Microbial Pathogens And Its Effects On Human Health Essay

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INTRODUCTION

Food may be contaminated with a range of microorganisms during harvesting, processing, handling operations and indirectly by way of contaminated water. Eventually, even during distribution and storage only a small quantity of these will develop and cause serious deteriorations known as food spoilage. Contamination of food with pathogens leads to foodborne diseases. Foodborne disease is any illness that results from the spoilage of food contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins. Microbial foodborne diseases occur when an individual consumes a contaminated by a viable microbial pathogen or microbial toxins. Keeping in mind that not every exposure to a pathogen in food will result in infection or illness but it is important to identify and control potential food pathogens or situations that may lead to foodborne illness or have an impact in human health. There are different microbial hazard sources which includes; the environment, the growth of microorganisms depends on different factors or parameters that determines microbial spoilage of foods which is categorized in for groups; intrinsic parameters, extrinsic parameters, modes of processing and preservation parameters, and implicit parameters as shown if figure 1 ( Mossel et al., 1995). Microorganisms may be controlled in different ways as they enter food processing in different routes. The effective control of pathogenic and
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