2021-03-15

UNIT II
Causes of Food Contamination and
Spoilage
Presented by
Tatenda Ncozana

Hazards in the Food Chain

• Food production and food safety have to be implemented simultaneously
• Food safety cannot be achieved without corresponding implementation of
control measures throughout the production cycle
• Reasons include:
1. Public health hazards can enter the food chain at different, often several points
2. Food safety hazards are numerous and their nature varies considerably
3. There is need to understand each specific hazard, point and route of entry, and
relationship with production phase
4. What happens at a specific phase of production affects adjacent phases hence
food production should be viewed as a system and not isolated phases
5. A mistake at one point can negate successes at other points, hence integration
and coordination is key

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Nature of Food Chain and Associated Hazards

• Vertical integration of food

producers is partly a response
to food production and food
safety inter-relationship
• E.g. a single company owning
all production phases: animal
feed-farms-abattoirs/dairies-
meat factories-retailing
• Longitudinal and integrated
food safety assurance
becomes possible in such
systems

Chemical Hazards in Food

• Chemicals enter the food chain due to:

1. Their existence in the environment leading to unintentional food
contamination
2. Their intentional use at some point in the food production chain
• Industrial pollutants are generally unintentional food contaminants
which are often difficult to control, even if regulated
• Agrochemicals are deliberately applied to land/crops during production,
hence can be regulated and controlled
• rate of ingestion of chemical hazards can be either higher or lower than
rate of excretion

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Bioaccumulation and Biomagnification

• Bioaccumulation is the gradual accumulation of

substances, such as pesticides or other chemicals,
in an organism.
• Biomagnification/bioamplification is any
concentration of a toxin, such as pesticides, in the
tissues of tolerant organisms at successively
higher levels in a food chain.
• This increase can occur as a result of:
1. Persistence – where the substance cannot be
broken down by environmental processes
2. Low or non-existent rate of internal degradation
or excretion of the substance – mainly due to
water-insolubility

Classes of Pollutants

• Main classes of pollutants are:

1. Industrial - Heavy metals, Halogenated hydrocarbons
2. Agrochemicals – insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides,
fertilisers
3. Growth promoters – hormone-like, antimicrobial
4. Veterinary medicines – antimicrobials, antiparasitics, tranquillizers
5. Naturally occurring toxins – mycotoxins, plant toxins, algal toxins
6. Food additives – colourants, flavourants, preservatives, plastic
packaging compounds

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Industrial Pollutants – Heavy Metals

• Heavy metals which can occur in foods include Lead, Arsenic,
Mercury, Cadmium, Copper, etc.
• Lead – can occur in animals grazing/crops growing close to lead-
smelting plants or after ingestion of paints of lead-containing
substances
• Arsenic – exposure normally occurs via feeds or liquids contaminated
with arsenic pesticides
• Cadmium – pasture irrigated with aerobically digested sludge
normally contains cadmium

Industrial Pollutants – Halogenated hydrocarbons

• Group of reactive and persistent compounds that include

polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated naphthalenes
(PCNs) and dioxins
• PCBs and PCNs – common sources are electrical machinery,
lubricants, paints, some insecticides. Effects are mainly teratogenic
and carcinogenic
• Dioxins – similar industrial origins and toxic effects to PCBs and PCNs,
main source being burning of chlorinated wastes. Significant
industrial sources are Paper mills which use dioxin-containing
bleaching compounds , and plastic (PVC) manufacturing

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Agrochemicals - Insecticides
• Some are persistent and highly toxic
• They are the most widely used agrochemicals, therefore present the
greatest food safety risk
• Main groups are chlorinated hydrocarbons (DDT, Aldrin/Dieldrin,etc)
and organophosphates (Malathion, Diazinon, etc)
• DDT was used successfully in the past for mosquito, animal parasite
and plant insect control but was banned since 1972 due to
environmental and public health impact
• Organophosphates still in use today but extremely toxic though less
persistent than organochlorines

Agrochemicals - Herbicides
• Not normally used on food crops or livestock
• However, when herbicide-treated products are used for animal
bedding, residue contamination occurs
• A few herbicides contain dioxins and are toxic and persistent
• Most herbicides are less toxic though some of their metabolites can
be highly toxic to humans
• Fertilisers, as part of run-off, can cause eutrophication. Their residues
have no major food safety hazards
• Rodenticides – such as Warfarin, are not normally found in foods if
used under controlled and prescribed conditions

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Growth Promoters
• Animal growth promoters used for commercial reasons have no health
benefits for the animals or consumers
• Growth promoters are banned in the EU, but allowed in other countries
• 2 major classes are hormone-like compounds and antimicrobials
• Hormone-like compounds can be synthetic (e.g.Diethylsibesterol,DES) or
natural (progesterone, testosterone) or fungal oestrogens (Zearalenone)
• Risks associated with growth promoters are difficult to evaluate as they
mimic the effect of natural hormones
• Antimicrobials affect composition and behaviour of indigenous
microflora in animals’ gastrointestinal tracts

Veterinary Medicines
• Antimicrobials – are used to treat diseases in animals
• Their residues may cause development of microbial resistance
• Allergic reactions can occur in humans who ingest antimicrobial
residues (e.g. penicillin) via foods such as milk
• High levels of residues could produce toxic reactions in consumers of
the contaminated foods
• Antiparasitics – residues can occur in meat and teratogenic effects
have been observed in sheep
• Tranquillizers – used to reduce animals’ stress levels during
treatment, transportation or slaughter. Effects of residues not known

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Naturally Occurring Toxins 1/2

• Mycotoxins – naturally produced by toxigenic fungi (moulds)
• Toxigenic fungi-containing feeds may result in meat/milk that contains
mycotoxins
• Toxigenic fungi can also grow in post-harvest stage
• 2 main classes of mycotoxins of concern are Aflatoxins and
Ochratoxins
• Aflatoxins produced by Aspergillus flavus and A. parasiticus (AFB1,
AFB2, AFG1, AFG2) are carcinogenic for both animals and humans
• Aflatoxins can occur without obvious mould growth, e.g. in peanuts
• Ochratoxins are produced by Penicillium spp. And some Aspergillus
strains, and are common in pigs and cows’ milk

Naturally Occurring Toxins 2/2

• Algal toxins – mostly produced by algae growing in certain coastal
regions
• can be accumulated in shellfish causing paralytic shellfish poisoning
(PSP) and related intoxications in humans
• Plant toxins – some plants such as mushrooms produce toxins that
are heat-stable
• Red kidney beans produce phytohaemagglutinin which is destroyed
by cooking

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Food Additives
• Present in foods due to intentional and normally controlled use
• Their presence in foods is normal if concentrations are predetermined
to be posing no significant risk to consumers
• They include:
1. Curing agents: e.g. nitrites, polyphosphates, sodium chloride
2. Smoke compounds, antioxidants
3. Preservatives: e.g. sulphite, benzoate, sorbic acid
4. Colourants, flavourants, emulsifiers
• Food additives may present a health hazard ingested at high
concentration or frequencies

Questions are Welcome