Food borne illness

Last week, we touched on personal hygiene; so this week, we'll explain & elaborate on food borne illness which is mainly due to poor personal hygiene, on the term, & how they are usually caused.

Food borne illness is defined as a disease transmitted to people through the food they eat. There are 3 types of food borne illness, namely Infection, Intoxication, & Toxin-mediated infection.
Infection is caused by consuming food that contains living disease-causing organisms;
Intoxication is due to eating food that contains toxins produced by bacteria or other chemical compounds;
Toxin-mediated infection is a result of ingesting food which contains harmful microorganisms that starts producing toxin(s) once they enter the human body.

It takes about 4 hours to see visible symptoms of an Infection, while Intoxication has an immediate effect. Toxin-mediated infection is rare, but it causes people to be very ill.

In Steak House, Infection is most likely to occur if the raw meat is not handled properly, caused by a common but disease-causing bacterium called Salmonella. The bacterium is known to cause Typhoid fever, Paratyphoid fever & Salmonellosis, which are zoonotic (diseases that can be transmitted from wild/domestic animals to humans or vice versa).
Of the 3, Salmonellosis is the most common and is caused by nontyphoidal Salmonella, usually contracted from raw meat, eggs, rodents or reptiles. Symptoms are diarrhea, fever, nausea & abdominal cramps which will persist from 8 to 72 hours after infection, & last for 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without treatment, but a handful of people may suffer from severe dehydration due to excessive diarrhea, & must be admitted into the hospital.
In severe cases, the infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, which slowly spreads to the rest of the body. This might result in death if not promptly diagnosed & treated with antibiotics. Also, some may later experience arthritis, which have long lasting, disabling effects. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune system are more likely to have a severe illness than others.

There's a rarer form of Salmonella called typhoidal Salmoella which causes typhoid fever. It is only carried by humans, and is usually contracted through direct contact with the faeces of an infected person.

Salmonellosis is highly dangerous to us, thus we have to practice good personal hygiene to thwart the spread & growth of the bacteria.

Food borne illnesses are usually due to cross contamination by food handlers. There are 3 types of contamination- Microbial, Chemical, & Physical.
Microbial contamination is largely due to human interaction, equipment/utensils, raw food, water, animals & the environment; & it can lead to all 3 types of food borne illnesses.
Chemical contamination is mainly from chemical compounds & food allergens; & it can cause acute poisoning, health-damaging effects or even death. Symptoms of food allergies usually include itching in/around mouth/face/scalp, tightening in the throat, shortness of breath, rashes, fainting, swelling of the face/eyes/hands/feet, gastrointestinal symptoms like stomach cramps/nausea/diarrhea, or even death.
Physical contamination is usually caused by objects that are eaten or served undetected in the food, which can be direct health hazards.

Monetary & productivity problems for Steak House will thus arise from any food borne illness caused. Examples will be absenteeism of employees, loss of productivity, medical expenses/claims, negative media coverage, loss of workers, reputation, customers & sales, legal fees, increased insurance premiums, temporary closure of Steak House, wastage of ingredients/food, extra costs of retraining employees, or worse, the closure of our food establishment. These will normally be the consequences of a food borne illness outbreak (an incident in which 2 or more people are down with similar illnesses after eating the same food).

Hence, the rationale of having good personal hygiene is to decrease the risk of food poisoning and ruin our restaurant's reputation. We could also save so much unnecessary costs and minimize as much contamination as possible. It also lowers the risk of people getting food borne illness. Therefore, this shows how much personal hygiene pays off, be it in our daily lives or work. Thus, let us all work together to strive for a clean & healthy working environment!