How food becomes poison

Food-borne illnesses happen because of the contamination of food by pathogens which can happen at any point of time from the production of raw material in farm, through supply and distribution or slaughter and packing, when these are processed into value-added products and make all the way to the kitchen in homes or commercial food establishments, where poor or careless handling can also introduce new pathogens into the food. Product history, environmental factors, cross contamination through poor handling, improper cooking/holding temperatures, inadequate cooking, poor personal hygiene and health status of food handlers, and the presence of pests are some of the known risk factors that can turn food into a source of public health concern. This means that if chicken or eggs have been implicated in an episode of food-borne illness, ensuring food safety should start right from the surveillance of poultry farms and ensuring that farm birds are being vaccinated against salmonella,” points out Bobby Krishna, Senior Food Safety Specialist at the Food Safety department of Dubai Municipality. Raw poultry naturally carries a high risk of salmonella contamination and food contaminated by salmonella will not look or taste different.