Danger of contamination hovers loose over food products

Food is key vehicle in transmission of communicable diseases, which is why it should be safe in nature, in processing, in storage, in packaging as well as in retail premises where it is sold. It should be free from toxins and contaminants which may prove to be potential health hazards. It may be observed that in retail premises, often, food articles like sugar, pulses, rice, wheat, and maize are kept open and is handled by unskilled laborers unaware about the type of contaminants that can cause health hazards for consumers. 

The sources of contaminants, how they contaminate and what are their impacts are detailed below for the benefit of the common consumers: 

Food handling in retail premises

Food comes in contact with human hands during, transportation, storage and selling. It is very important that people handling food items are free from any communicable diseases like cold, respiratory ailments, and cuts and boils, which could be transferred to open food items, thereby spreading the infection to persons or consumers consuming the food article. Human hair, nasal discharge, and skin can also be source of microorganisms. A number of gastrointestinal disorders, such as diarrhoea, cholera and communicable diseases such as typhoid, septic sore throat, diphtheria, and dysentery are communicated by use of contaminated food articles.

Shopkeeper and food handler

It is the responsibility of the shopkeeper and the engaged labourers in outbreak of food poisoning due to contaminants emanating from various external agents as also food handlers themselves. Due to paucity of space, most of the food articles are transferred to storage and kept without proper coverage where proper hygienic system is not followed. As a result, there is every possibility of transmission of diseases like amoebic dysentery, bacillary dysentery, typhoid and paratyphoid fevers, viral hepatitis, staphylococcal and streptococcal infections, salmonellosis3 and so on. 

Contamination by rodents

Rodents are a pest group which can contaminate open food items and are a serious threat to humans for spreading diseases. Rodents include mice, rats and bandicoots. The accumulation of faeces from mice and rats spread bacteria, contaminate open food articles and trigger allergic reactions in humans. Once the faecal matter becomes dry, it can be hazardous to those who breathe it in. Moreover, people are infected through inhalation of infected rodent urine, droppings or saliva in food articles kept open. Hantavirus 4 is a potentially life threatening disease transmitted by rodents.

Contamination by insects

(i) House Fly: One of the most common insects is the housefly. These have minute hair on their legs and thus carry various types of bacteria, viruses, and germs. Normally, in markets these flies are found everywhere and sit on open food articles like sugar and other food articles made of sugar which cannot be cleaned. It has also been observed that flies of both sexes feed on all kinds of human food, garbage and excreta, including sweat and animal dung. The fly picks up disease causing organisms while moving and feeding and transmits it when it makes contact with people and their food. The diseases that flies can transmit are dysentery, diarrhoea, typhoid, cholera, jaundice, poliomyelitis and also certain helminth infections and poliomyelitis. They contaminate open food by carrying/spreading the germs, parasite and bacterium of all the above diseases that are infectious to humans. It is also possible that they may carry faecal matter or from other such sources of pathogenic bacteria and deposit it on the open food articles which contaminate food articles and cause serious damage to human beings. According to study report by a scientist of Kansas State University, fly can contaminate food by E. faecalis, a bacterium that is resistant to antibiotics and causes the majority of intestinal infections. 

II) Cockroaches: According to a University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) publication, cockroaches have been found to be the cause of Salmonella food contamination or food poisoning that can be life threatening noting that other pathogenic bacterium, includes staphylococcus, streptococcus and coliforms, have been found in cockroaches. Cockroaches can contaminate food products by spreading 33 different kinds of bacteria 7 as reported by NPMA vice-president of public affairs. According to a report by World Health Organisation (WHO), cockroach can play a role as carriers of intestinal diseases such as diarrhoea, dysentery, typhoid and cholera and are very fond of sugar and starchy sugary material. Normally, in retail shops the sugars as also materials made of sugar are not properly covered and kept closed inside the shop after the market hours. Cockroaches can contaminate open food articles like sugar and starchy sugary materials as they are carriers of the organisms causing diarrhoea, dysentery, cholera, leprosy, plague, typhoid fever, and viral diseases such as poliomyelitis. In addition, they carry the eggs of parasitic worms and may cause allergic reactions, including dermatitis, itching, swelling of the eyelids and more seriously respiratory conditions.

Possible contaminants in jute sacks

Normally sugars, pulses, rice, and wheat are packed in jute sacks. The contaminant in jute sacks is jute batching oil (JBO) used in the jute industry to make the jute fibre. There are two varieties of JBO generally used in jute industries in India; the first one is called JBO having lower viscosity and lower boiling point and the second one called JBO (P), with comparatively higher viscosity and higher boiling point ( Mahapatra-1977). So far there have been a very limited number of experimental studies on the toxic effect of JBO. Roe et al. 1967 have described the carcinogenic effect of mineral oil used in the processing of jute fibres on mouse skin and showed the presence of benzo (a) pyrene (BaP) in the tested oil in traces. A study conducted by Mehrotra and Saxena 1979 has indicated the carcinogenic effect of JBO (C) on albino mice.

It is an established fact that unhygienic food processing and improper packaging can create hazards like salmonella, microbes, endotoxins, migration of toxins from packing material, adhesive & inks and so on and can render the food unfit for human consumption. Other contaminants due to packaging could be physical and chemical changes, migration of chemicals, off flavours, colour and texture change, moisture and oxygen transfer and the effects of light and temperature changes on account of lack of proper barrier properties of packing materials. 

All these contaminants found in loose food products are there due to unhygienic food handling. Rodents also cause contamination of food and food products by droppings as also accumulating faeces and faecal matters and making urine in food and food products. House flies contaminate loose food products by spreading germs, parasites and bacterium. Cockroaches can contaminate food by spreading 33 types of bacteria in food and food products. Jute batching oil is another contaminant used in jute processing which has carcinogenic effect as reported by Mehrotra and Saxena. 

Given the above argument it is extremely important that we purchase food items that are well packaged and sealed to ensure they are free of toxins and contamination.