- Introduction
Learn- Try It
- Task
Learn
Pathogens
A pathogen is a microscopic organism, like a bacteria or virus.
The term foodborne means that the carrier for the organism is some food source like meat, fruit, a casserole: whatever the organism comes in contact with.
An important note here is that these organisms exist on all foods; our intestinal systems are equipped to handle these organisms in small amounts. It is when there are too many of these organisms that there is a problem.
E. coli
You may have heard of the outbreak of E. coli in the USA in 2007 associated with spinach. E. coli comes from animal or human waste, or sewage. The large amount of the organism that came in contact with the spinach resulted in a large number of illnesses, especially since spinach is often eaten uncooked. Cooking food is one way to reduce the amount of pathogens in food.
The outbreak of E. coli may have been due to fertilizer that came in contact with a crop of spinach. Because the USDA could not immediately identify the source, they recalled all fresh spinach from the market. This cost our economy millions and required that many restaurants and manufactures change their product ingredients. This example should highlight the importance of food safety.
Foodborne pathogens are normal and generally nothing to fear. However, we must be careful to practice good sanitation in order to keep them at safe levels. The problem generally occurs through poor food handling techniques which allow the pathogens to multiply to unsafe levels.
Now we will look at some common pathogens, the food they are commonly associated with, and physical symptoms of being exposed to them in amounts large enough to cause illness.
Groups at Risk
There are several populations of people at higher risk for obtaining foodbourne illness. These groups include
- children,
- people who are already sick, and
- the elderly.
The reason that children can become sick more quickly is because their immune system is not fully developed.
For someone is who is already sick, their immune system is busy trying to fight off an illness; adding excessive food pathogens creates more work for the body to heal itself.
Elderly people have a similar problem. As we age, all of our body systems grow a little less resilient; the intestinal system is no different. The greater the number of bacteria, molds, and viruses put in an elderly person's body, the greater the chance they may become sick from the same foods that may not have sickened them earlier in life. Therefore, it is especially important to purchase, prepare, and store food safely when working with these people.
Project Description
In this unit, you will take a closer look at a foodborne pathogen. You will be working with two or three classmates to examine a pathogen thoroughly.
- Describe the pathogen thoroughly
- Which foods are most affected by this pathogen?
- How can food become contaminated
- What food preparation practices reduce the risk for this foodborne illness?
- Have there been any recent outbreaks of this pathogen in the news?
Your group will then create a presentation to share your research.
Before you get started, check with your teacher to see who is in your group. Then, look at the list of pathogens to see which one (or ones) you are most interested in researching. You may also propose an alternate pathogen, with approval from your teacher.
- Salmonella
- Norovirus (Norwalk Virus)
- Campylobacter
- E. coli
- Listeria
- Clostridium perfringens.
In addition to explaining which pathogen you would like to research, explain which role you would like in the research.
- Role #1 - Background: This person will provide background information on the pathogen, including definitions for any needed terms, identification as bacteria or virus, and commonly contaminated foods.
- Role #2 - Safety Practices: This person will research common modes of contamination and food safety practices that help reduce the risk of contamination with this pathogen, both general (like handwashing) and specific to the pathogen.
- Role #3 - Outbreaks: This person will research outbreaks of this pathogen, describing one to two outbreak incidents, including where they occurred, how many people were affected, the source / cause of contamination, and effects of the outbreak. This person will also assemble the final version of the project.
