Food contaminant

Food safety
Terms
Foodborne illness
Hazard analysis and critical control points (HACCP)  • Hazard analysis and risk-based preventive controls (HARPC)
Critical control point
Critical factors
FAT TOM
pH
Water activity (aw)
Bacterial pathogens
Clostridium botulinum
Escherichia coli
Listeria
Salmonella
Vibrio cholerae
Cronobacter spp
Viral pathogens
Enterovirus
Hepatitis A
Norovirus
Rotavirus
Parasitic pathogens
Cryptosporidium
Entamoeba histolytica
Giardia
Trichinella

Food contamination refers to the presence in food of harmful chemicals and microorganisms which can cause consumer illness. This article addresses the chemical contamination of foods, as opposed to microbiological contamination, which can be found under foodborne illness.

The impact of chemical contaminants on consumer health and well-being is often apparent only after many years of processing.Prolonged exposure at low levels (e.g., cancer). Chemical contaminants present in foods are often unaffected by thermal processing (unlike most microbiological agents). Chemical contaminants can be classified according to the source of contamination and the mechanism by which they enter the food product.

Agrochemicals

Agrochemicals are chemicals used in agricultural practices and animal husbandry with the intent to increase crops and reduce costs. Such agents include pesticides (e.g., insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides), plant growth regulators, veterinary drugs (e.g., nitrofuran, fluoroquinolones, malachite green, chloramphenicol), and bovine somatotropin (rBST).

Environmental contaminants

Environmental contaminants are chemicals that are present in the environment in which the food is grown, harvested, transported, stored, packaged, processed, and consumed. The physical contact of the food with its environment results in its contamination. Possible sources of contamination include:

Pesticides and carcinogens

There are many cases of banned pesticides or carcinogens found in foods.

Hair in food

There is a heavy stigma attached to the presence of hair in food in most societies. There is a risk that it may induce choking and vomiting, and also that it may be contaminated by toxic substances.[4] Views differ as to the level of risk it poses to the inadvertent consumer.[5][6][7]

In most countries, people working in the food industry are required to cover their hair because it will contaminate the food.[8][9] When people are served food which contains hair in restaurants or cafés, it is usual for them to complain to the staff.[10] Despite this, it is not a valid ground on which to sue the restaurant in the United States[11] but in the United Kingdom it breaks the regulations of the UK Food Safety Act 1990, and people can sue over this.[12]

There are a range of possible reasons for the objection to hair in food, ranging from cultural taboos to the simple fact that it is difficult to digest and unpleasant to eat. It may also be interpreted as a sign of more widespread problems with hygiene. The introduction of complete-capture hairnets is believed to have resulted in a decrease in incidents of contamination of this type.[13]

Sometimes protein from human hair is used as a food ingredient,[14] in bread and other such similar products. Such use of human hair in food is forbidden in Islam.[15] Historically, in Judaism, finding hair in food was a sign of bad luck.[16]

Processing contaminants

Processing contaminants are generated during the processing of foods (e.g., heating, fermentation). They are absent in the raw materials, and are formed by chemical reactions between natural and/or added food constituents during processing. The presence of these contaminants in processed foods cannot be entirely avoided. Technological processes can be adjusted and/or optimized, however, in order to reduce the levels of formation of processing contaminants. Examples are: nitrosamines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), heterocyclic amines, histamine, acrylamide, furan, benzene, trans fat, 3-MCPD, semicarbazide, 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE), and ethyl carbamate. There is also the possibility of metal chips from the processing equipment contaminating food. These can be identified using metal detection equipment. In many conveyor lines, the line will be stopped, or when weighing the product with a Check weigher, the item can be rejected for being over- or underweight or because small pieces of metal are detected within it.

Emerging food contaminants

While many food contaminants have been known for decades, the formation and presence of certain chemicals in foods has been discovered relatively recently. These are the so-called emerging food contaminants like acrylamide, furan, benzene, perchlorate, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), 3-monochloropropane-1,3-diol (3-MCPD), 4-hydroxynonenal, and (4-HNE).

Safety and regulation

Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) levels and tolerable concentrations of contaminants in individual foods are determined on the basis of the "No Observed Adverse Effect Level" (NOAEL) in animal experiments, by using a safety factor (usually 100). The maximum concentrations of contaminants allowed by legislation are often well below toxicological tolerance levels, because such levels can often be reasonably achieved by using good agricultural and manufacturing practices.

Regulatory officials, in order to combat the dangers associated with foodborne viruses, are pursuing various possible measures.

Food contaminant testing

To maintain high quality of food and comply with health, safety and environmental regulatory standards it is best to rely on food contaminant testing through an independent third party such as laboratories, certification companies or similar. For manufacturers the testing for food contaminants can minimize the risk of noncompliance in relation to raw ingredients, semi-manufactured foods and final products. Also, food contaminant testing assures consumers safety and quality of purchased food products and can prevent foodborne diseases, and chemical, microbiological, or physical food hazards.[18]

The establishment of ADIs for certain emerging food contaminants is currently an active area of research and regulatory debate.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Greenpeace Exposes Guangzhou Pesticide Contamination". ChinaCSR. June 13, 2006.
  2. ↑ TribhuMRatta (Nov 5, 2008). "Ban the Colas!". MeriNews.
  3. ↑ "Toxic soy sauce, chemical veggies -- food scares hit Vietnam". AFP. Hanoi: Google News. Sep 11, 2007. Archived from the original on 2010-01-19.
  4. ↑ Valdes Biles P.; Ziobro G. C. (August 2000). "Regulatory Action Criteria for Filth and Other Extraneous Materials IV. Visual Detection of Hair in Food". Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. Academic Press. 32 (1): 73–77. ISSN 0273-2300. PMID 11029271. doi:10.1006/rtph.2000.1403.
  5. ↑ "Food Quality issue 08 09 2005".
  6. ↑ "Kitsap County Health" (PDF).
  7. ↑ John Lucey (06-01-2006). "Management Should Serve as Role Models for Good Work Habits and Acceptable Hygienic Practices". Food Quality. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ↑ "Ohio Department of Agriculture".
  9. ↑ "CCFRA newsletter".
  10. ↑ "Looking under the tables". The Gazette. September 20, 2006.
  11. ↑ "Foreign Objects in Food".
  12. ↑ "lancaster.gov.uk". Archived from the original on 2009-03-06.
  13. ↑ "IFST.org" (PDF).
  14. ↑ Justin Rowlatt (10 Jan 2007). "Does your daily bread contain human hair?". BBC News.
  15. ↑ Amir Khan (1996). "Halaal/Haraam Food Awareness". Archived from the original on October 22, 2009.
  16. ↑ Howard Schwartz (1991). Lilith's Cave: Jewish Tales of the Supernatural. ISBN 0-19-506726-6.
  17. ↑ Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005, Official Journal of the European Union, 15 November 2005, Retrieved 7 April 2015
  18. ↑ Study finds novel method to test food for contamination
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