12 and diarrhea are common symptoms in many food borne diseases
Dilbaghi 2007.
2.1.4.4.1 Intoxication
Illness occurs as a consequence of ingestion of a pre formed bacterial or a mold toxin due to its growth in a food. Once the
microorganism have grown and produced toxin in a food, there is no need of viable cells during the consumption of the food for
illness to occur in a fast onset .e.g, Staphylococcal food poisoning. Staph toxins are enteric toxins and cause gastroenteritis. About 30
g or ml of food containing toxins produced by 10
6
to 10
7
cells per gram ml for a normal healthy individual is sufficient to cause the
symptoms. The primary symptoms are salivation, nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea. Secondary symptoms
are sweating, chills, headache and dehydration Dilbaghi 2007.
2.1.4.4.2 Infection
Illness occurs as a result of consumption of food and water contaminated with enteropathogenic bacteria. It is necessary for the
cells of enteropathogenic bacteria to remain alive in the food or water during consumption. The viable cells even if present in small
numbers have the potential to establish and multiply in the digestive tract to cause the illness in a slow onset. e.g, Salmonellosis.
Generally 10
5
to 10
6
cells need to be consumed for food borne
salmonellosis but it can be as few as 15- 20 cell in some cases. The disease starts with the penetration and passage of Salmonella
organisms from gut lumen into epithelium of small intestine where inflammation occurs; there is evidence that an enterotoxin may be
produced, perhaps within the enterocyte. Salmonellosis generally produce symptoms which includes nausea, vomiting, abdominal
cramps, diarrhea, chills, fever, headache and prostration Dilbaghi 2007.
The main factors responsible for the food borne illness include: a. Improper holding temperature during processing.
b. Inadequate cooling during storage. c. Contaminated equipments and utensils.
d. Food from unsafe source. e. Poor personal hygiene.
f. Adding contaminated ingredients to cooked foods. General control measures for prevention of food borne diseases are:
a. By employing proper sanitary measures. b. By the use of chemical agents in preventing the growth of
microorganisms. c. Removing left over food promptly from work surfaces and utensils in
food preparation area. d. By cooking or applying proper and desired processing treatment to the
Kategori