Chapter 7

~food borne diseases~

 Syllabus content

 Food poisoning
 Food infection
 Food borne
diseases:
i) food poisoning
ii) food infection
 Food borne diseases
 Each year, thousands of individuals suffer the discomfort and pain
resulting from foodborne diseases.
 To prevent such diseases, understanding the bacteria that cause food
poisoning is essential.
 Food borne diseases can be divided into:

i) food poisoning/intoxication.
ii) food infection.
 Food poisoning and food infection are different, although the symptoms
are similar.
 Food borne diseases: food poisoning
i) Food poisoning/intoxication.
 Food poisoning/intoxication is caused by eating food that contains a
toxin or poison.
 These toxins:

i) can be produced by microorganisms (the two most well known

bacterial toxins are produced by Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium
botulinum).
ii) can occur naturally in the food (for example, in certain mushrooms)
iii) can be a contaminant.
 A toxin can be heat labile or heat stable.
Differentiate heat
labile and heat
stable.
 Food borne diseases: food poisoning
 The bacteria which produced and excreted the toxic waste products into
the food may be killed, but most of these toxins are resistant to heat, so
they are not eliminated by cooking.
 Toxins directly affect the biological reactions taking place in the body.
 The effects/symptoms are acute and take place as early as 30 minutes
after consumption.
 Symptoms differ with types of toxin; enterotoxins produce gastric
symptoms and neurotoxins produce neurological symptoms.
 Febrile symptom is not present.
 Food borne diseases: food infection
ii) Food infection
 Food infection is caused by eating food that contains certain types
of live bacteria which are present in the food.
 Once the food is consumed, the bacterial cells themselves continue to
grow (multiply in the intestine) and results in diseases.
 Furthermore these microorganisms release toxins that invade and
damage the epithelium cells.
 The symptoms occur within some hours or several days after eating the
contaminated food.
 Food borne diseases: food infection
 Enteric symptoms are local and due to enteric infection and the effect of
toxins such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and fever.
 Nonenteric symptoms occur when the pathogens or their toxins pass
through the intestine and invade other intestinal organ and tissue.
 After a few days these symptoms disappear, but one can still excrete the
germ with the stools - such a person is called a healthy carrier - by bad
(toilet) hygiene one can contaminate food and other people.
 Older people, small children or people with a weak resistance are most
severely affected.
 Proper heating of food can prevent food infections - almost all non-spore
forming bacteria are killed at temperatures above 70 °C.
 Food poisoning
microbes:
Staphylococcus aureus
Food poisoning microbes = Staphylococcus aureus

 Characteristics of bacteria:

- coccus and clumps together like grapes

- gram positive
- non-motile
- facultative anaerobe
- grow well in foods containing 10% salt solution, body temperature
and pH above 4.5.
Food poisoning microbes = Staphylococcus aureus

 The major sources of Staphylococcus contamination are people and

domestic animals.
 It is commonly found in the nasal passages and on the skin of most
people, e.g. in cuts, scratches, boils and pimples on the skin.
 These bacteria get into the food from cuts and sores on workers'
hands or from sneezes during food preparation.
 Some of the foods that are frequently implicated are barbecued
meat, salads, baking products.
Food poisoning microbes = Staphylococcus aureus

 Enterotoxigenic strains of S.aureus produce various enterotoxins in

many types of food - these toxins vary in heat stability and the
strength/potency.
 This bacterial growth may not cause any off color, odor, or textural
or flavor change (unless hundreds of million present), but the toxin
will be secreted into the food.
 Even if the food is heated before eating, the poison in the food will
cause diseases although the heat has killed the bacterial cells.
 The amount of enterotoxin required to cause the illness can be as
little as 20–100 ng.
Food poisoning microbes = Staphylococcus aureus

 The symptoms occur very rapidly, four to six hours after eating.
 Staphylococci toxins are enteric toxins and cause gastroenteritis.
 Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea
(1/3 of patient).
 Some secondary symptoms are sweating, chills, headache and
dehydration.
 The disease lasts for about 1-2 days and is rarely fatal.
 Personal hygiene of food handler is important, e.g avoid disease
person from preparing food.
 Food poisoning
microbes:
Clostridium botulinum
 Food poisoning microbes = Clostridium botulinum

 Characteristics of bacteria:

- an anaerobe
- gram positive
- rod shape
- motile
- form single terminal spore that are very resistant to heat.
- sensitive to low ph (<4.6), lower Aw (<0.93) and moderately high
salt (5.5%) therefore it does not produce toxin in acidic food.
 Food poisoning microbes = Clostridium botulinum

 Clostridium botulinum is found in the soil, in water, in sewage and in

the intestines of humans and animals.
 Fruits and vegetables can be contaminated with spores from soil,
whilst fishes or various other foods can be contaminated from water.
 Since it is a highly potent toxins, only a very small amount (30 ng)
is necessary to cause severe symptoms and even death.
 Nevertheless, the toxin are relatively heat labile i.e. easily
inactivated by heat (80ºC for 30 min).
 The vegetative cells can be killed by heating or cooking, but the
spores require 116OC at sea level, or pressure canning, to kill them.
 Food poisoning microbes = Clostridium botulinum

 Botulism results from consumption of foods containing the toxin

botulin produced by Clostridium botulinum.
 More than 90% of botulism cases are caused by homemade canned
food due to underheating.
 In order for toxin to develop, the temperature during canning must
be inadequate to kill the spores.
 Once the spore germinate and grow, they have the capability of
producing toxin.
 This organism produces at least seven known toxins. Types A, B and
E are most commonly associated with human diseases.
 Clostridium botulinum could cause fatal in 60% of the cases.
 Food poisoning microbes = Clostridium botulinum

 The botulin toxin are neurotoxic toxin which disturb the peripheral
nerve at the central nervous system.
 Following ingestion, the toxins are absorbed through the intestinal
wall and reach the nerve cells, stopping the signal transfer and
causing paralysis of muscle.
 Specific symptoms may include fatigue, dizziness, headache,
vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, ocular paresis (difficulty in moving eye),
sore throat, acute indigestion followed by constipation, double
vision and difficulty swallowing or speaking.
 Throat constriction and muscle paralysis (spread to the lungs and
heart) come in the final stages, followed by death due to
suffocation, unless an antitoxin is administered promptly.
Food poisoning microbes = Clostridium botulinum
Differentiate :
Clostridium
botulinum
botulism
botulin
Food infection
microbes:
Salmonella
 Food infection microbes = Salmonella

 Characteristics of bacteria:

- rod shaped
- gram negative
- non-spore-forming
- motile
- facultative anaerobes
- form gas when grow in glucose broth but not lactose
- utilize citrate as carbon source
- produce hydrogen sulphide, but do not produce indole and
negative for ureases.
- sensitive to low pH and do not multiply at low Aw (<0.94).
 Food infection microbes = Salmonella
 Salmonella live in the intestinal tracts of humans and animals and are
continually passed from person to animal, animal to person, and
person to person in a continuous cycle.
 Salmonellosis is a zoonosis i.e. disease transmissible between human
and animal - the leading cause of foodborne disease.
 The prime sources of Salmonella contaminants of our food supply
come from the intestines of animals.
 These organisms continue to grow and multiply in the small
intestines.
 The organisms invade mucosal layer and produce heat labile toxin
which results in inflammation and accumulation of water in the
intestine.
 Food infection microbes = Salmonella
 The result is sickness 8 to 24 hours after we eat the contaminated
food.
 Symptoms includes diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, chills, fever and
vomiting.
 These symptoms vary in intensity from slight to severe and can last
up to 3 days.
 The symptoms rarely cause death except to infants or the elderly who
may rapidly dehydrate.
 Food infection microbes = Salmonella
 Salmonella can easily be controlled by good sanitation practices to
prevent cross contamination.
 Cooked food should never be prepared on cutting boards or
equipment that has been used to prepare raw products.
 Since food-infection-type-bacteria are killed by cooking, foods such as
meat, poultry and eggs should be adequately cooked to prevent
possible ingestion of the organism.
 Prompt refrigeration of cooked foods or leftovers is the first line of
defense against this food infection organism.
Food infection
microbes:
Shigella
 Food infection microbes = Shigella

 Characteristics of bacteria:

- gram negative
- non motile
- facultative anaerobes
- rod shaped
- catalase positive
- oxidase and lactose negative
- fermenting sugars without gas
 Food infection microbes = Shigella
 Shigella is the bacterium that causes the disease shigellosis, also
known as bacillary dysentery.
 Shigella is one of the most easily transmitted bacterial diarrheas, since
it can occur after fewer than 100 bacteria are ingested.
 Only humans and some primates are their hosts - the organisms are
either transmitted directly through fecal-oral routes, or indirectly
through fecal contaminated food and water.
 The organisms are believed to carry plasmid encoded invasive traits -
enable them to invade epithelial mucosa of the small & large intestine.
 Once engulfed by the epithelial cells, they are capable of producing an
exotoxin that has the enterotoxigenic properties which is called as
Shiga toxin.
 Food infection microbes = Shigella

 Symptoms occur within 1-3 days after contaminated food are

ingested.
 The symptoms resulted from both the invasiveness of epithelial
mucosa and the enterotoxin.
 Examples of symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea (often mixed
with blood), fever, and headache.
 Symptoms usually go away within five to seven days.
 Food infection microbes = Shigella

 Frequent hand washing is key to preventing Shigella, since

individuals can carry Shigella without noticing symptoms,
and Shigella bacteria can remain active for weeks after illness.
 People with Shigella should not prepare food for others for at least
two days after diarrhea has stopped.
 Drink only treated or boiled water while traveling and only eat fruits
you peel yourself.
 Only swim in pools maintaining a chlorine level of 0.5 parts per
million and stay clear of pools where children not yet toilet trained
are swimming.
Differentiate symptoms
cause by Salmonella and
Shigella infection.
 An overview of foodborne illness and food safety in Malaysia

• http://www.ifrj.upm.edu.my/22%20%2803%29%202015/%283%29.pdf