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Michael Jackson Interview Food, Nutrition andmgriculture 2000 - 26 Michael Jackson Interview

Michael Jackson Interview

T.Van De Venter

Dr Theo van de Venter is Director of Food Control in the Department of Health, Republic of South Africa.

Food-borne diseases ar among the most widespread public health problems. Yet only a small proportion of these illnesses come to the noticeof health services, and even fewer are investigated. It is estimated that the reported incidence of food-borne disease represents less than 10 percent, and maybe less than 1 percent, of the real incidence (Motarjemi and Käferstein, 1997). In developing countries even fewer cases are counted, primarily because of poverty and lack of resources for food safety management and food control services. In spite of underreporting, increases in food-borne diseases in many parts of the world and the emergence of new or newly recognized food-borne problems have been identified. These growing problems may be biological or chemical by nature.

Emerging food-borne problems

Emerging, or in some cases re-emerging, food-borne problems are commonly considered to be those problems that have recently appeared in a population; have extended to new vehicles of transmission; have started to increase rapidly, in incidence or geographic range; have various causes (e.g. ecological, environmental, food production or demographic factors); and have been widespread for many years but only recently identified because of new or increased knowledge or methods of identification and analysis of the disease agent.

The following factors play a role in the epidemiology of emerging food-borne problems:

• Changes in the pathogens. Microbial adaptation through natural selection is a key process in the emergence of pathogens. The therapeutic use of an antimicrobial agent in human or animal populations creates a selective pressure that favours survival of bacterial strains resistant to the agent.
• Development. Economic and technical developments have introduced new foods. New production systems or environmental changes increase access to certain foods. The food chain has become longer and more complex, thus increasing opportunities for contamination. Lack of knowledge and negligence on the part of food handlers, together with an increase in mass catering, are important factors in food-borne illnesses.

Environmental contamination, poor social conditions
and lack of safe food preparation facilities are interrelated
factors that lead to food-borne illnesses

• Poverty and pollution. Environmental contamination, poor social conditions and lack of safe food preparation facilities are interrelated factors that lead to food-borne illnesses.
• Dietary habits. Dietary preferences and practices (e.g. for raw or hazardous foods) and some cultural beliefs and rituals can increase the risk of illness. Food consumption is changing as the result of a variety of factors: dietary habits may be altered by nutritional recommendations and campaigns; higher living standards have led to greater consumption of animal products; environmental changes can lead to increased access to certain foods; habits may be influenced by food policy, production systems and urban life styles; and there is an increase in prepacked "convenience" foods, street-vended foods and meals consumed in food service establishments.
• Health sector. Many governments are under increasing pressure to reduce staff and decentralize and privatize their health systems. Rapid changes and public sector austerity are having immediate, dramatic effects on health. Food safety education is being replaced by an emphasis on other important health concerns. Vulnerability to food-borne diseases is increasing as immune systems are compromised by HIV infection; and malignancy and immunosuppressive treatments have also increased.

• Demographic changes. The proportion of the population susceptible to food-borne problems is increasing. In more affluent domains, life expectancy is increasing, while elsewhere a very high birth rate often goes hand-in-hand with poverty and malnutrition.
• Travel and migration. Hundreds of millions of people crossing borders are at high risk of food-borne disease. Travellers can spread disease rapidly to new and distant environments, while immigrants also introduce new foods and dietary habits into new regions.
• Trade in food, animal feed and animals. Globalization, facilitated by the liberalization of trade, has led to an increasing number of cases where the rapid movement of food of plant and animal origin has contributed to the spread of food-borne problems to new areas.
• New food vehicles of transmission. An array of new food vehicles of transmission have been identified, including street foods. While undercooked foods of animal or marine origin were traditionally implicated in outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, increasing attention is now being focused on items such as fruit, vegetables and apple cider.

Biological or chemical agents

Control measures for food-borne problems necessitate a thorough understanding of the causative agents. While the most prominent emerging problems are of microbial origin, other biological as well as chemical agents are a cause for concern.

Bacteria

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