Toxic Food Poisoning and Its Prevention

Some bacteria produce toxins or poisons which they release outside their cells when they are growing and multiplying in food; these toxins are known as ‘Exotoxins’. Exotoxins are poisonous chemicals produced by the bacteria. The incubation period, that is the period of time between the entry of the poison into the body and the appearance of the first symptom is normally short with toxic food poisoning. Micro organisms responsible for toxic food poisoning include:

• Staphylococcus Aureus
• Bacillus Cereus
• Clostridium Perfringens
• Clostridium Botulinum

TYPES OF FOOD POISONING

Food poisoning is classified into

1. Infective food poisoning
2. Toxic food poisoning

There are over 250 different food borne diseases. The majority of these are infections which are due to contaminating bacteria, viruses and parasites. Infective food poisoning is caused by eating food containing live bacteria in sufficient number to cause illness. The bacteria grow and produce toxins within the body. Such toxins called ENDOTOXINS are not as heat resistant as the exotoxins. If infected food is heated to a high temperature high enough to destroy the bacteria, the endotoxins are also destroyed. The incubation period for infective food poisoning is normally longer than that for toxic food poisoning because it takes time for the endotoxins to be released (lean, 2006). Infective food poisoning can be caused by the following micro organisms.

• Salmonella
• Campylobacter
• Escherichia coli
• Listeria

FLUORIDE POISONING

This is caused by sodium fluoride a substance often used to get rid of cockroaches. In the attempt to eliminate pests (cockroaches), it (sodium fluoride) may come n contact with food or may be mistaken for powdered milk because it is a while powder.

METHYL CHLORIDE POISONING

Equipment used in food preservation such as mechanical refrigerators may start leaking and this can lead to methyl chloride poisoning.

Statistics has shown that from 1998 to 2001, 352, 375 cases of food poisoning has been recorded in England and wales and the population was 52, 428,000; which means that 1 of 148.7 was infected of food poisoning and in the same years the amount was 396,220 cases in all united kingdom which total population was 59,237,000, therefore 1 of 149.5 persons was affected by food poisoning. If such large number of cases were recorded in a highly developed country with strict laws and regulations, therefore, the number of cases likely to occur in a developed country such as Nigeria will be more if not double. According to country statistics published on 17 July, 2009, statistics for salmonella food poisoning the extrapolated figure for the incidence rate for Nigeria was 4,959,658, using a population estimated as 12,5750,3562.

PREVENTION OF FOOD POISONING

Most food borne disease outbreaks are due to some major factors:

1. Food should be served promptly after it is prepared or the temperature of hot foods should be maintained between 82.c and 93.c and cold foods kept cold by setting them on ice or refrigerated between 1.c and 4.c.
2. Poor refrigeration of food is another factor. Any food that has been ground or chopped and is to be cooked later or incorporated in a prepared dish must be refrigerated immediately. Foods such as meat, salads, and potato salads should be refrigerated immediately; otherwise, certain pathogenic organisms will be encouraged to multiply.
3. Careless handling of food: Food preparation utensils, meat grinders and other similar equipments should be kept clean and handled properly. Foods that come in contact with equipments that are contaminated become contaminated also. Worktables and benches should be kept clean at all times.
4. Failure of personnel to follow food personal hygiene habits: Since food service personnel are considered to be the most likely mode of transmission of disease through food, good personal hygiene habits should be inculcated into them.

They include:

• washing of hands before and after preparing of food
• Not coughing, sneezing or talking over food while it is being prepared or served.
• Not smoking while preparing food to prevent dropping of saliva on Food.
• Fingers should be kept away from the mouth, lips and face.
• e. Food handlers should always wear clean working uniform (Including apron and cap).
• f. Food handlers with cuts, sores, acne or other indications of skin disorder on exposed parts of head, hands or arms should not be allowed to prepare food.

Extreme care is required to fight the onset of food poisoning. Most food poisoning has been discovered to arise from improper handling of food and so proper changes and more attention should be given to food preparation as well as storage to adequately reduce the number of cases reported due to food poisoning.