY RESEARCH. THANK YOU.

Sunday, April 6, 2008 TASK 4_Foodborne Illness

4:32 PM

Food borne illness can be caused by disease-causing organism such as bacterias, virus and parasites or toxins, it can be man-made toxins, toxins produced by bacterias or even those that are found naturally in the food.

It happens when the raw material or food is not cleaned or cooked properly. Contamination of these harmful organism and substance can also occur if there is poor hygiene practice and handling of food products.

The common symptoms of foodborne illness are diarrhea and/or vomiting, that lasted for 1 to 7 days. Other symptoms might include abdominal cramps, nausea, fever, joint/back aches, and fatigue.

Accessed on 6th April 2008. At this website: http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/dtopics/foodborne/basics.html

Food borne illness source

Biological source :

Disease that are caused by the organism itself.
1)Bacteria - Salmonella, Campylobacter, E.Coli, Shigella, etc
2)Viruses - Norwalk, Hepatitis A.
3)Parasites - Trichinella spiralis

Disease that are caused by toxins that the organism produces
1) Enterotoxins - S.Aureus, C.Perfringens, Bacillus Cereus.
2) Botulinum toxin - C.Botulinum.
3) Fish toxins/Shellfish toxins
4) Mushrooms toxins

Chemical source:
Heavy metals, pesticides, detergents, sanitizers, lubricants, etc.
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The source of illness can be identified by analyzing the ingredients used in the product and the processes it went through.

For sugar rolls, the important ingredients are eggs, flour and the jam , whether it is made in the same factory or bought from another vendor.

1) Eggs (poultry product) - can be a source of Salmonella and S.Aureus.
2) Flour - source of B.cereus
3) Canned fruit jam - source of C.botulinum.

Processes such as, mixing, baking, cooling, packing and storing are important.

1) Mixing - transfer of chemicals such as machine's lubricant, or from washing detergent and sanitizer. Transfer of microbes from food handlers or equipments.
2) Baking - insufficient baking time and baking temperature is not high enough to destroy the pathogens and spores.
3) Cooling - The critical stage of cross-contamination
4) Storing - The stage for suppressing the growth of vegetative cells from survived spores.

More detailed analysis will carried out once the process step and flowchart of sugar rolls are confirmed and prepared using HACCP system.