• FOOD POISONING

The food poisoning is the injection of contaminated food with any kind of bacteria or virus, which grows between 5 and 60 degrees C. Other definition would be “any disease of a infectious or toxic nature caused by the consumption of food or water” by the world health organization.

• A BRIEFLY HISTORY TO NOWADAYS

From the 1888 food poisoning were described and identified; Which was still going up in the second world war, in 1960 were deported between 4,000 and 5,000 cases, during 1970 the cases increasing to reach the double of the food poisoning cases. After the 70's to the 80's the salmonella was the responsible of the 75% of the food poisoning cases, and the clostridium perfringens produced a big amount of food poisoning in cold ,fresh meat and poultry in UK.

Nowadays the food poisoning is still going up for many different and avoidable reasons: (see preventions)like huge numbers of catering service to try to provide a lot of people with wide menus, bad consumption from the eaters who eat fast food and their habits are worst than before.

• NOWADAYS CASES

As above said from a long time ago the number of notified cases of food poisoning has been increasing we can see in the graph the huge different from 10,316 in 1980 to 86,528 in 2000. In spite of the new technology, investigations, preventions, and more ways to reduce the number of cases affected people of food poisoning, the quantity is still being high, not only in United Kingdom, also in some many European and overseas countries.

The 35,000 hospital “new guests” and more than 300 possible deaths of some stomach infectious is being produced in England and Wales every year, even the clear example of one of the most important restaurants in Westminster (London), where was infested of mice in is kitchens for dirty and poor food preparation.

• STADISTICS

From 1998 to 2001 has been 352,357 cases of food poisoning 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 UK which total population was 59,237,000 ;therefore 1 of 149.5 persons was affected by food poisoning. It means that the cases of food poisoning has increased in 0.8 more in all the United Kingdom than two of its countries.

The 85,581 cases at 2001, or the 86,528 cases in the year before in England and Wales nearly arise the huge number of cases all over the United Kingdom that was nearly 10,000 cases more in 2001 or the 98,487 in 2000. Its means that where there are more food poisoning cases is in England and Wales.

• CAUSES OF FOOD POISONING AND EXAMPLES

The food poisoning is due to eat any contaminated food that has or has been in any contact with:

• Chemical products: (arsenic, potassium phosphorus to mask the putrefaction, carcinogenic chemicals, including dioxin the most deadly chemical).

• Toxins: like kidney beans: which produces Phaesolus vulgaris which symptoms are vomiting, nausea and diarrhoea, shoots of potatoes or high concentration of solanine in the skin, the infection of imperfectly heated milk for the Pasteur method which is compulsory from 1985 all over England and Wales.

• Allergies: to some products like the mushrooms, nuts…

• Biological parasites: like bugs, worms, liver fluke, mouse, and infections in pigs or cows. Including pneumonia, some flies, wasps and cockroaches that carry food poisoning in their legs and bodies.

• Poisonous plants like fungi or deadly nightshade

• Clear examples of food poisoner are:

-Staphylococcus

-Clostridium botilinum

-Bacillus cereus

-Campylobacter jejuni

-Escherichia Coli

-Listeria monocytogenes

-Salmonella enteriditis

People who are more able to have this food poisoning are the youngest, the oldest people, pregnant, and sick people because they are the weakest population.

• PREVENTIONS TO AVOID FOOD POISONING

These can be avoided using low temperatures, irradiations, sterilization by heat, knowledge to clean, better training of food handlers, keep the food in a good and safety places when is going to be prepared, stored, handled or reheated by trained staff, because the food poisoning bacteria grow rapidly at room temperature, any food cooked must be refrigerated in order to slow bacterial growth, for this reason there are some methods to prevent it.

-Cook chill: which consists in cooking the food enough to kill the micro organisms of food poisoning, and suddenly within 30 minutes put the cooked food to chill at 5 centigrade.

-Vacuum bags: its method used is he food is cooked by steam and emerged in a packet plastic pouch bags and straight away in cold water.

-Chill freeze: it is when the food is cooked and rapidly is keep it with a freezer blast at -20 grades C.

CASES AND SOME EVENTS RELATED WITH FOOD POISONING

2001: We could find out more than 97,000 cases of food poisoning by bugs that were reported by some health scientists.

Also in June was related a salmonella food poisoning associated with the consumption of ready to eat salad, and therefore there were 11 people diagnosed people with salmonellosis in England.

The Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) appears in Great Britain which is a highly infectious viral disease in which fever is followed by the development of vesicles or blisters - mainly in the mouth or on the feet.

1999: Approximately 250,000 British eaters , kitchen or waiting staff who do not respect the rules of food safety, who make that the food poisoning is going up.

1998: an inquiry into Britain most serious food poisoning outbreak found in the dishonesty of a butcher, there were 21 elderly killed, and hundreds of people was hospitalised

1997:there were 40,000 cases of salmonellosis cases and is still going on

1996:the E.coli began in November of this year in Scotland with the infection of meat and gravy served at a church lunch for pensioners, which killed the 21 elderly people in 1998.

1995: approximately a 1.8 million of infected cattle with the spoginform disease would be eaten from UK farms by the year 2001 and that most of these had already been eaten. Underreporting of cases in 1992 and 1993 was shown to reach 60%.

1994:USA the Schwan's Ice cream that made 224,000 people sick approximately (who most of them were youngsters) which contained only six salmonella bacteria per half cup, this happened because one of the ingredients had been transported in tanker trucks that had previously carried contaminated raw eggs.

1993:in UK Knutsford Derek Simmonds died after eating at McDonald's restaurant food poisoning

1990 one of the most contributors to arise 52,145 cases in England and Wales was the salmonella entreiditis phase type4 eggs and compared with UK paragraph was found that infection in 21% of the birds and 48% in the chickens.

1989 Some specific parts (brain, spleen, thymus, tonsil, gut) were discarded and destroyed by incineration or burial for the cow disease.

1988 Decision announced to prolong the feed ban and prohibit the use of milk from possible infected animals.

Also some water infected with aluminium was found in camelford area of Cornwall.

1987 the BSE a novel Bovine Neurological Disorder is announced to superintending Veterinary Investigations officers.

In June, A spongiform encephalopathy recorded in African antelope in a UK wildlife park.

In October, a national newspaper for the first time reports an incurable disease wiping out dairy cows.

1986 Feeding stuff regulations to control the additives and products used to feed animals.

1985 in February 133 cows died having earlier developed head tremor and in coordination, a couple of moths later they suffered “a novel progressive spongiform encephalopathy”(Gerald Wells)

The pasteurisation of the milk avoids more food poisoning cases. In Scotland was imposed in 1983.

1982The meat regulations were imposed qualifying some meat not suitable for the human body.

During 1981-1982 the food poisoning in England was cohabiting with the Spanish “Toxic Oil syndrome” or el aceite de colza it was a food poisoning got from the illegally sellers who caused 350 deaths and more than 20,000 affected people in their colour of skin, their bodies which are now thinner than before, also their teeth have a reminiscence for that food poisoning.

1982:at least 47 people from Oregon USA suffered E.coli food poisoning after eating McDonald's hamburgers.

1981 the animal health act appears to avoid their diseases in UK.

1980 The miniepidemic of measles that affected UK minicitizens who are vaccinated at 14 months old. Also a worrying salmonella cases appears from the pigs, sheep and poultry.

CONCLUSION

For all these lacks of preventing measures to avoid food poisoning like it has been said above in food preventions like careless handled and cooked food, or the way to feed the animals, improper diets like eating in fast food restaurants like McDonald's, because the micro organisms resists to some antibiotics, the food poisoning cases are still growing up.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

-Microbial food poisoning, Adrian R.Eley

-the science of food pmgaman and sherrignton

-food microbiology by frazier

-modern food microbiology

-james j jay

-food poisoning and food hygiene HOB

-www.Scotland.gov.uk

-www.chronology.org.uk

-www.foodlink.org.uk

-www.bbc.co.uk

-www.ashtree.co.uk

-www.bse.org.uk