Biology

A hazard is anything that would make food unfit for consumption or with the likelihood of contaminating food thereby causing a disease. Food borne diseases are usually contracted through poor or unsafe food handling practices, which allow the entry of the hazards in the food handling process. Environmental conditions, which consist of the prevailing temperatures, the PH, the exposure duration, as well as the conditions of the handling and storage areas, contribute much to food contamination. The resulting effects of food contamination could be mild or fatal and it would sometime result to death. In most countries, food poisoniong consumes a significant budget allocation in treatment, prevention, and even cure. However much of the cost would be drastically reduced if the proper measures are adhered to.

The danger arising from contaminated food is referred to as food poisoning. This usually happens through microorganisms, or other harmful causes, which may be either natural or chemical based. Food poisoning may occur through three ways namely, diseases causing microorganisms, which contaminate food and enter the body where they then multiply causing serious infection to the elementary tract, food poisoning by toxins released by the microorganisms in food, which later enter the body and the poisoning caused by chemicals and other natural elements that are not microorganisms. ( HYPERLINK httpwww.articlesbase.comauthorsbetalebeharia404986 o betalebeharias Articles Betalebeharia, 2010). Food poisoning can therefore occur in many ways through improper handling of food. Some systems such as the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) system have been established to determine, monitor, and control proper food handling procedures, which reduces food contamination.

Hazard Analysis critical points (HACCP)
Microbiological hazard consists of bacteria that are very harmful and usually cause serious food poisoning. The bacteria affect humans in many ways, which may include water for water borne microbes, infected food, uncooked food, or even unhygienic conditions. Upon entering the body, the microbes multiply in a very fast rate and usually have a short incubation period. The diseases causing microbes includes the bacteria, the fungi, the viruses and the protozoa. The symptoms resulting from microbiological infection include vomiting, diarrhea, serious stomach cramps, and nausea among others. The microbiological hazards could be well prevented through hygienic food handling and proper cooking or cooling of food.
       
According to the Center of Disease Control (CDC) illnesses caused by food poisoning costs the American Economy between eight and seventy five billion dollars annually (Packard and Green, 2004 pg 220). This translates to a significant budget allocation to diseases, which might be controlled through application of the right measures and conditions. The CDC report further states that between three and eighty billion dollars of production are lost annually due to food poisoning related diseases (Packard and Green, 2004pg 220). This explains the magnitude of the effects resulting from poor or unhygienic food handling procedures.
       
Food poisoning may results from improper cooling of foods, extended time lapse between the food preparation and consumption, handling of the food by infected persons who would contaminate the food, poor heating or cooking of the food, raw food ingredients and contaminated preparation of food, contamination of the food preparation surfaces and other utensils (Packard and Green, 2004 pg 220). There are many ways through which food might be contaminated leading to food poisoning, but in all the cases improper handling of food is the main way through which the poisoning occurs.

According Barrow Borough Council (2009) there are several control points that should always be considered to reduce the microbial contamination when handling foods. Buying from reputable suppliers is one of the essential factors to consider. Reputable suppliers usually have hygienic and high standard food handling facilities, which prevent contamination. Storing the food well wrapped with appropriate wrappings would prevent contamination as well as maintaining the required storage temperatures (Barrow Borough Council, 2009). Microorganisms responsible for food poisoning usually multiply at certain temperatures. According to Barrow Borough Council (2009), many bacteria species would not multiply at temperatures below 5 degrees and above 65 degrees. Therefore maintaining the right temperatures is very essential in preventing food contamination. Food should therefore not be left at room temperatures to cool unless for very short durations. Foods with high risks of contamination should be served immediately after removing from the refrigerator or when hot to avoid risks of contamination.

Critical limits. A critical limit is the level at which a biological aspect must be controlled at a critical point to reduce or prevent unacceptable levels of food safety hazard occurrence. It is a way of establishing the safe and unsafe conditions of operations at critical control points. Some of the required limits in food preservation include Cold food should be heated rapidly to attain an internal temperature of about 74 degrees, held at this temperature for not more than two hours before being served. Cold food should also be held below 5 degrees (Packard and Green, 2004 pg 221). This will prohibit contamination and avoiding the temperatures required for bacterial multiplication.

Monitoring Procedures The refrigerator should be inspected to ensure proper working conditions that ensure maintenance of favorable temperatures required for safe food preservation. Cross contamination of food should be minimized through color-coding of the handling utensils. This s ensures that each type of food is handled through different utensils thereby preventing the spread of the hazards.
 
Verification of the system should be done through servicing of the refrigerators and other equipment by trained technicians. This ensures high level of performance is maintained at all times. Thoroughly clean all the utensils and surfaces to avoid contamination through unhygienic surfaces.

Documentation is important in keeping track of the process. According to Bradford Metropolitan District Council (2010), records are important in case of legal litigations or reviewing of the process where a problem may have occurred. The documentation should include the temperatures of the refrigerators and the freezers, the hot food temperatures, the equipment maintenance records, the cleaning routines of all equipments, the auditing and the stock rotation policies. The records started from the need to keep track of the hygienic operations involving the food per year. The importance of documentation is to provide the operators thinking and decisions over a time. According to Food Standard Agency (2010), records may involve visual inspection for instance for ensuring meat is not contaminated with faecal matter or recording only when a problem occurs and noting the action taken to correct the position. These records are only taken when an incidence occurs and not as routine work.

The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) is one of the best systems to ensure a smooth and safe food handling process. According to Bradford Metropolitan District Council (2010), the system involves indentifying the critical points, defining the critical limit points, observing and monitoring the whole process, recording all the facts in detail, taking the corrective action if any anomaly occurs, verifying the operation of the process, and finally documenting for future reference. All the above steps ensure a safe food handling process where contamination could be effectively controlled or prevented. Documentation is important incase of litigations or reviewing the process for improvements later.

Salmonellosis
Salmonellosis contamination is contracted in animal waste during slaughtering, feacal matter, or wastewater that contains the salmonella bacteria ( HYPERLINK httpwww.articlesbase.comauthorsbetalebeharia404986 o betalebeharias Articles Betalebeharia, 2010). Human hands and other tools used are also vectors for spreading the bacteria. The bacteria are found in foods such as whole eggs, liquid eggs and the powder egg. This is because different bacteria are usually found in cockroaches, turkeys, gees, mice, flies ad ducks ( HYPERLINK httpwww.articlesbase.comauthorsbetalebeharia404986 o betalebeharias Articles Betalebeharia, 2010). Washing of hands properly with soap and hot water may help in controlling the spread of the bacteria. Use of clean water and clean utensils is also essential in controlling the bacteria as well as proper cooking of eggs and foul meat.

Anisakiasis
The anisakiasis worms are usually found in the marine mammals stomach and the eggs are later passed on in feaces after hatching of the larvae. The larvae are then eaten by shellfish, which is later eaten by other bigger fish, and afterward get to the muscles of the fish (Packard and Green, 2004 pg 379).  The larvae later get to humans through eating of poorly cooked infected fish. The sticking of the worms into the intestinal walls therefore causes Anisakiasis. The fish types, which usually harbor anisakiasis, include the cod, the haddock, fluke, flounder, and the herring ( HYPERLINK httpwww.articlesbase.comauthorsbetalebeharia404986 o betalebeharias Articles Betalebeharia, 2010).
           
According to Packard and Green, (2004 pg 379), the common symptoms that result of anisakiasis infection include vomiting, serious abdominal discomforts and nausea. The worm reaches its final stages in the human body and the parasites are usually expelled for the human body within 3 weeks after infection. Treatment of the anisakiasis infection is through endoscopic removal or through surgical operations. (Packard and Green, 2004 pg 379). The parasite might be eradicated by eating of fish, which has been freezed to about thoroughly enough to kill the parasite, or through proper and adequate cooking.

Fungal (Mold)
Mold is a fungal pathogen that causes food poisoning. Molds produce a poisonous mycotoxin known as aflatoxin, which usually grows in certain types of foods such as the peanuts, soybeans, grains, peanut better, and other spices that have spoilt. (Skorski, 1990 pg 220). Molds therefore develop where the food has spoilt due to poor storage or the food has been stored way beyond the consumption day limit. According to Skorski (1990, pg 220) the symptoms involved in mold infection may range from serious abdominal pains, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches, nausea and other flu like symptoms which include chilling and difficulty in swallowing.

Molds can be prevented by proper refrigeration of foods to prevent the growth of the fungi or maintaining the food hot over 70 degrees. Cross contamination of food should be prevented through placing fresh food away from the stale or contaminated food. Consumption of food within the provided dates by the manufacturer would also help in avoiding cases where food is spoiled.

Scombroid Poison
Scombroid Poison is ingested from fish that has been poorly cooled and containing a high amount of histidine in their body. The poisoning therefore occurs because of decomposition of histidine into histamine by bacteria in the body. (Skorski, 1990 pg 223). The histamine thus produced is the poisonous substance that affects the body. According to Skorski (1990, pg223), some fish species that include the tuna, Mackerel, the herring, and the Sardines have reported high levels of histidine in their bodies.
         
The symptoms usually involved with Scombroid poison include nausea, vomiting, coetaneous, and hemodynamic. Skorski (1990 pg 223) explains that, the poison is heat stable and hence the only possible prevention is proper cooling and processing methods of the above species of fish before consumption

Hepatitis A.
This is a viral disease, which causes the inflammation of the liver through swelling. According to Packard and Green, (2004, pg 379), hepatitis A is transmitted through contaminated water, food washed by contaminated water such as Salad bars raw shellfish or oysters usually harvested from polluted water or any other type of food served by a contaminated person. The disease usually occurs in epidemics like other water borne diseases.

The symptoms involved with hepatitis A include vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of appetite, nausea, low fever, tiredness, and fatigue. Urine becomes pale and jaundice may appear in some people. There is usually a painful experience around the liver at the lower abdomen (Packard and Green, (pg 379). The symptoms may last for between 2 and 9 months. The advantage of the diseases is that, once infected you develop immunity and cannot acquire the disease again. The disease may be well prevented through hygienic food handling practices. These include buying the oysters and shellfish from certified sources, washing hands after visiting toilets with hot water and soap, having clean water to wash food where necessary

Conclusion
Unhygienic food handling practices are the major causes and spreading vectors of water and food based diseases and parasites. In all the instances, cleanliness and proper food handling procedures go to be given emphasize in preventing these diseases. Proper cooking of food refrigeration to the correct temperatures are also essentials in ensuring proper food preservation and inhibiting the multiplication of bacteria, which causes theses diseases. HACCP is a food system management that  determines critical areas that require safety and ensure appropriate measurers are taken to ensure the safety., this systems includes certain processes that if followed  would reduce instances of food contamination to the minimum. The determination of critical control points (CCP) and control limits is one of the methods necessary to ensure food safety.