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Each year millions of people in the United States are known to become ill due to food poisoning (food-borne illness). How ill can you become? Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, and fever are just some of the symptoms that a person can have from food poisoning. Not very pleasant is it? Health authorities have a saying: “First you’re afraid that you’re going to die, then you’re afraid your not going to die.” In 1999 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that there were over 76 million cases of gastrointestinal disease including 325,000 hospitalizations and over 5,000 deaths that were directly attributable to food poisoning.
The main concern in food-service sanitation is the prevention of illness caused by contaminated food. Bacteria, parasitic worms, and chemicals can all cause food-borne illness. Unfortunately, most food-borne illness is not recognized as such and is therefore seldom reported.
By now you are probably wondering why someone would prepare or eat poisoned food? Doesn’t poisoned food taste, look, or smell bad? No! If it did, people wouldn’t eat it. Would you eat a piece of pie that smelled bad? Would you cook a piece of green chicken? Of course not!
You may be asking yourself how food becomes poisoned. According to experts at the CDC, the leading factors causing food-borne illness are:
- Improper cooling, such as leaving cooked foods at room temperature.
- Lapse of a day or more between preparing and serving.
- Holding hot foods at the wrong temperature.
- Improper and inadequate refrigeration of foods.
- Infected persons touching and handling food.
- Improper reheating of previously cooked foods.
- Improper cleaning of kitchen equipment such as knives, pots, and cutting boards.
In this SciGuide you and your students will have the opportunity to investigate some of the causes of food-borne illness and how it can be prevented. While investigating food-borne illness, you and your students will access websites that discuss the growth and control of bacteria, safe handling of food in the market and home, and some ways food is processed to prevent spoilage.
Photo courtesy of The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention
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Foods reaching your table today are produced, processed and distributed very differently from even a decade ago. Food from a single source may be rapidly distributed to communities across the nation, making it more difficult to detect a disease outbreak caused by contaminated food. This Farm Theme will explore how food may become contaminated on the farm and what farmers are doing to stop contamination and the regulations in place to assist the nations farmers in wiping out possible sources of contamination.
Keywords:
- Keeping Food Safe
- Growing the Food
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The route that food follows from its production on a farm to your table is known as the Farm-to-Table Continuum. Everyone along the Farm-to-Table Continuum, from farmer to consumer, plays a major role in keeping our food safe. If a link in this continuum is broken, the safety and integrity of our nation’s food supply can be threatened. A variety of methods are used to control the growth of bacteria. Access this link to learn about some ways that food is treated and processed to keep it safe for consumption.
Keywords:
- Pasteurization
- Irradiation
- UHP (Ultra High Pressure Treatment)
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Bacteria are everywhere and can spread from surface to surface, person to person, food to food, and person to food. Harmful bacteria can be controlled by practicing the four Cs of Food Safety. To prevent the spread of harmful bacteria, proper cleaning of both hands and food contact surfaces is especially important. The good thing is that not all bacteria are harmful; most bacteria are beneficial to us. Access this theme to learn some ways to safely handle food and control the spread and growth of bacteria.
Keywords:
- The Cold Chain
- The 4 Cs
- Hand Washing
- Bacteria in Food
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Bacteria are one of the leading causes of food-borne illness. They are found everywhere and under the right conditions, they can multiply fast! Each bacterium contains all the genetic information needed to make copies of itself. Access this theme to learn more about bacteria and the required conditions for bacterial growth.
Keywords:
- Bacteria
- Food—Borne Illness
- Food Safety
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Even though our food supply is the safest in the world, we face new challenges as we import food from all over the world, as new pathogens emerge and as familiar ones grow resistant to treatment.
Keywords:
- Solving and Tracking Outbreaks
- What's Next?
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Purchasing this SciGuide will give you access to the Guide and all of its resources for
one year. Click here to learn more about our pricing plan.
Science and Our Food Supply 5-8 SciGuide Map
A quick overview of the Science and Our Food Supply 5-8 Science Guide
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See specific examples or "vignettes" of how to use the web based
resources found within this theme.
- Understanding Bacteria
- Ultra High Pressure Treatment
- Hands Off, Bacteria!
- Outbreak Alert (Shigella)
- Chain of Food
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See immediately teachable lessons utilizing the
web based resources found within this theme.
- Understanding Bacteria
- Ultra High Pressure Treatment
- Hands Off, Bacteria!
- Chain of Food
- Outbreak Alert (Shigella)
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Listen to teachers describe how they used the Web Guides (free mp3 player required)
- Understanding Bacteria
- Ultra High Pressure Treatment
- Hands Off, Bacteria!
- Outbreak Alert (Shigella)
- Chain of Food
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