MIC 302: Introduction to various types of

food and food borne pathogens

Dr. Nafisa Azmuda

Associate Professor
Food
▪ Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional
support for the body (to produce energy, maintain life, or
stimulate growth). It is usually of plant or animal origin, and
contains essential nutrients, such as
⚫ carbohydrates
⚫ fats,
⚫ proteins,
⚫ vitamins, or
⚫ minerals
Types of food based on source
▪ Almost all foods are of plant or animal origin.
▪ Maize, wheat, and rice- in all of their varieties - account for 87% of all grain
production worldwide

⚫ Vegetables
⚫ Fruits
⚫ Dairy
⚫ Meat and beans
⚫ Oils
⚫
 Types of food based on taste
1. Sweet
⚫ most pleasant taste,
⚫ Sweetness is almost always caused by a type of simple sugar such as glucose or
fructose, or disaccharides such as sucrose, a molecule combining glucose and
fructose

2. Sour
⚫ Sour is evolutionarily significant as it is a sign for a food that may have
gone rancid due to bacteria
⚫ caused by the taste of acids
3. Salty
⚫ Saltiness is the taste of alkali metal ions such as sodium and potassium
⚫ many different types of salt, with each having a different degree of saltiness,
including sea salt, kosher salt, mined salt, and grey salt

4. Bitter
⚫ Bitterness is a sensation often considered unpleasant characterized by having a
sharp, pungent taste
⚫ Dark, unsweetened chocolate, caffeine, lemon rind, and some types of fruit are
known to be bitter
 Types of food based on processing
1. Whole food/natural food
⚫ unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before
being consumed.
⚫ Whole foods typically do not contain added ingredients, such as salt,
carbohydrates, or fat
⚫ do not contain any additional agents like sweeteners, food color or flavorings
⚫ Eg: fruits, vegetables and raw dairy products
2.Organic food
⚫ Does not involve modern synthetic inputs such
as synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilizers
⚫ are not processed using irradiation, industrial
solvents, or chemical food additives.
3. Traditional food
⚫ prepared traditionally that may have a nostalgic or
sentimental appeal
⚫ simply provide an easy-to-eat, easy-to-digest meal
⚫ rich in calories, nutrients, or both.

4. Junk food
⚫ have little or no nutritional value
⚫ considered unhealthy when regularly eaten;
⚫ all junk foods are typically ready-to-eat
5. Fermented food
⚫ Foods or food ingredients that rely on microbial growth as part of their processing or
production
⚫ Highly nutritious
⚫ Presence of desirable enzymes, pleasing flavor
⚫ High digestibility
⚫ Reducing cooking time
 The Shelf Life of Different Types of Food
Products
Factors playing crucial role in determining how long food will stay fresh:
1. how it stored at home
2. the way it has been handled
3. the way it has been treated
4. stored before arriving at the local supermarket
 Microorganisms in Food

Fermented Food Food borne

food Microbiology illness and food
spoilage

Food
preservation
 Food associated bacteria
Spoilage bacteria :
⚫ have the capability to produce food spoilage
⚫ subsequently affect fitness for human consumption.

Pathogenic bacteria :
⚫ cause human illness and/or intoxification
⚫ Subsequently affect fitness for human consumption and
⚫ result in food borne illness .
Food poisoning vs spoilage
Food spoilage
Food-borne illness: food poisoning
Food-borne infection
Classical source of foodborne illness

⚫ The Centers for Food borne illness

Disease Control and
prevention (CDC)
have listed four 25%
Bacteria Viruses

Classical sources of 4%
food borne illness 5% 66% Parasites Toxins

⚫ At least 30
pathogenic bacteria
are commonly
associated with
foodborne illness
The most emerging bacteria associated with foodborne illness

Gastrointestinal tract Toxin producing bacteria:

infectious bacteria: • Staphylococcus aureus
⚫ Salmonella • Bacillus cereus
• Clostridium botulinum
⚫ Shigella
• Clostridium perfringens
⚫ Diarrheagenic Escherichia
coli
⚫ Vibrio cholerae and V.
parahaemolyticus
⚫ Listeria monocytogenes
⚫ Yersinia enterocolitica
⚫ Campylobacter jejuni .
Four factors that contribute most often to outbreaks of foodborne illness
are:

* holding food at the wrong temperature, including inadequate

cooling
* inadequate cooking
* using contaminated equipment when handling food
* poor personal hygiene by the food handler
THANK YOU