Lecture 8

FOOD SAFETY AND SECURITY

Course Instructor : Sabrina Haque (SBH1)

Lecturer
Department of Public Health
School of Health and Life Sciences
North South University
+8801317260917
[email protected]
Learning objectives
After the end of the session, we will learn about:
• Contamination and adulteration
• The various ways of food contamination and adulteration
• The diseases that can occur due to food adulteration and
contamination as well as their treatment
• The preventive measures against any kind of food
contamination and adulteration
• The regulatory acts and laws that are used in Bangladesh
in order to maintain the quality and safety of food products
• Concept of food security and how it is measured
• Current situation of food security in the country
Issues of Food Safety
• Food Safety refers to handling, preparing and storing food
in a way to best reduce the risk individuals becoming sick
from foodborne illnesses
• It is a comprehensive approach that ensure food quality
“from farm to fork”
• Lack of food safety, i.e. food and waterborne disease kills
2.2 million people worldwide every year, 87% of them are
children
• Food safety can be jeopardized through food
contamination or food adulteration

Processors
Farmers Consumers
Handlers
Food Contamination
• Refers to when food is “corrupted” with “another
substance”
• Food contamination happens when something gets into
food that shouldn’t be there
• Can be Biological, Physical or Chemical
Biological Contamination
• Can be caused by biological “agents” like bacteria (or their
toxins), virus, fungus, protozoa, and prions

Agent Disease

Bacteria Salmonella (Typhoid fever), Vibrio Cholera (Cholera)

Virus Norovirus, Hepatitis A virus, Hepatitis E virus

Parasites Tapeworm, roundworm

Prion Mad-cow disease, Cruetzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Chemical Contamination
• Chemical contamination occurs when food comes into
contact with chemicals and can lead to chemical food
poisoning
• Common chemicals involved:
 Kitchen cleaning chemicals
 Fungicides and pesticides
 Non food grade plastics
 Heavy metal (Lead, Cadmium, Mercury)
Physical Contamination
• When an object is found in food
• Also indicates some sort of biological contamination
• Common contaminants are:
 Hair (most common food contaminant)
 Jewelry
 Glass or metal
 Pest drippings or pests itself
 Dirt
 Fingernail
Prevention of Food contamination
Some simple tips can help you prevent food contamination:
• Wash your hands and utensils before food preparation with clean and
safe water
• Cover your hair and keep jewelry to a minimum while preparing foods
• Cover your foods
• Keep fingernails short and clean
• Wash fruits and vegetables well before preparing raw foods like salad
• Separate raw and cooked food
• Cook food thoroughly during processing as well as reheating
• Follow ideal storage practices: do not leave food for more than 2hours,
refrigerate promptly below 5 °C and only for a short duration
• Choose processed food safely, such as: Pasteurized milk
https://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/consumer/en/5keys_en.pdf?ua=1
Food adulteration
• Food Adulteration refers to the process by which the quality
or the nature of a given food is reduced through addition of
adulterants or removal of vital substance
• Basically, during food adulteration, small quantity of non-
nutritious (or even harmful) substances are added
intentionally to improve the appearance, texture or storage
properties of the food
Common adulterants used
• Carbide – to ripen fruits like banana, mango, papaya
• Formalin – to preserve fish, fruits and vegetable, milk
• Textile color - applied on raw vegetables or cooked food
for coloring, brightness, and freshness
• Urea – Used in puffed rice or rice for whiteness
• Coloring agents - used in spices, sauces, and juices, lentil,
and oils to make them attractive
• Agino moto or monosodium glutamate (tasting salt) – used
in chinese and other food items to increase taste
• Brick powder, saw dust – used in Chilly powder to increase
weight
• Chalk powder – used in milk, sugar to increase thickness
and weight respectively
http://www.lawjournalbd.com/2015/06/food-adulteration-the-bangladesh-paradox-3/
Food adulteration - examples
The widespread use of formalin, in preservation of fish, fruit
and other food items is posing a threat to public health. The
chemical used as a solution in water keeps fish fresh and
makes fruits like mangoes attractive. This chemical, usually
used to stop dead bodies from rotting, is now being used to
preserve edible items
Food adulteration - examples
In 2008, Chinese food safety officials have seized 64 tons of
raw dairy materials (infant formula) from San Lu group
contaminated with the toxic industrial chemical melamine
after 54,000 babies were hospitalized and 6 died from
kidney stones.
Food additives
Non-nutritive substance added intentionally to food, generally
in small quantities to improve appearance, flavor, texture or
storage properties. Amounts used in food are usually
regulated by law
Can be preservatives, flavoring agents, thickening agents,
coloring agents, antioxidants, stabilizers etc.
Causes of food adulteration
• Profit motive of traders: Done as a part of the business
strategy
• Food insecurity: To increase quantity of food production
and sales.
• Increased Urbanization: To make maximum profit from
food items by fewer investments.
• High population demands: Increased food demand of the
population and its changing trends.
• Illiteracy of general public: Lack of consciousness of proper
food consumption.
• Lack of effective food laws
• Lack of government initiative
Measures For Addressing Food Adulteration
• Proper implementation of food law under continuous
surveillance
• Regular monitoring of the activities with periodical records
of hazards regarding food adulteration.
• Periodical training programs for workforce ensuring food
safety
• Existence of consumer awareness programs
• Strict actions regarding the punishment for food
adulteration
Effect of “unsafe” food
Food contamination Food adulteration
Food borne disease/Food Acute problems like food
poisoning, characterized by: poisoning
Abdominal cramps Long term use can cause
Nausea problems in heart, liver, kidney,
Vomiting stomach and also cancers in
Diarrhea – dehydration different parts of the body
Fever
Allergic reactions Chronic consumption of non-
Poisoning from chemical nutritious adulterants can lead
substances, e.g. Mercury to malnutrition, especially in
children.
Food Security
what does “securing food” mean?

NOT as in
মা আমি A+ পেয়েছি

BUT, as in…
…SECURING
good grades
Concept of Food Security
• “Food security [is] a situation that exists when all people, at
all times, have physical, social and economic access to
sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary
needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”
FAO 2001
• Usually measured at household level

• Measured across four dimensions: Availability, Accessibility,

Utilization and Stability

• Absence of food security (Food insecurity) can be acute,

seasonal or chronic

http://www.fao.org/3/y4671e/y4671e06.htm
Dimensions of Food Security
• Availability: Physical availability of food from the “supply
side” and is determined by the level of food production, stock
levels and net trade
• Accessibility: Economic and Physical access to food and
determined by incomes, expenditure, markets and prices
• Utilization: Biological aspect dealing with the way the body
makes the most of various nutrients in the food which is
determined by good feeding practices, food preparation,
diversity of the diet and intra-household distribution of food.
• Stability: Refers to the importance of availability and
accessibility to food “at all times”

http://www.fao.org/3/al936e/al936e00.pdf
Factors affecting food security
• Global water crisis affecting food production
• Climate change (global warming) affects crop yield, forest
resources etc.
• Land degradation as a result of deforestation as well as
intensive farming leads to exhaustion of soil fertility and
reduce agricultural yields
• Urbanization is reducing the amount of agricultural land
• Humanitarian crisis and disaster leads to acute food
insecurity

https://www.disabled-world.com/fitness/nutrition/foodsecurity/
Stages and grades of food (in)security
Food security in Bangladesh
Summary
• Food safety and security are important determinant of good health
and nutrition

• Food safety refers to “unexpected and unacceptable” substances in

food either through contamination or adulteration

• Food security refers to ensuring safe and adequately nutritious diet

for all people, all the time

• A number of factors are affecting global food security

• Though Bangladesh has managed to ensure food security for most of

its population, much work is to be done to ensure “good diet”