Consequences of Food toxins

The consequences of food toxins are numerous! This is because different food toxins results in a different symptoms and condition. However, i've found out that they are several symptoms that are similiar. These are symptoms such as fever, vomiting , diarrhea, respiratory problems and muscle degeneration. Well, it's no suprise that vomiting and having diarrhea is a symptom of food toxin ingestion because we relate these symptoms into our daily lifes. For example, if someone were to have serious diarrhea or nausea after eating a particular food, we would relate them to having food poisoning.

Many of these symptoms, if left untreated, will lead to serious consequences or even some cases, death.



Here are some common food toxins that are produced by bacteria, their symptoms and consequences are stated as follow

Botulinum toxin – The symptoms of botulinum toxins are vision problems, difficulty with speech and swallowing, drooping eye lids, dry mouth, and muscle weakness.

If left untreated, airway obstruction and paralysis of respiratory muscles may occur, this will result in death. [1]

Emetic toxin – The symptoms of emetic toxin includes nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Fatalities are rare as affected individuals recovers within 12~24 hours.[2]


Shiga toxins - The symptoms of shiga toxins are abdominal cramps, watery or bloody diarrhea, vomiting and fever.

About 10% of individuals affected with shiga toxins develops further complications such as hemorrhagic colitis, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), or postdiarrheal thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) [3]

Enterotoxins – The symptoms of enterotoxins are fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pains, shortness of breath and dry cough.

Enterotoxins are not consider lethal. However, in some cases, it can cause death by dilation of blood vessels which in turn lowers the blood pressure. Enterotoxins are also known to cause death by inducing respiratory failure. [4]


Mycotoxins are also significant in contributing to food toxins. However due to the large number of common mycotoxins, im only able to list down the common symptoms associated with ingesting these toxins.

The common symptoms of Mycotoxins ingestion are
• Weight loss
• Anxiety (nervous disorders)
• Diarrhea
• Skin toxicity
• Dermatitis,
• Persistent cold and flu-like symptoms
• Burning sore throat,
• Headaches
• Severe fatigue[5] [6]





[1] Botulinum Toxin As A Potential Weapon
http://www.uos.harvard.edu/ehs/biosafety/botulinum.shtml (accessed 12/7/08)

[2] Bacillus cereus
http://www.nzfsa.govt.nz/science/data-sheets/bacillus-cereus.pdf (accessed 12/7/08)

[3] Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli Fact Sheet
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/dc/Epidemiology/stec_fs.html (accessed 12/7/08)

[4] Staphylococcal Enterotoxin B
http://www.cbwinfo.com/Biological/Toxins/SEB.html (accessed 12/7/08)

[5]
Chapter 34, Trichothecene Mycotoxins
http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/medaspec/Ch-34electrv699.pdf (accessed 12/7/08)

[6] Health Effects of Mycotoxins
http://www.grayenvironmental.com/health_effects_of_mycotoxins.htm (accessed 12/7/08)

Allowable daily intake of food toxins

I've managed to find allowable daily intake[ADI] of mycotoxins, i've combined my research together with lecia's research. The ADI of various toxins can be found at this site. It's a european food regulation site

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/36/2004_food_table_bact.pdf

Suprisingly, it is much harder to find established report on the ADI of food toxins synthezised by bacteria commonly found in food. However, i could find the Median lethal dose(LD50) of these toxins, i'll put it up on the report until i manage to find the ADI. The lethal dosage basically stands for the dosage to ingest that will lead to death.

This is one of the site i used to find the median lethal dosage of several bacteria

http://www.itg.be/itg/DistanceLearning/LectureNotesVandenEndenE/48_Mycotoxinsp2.htm

Singapore's GMO crop committee

Hey fellow group members, i've found a link about GM crop that might be useful because it's localised. The gmac stands for Genetic Modification Advisory Committee, Singapore. Therefore they have useful articles on ethical or viable issues of gm crops according to the Singapore's context.




Here's the link

http://www.gmac.gov.sg/

Corn starch process

I've summarised the industrial process of making corn starch. This is a uphill task for me because of the numerous technical terms that i have to grasp. I had no choice but to google for these term, hoping that i can come up with alternative terms. So here it is

CLEANING
The corn has to go through a process called wet milling, the first step is to wash the corns twice. And at the same time, removing foreign particles and unwanted parts of the corn.

STEEPING
The corn is next soaked into large tanks of hot water for up to 50 hours. This step is for fermentation of the corn, sulphur dioxide is added at 1000ppm~2000ppm to control the fermentation. Steeping into sulphur dioxide enhances the fermentation because it inhibits unwanted micro organism while not affecting those that are required for fermentation.

STEEPWATER EVAPORATION
The water is drained and the kernels are dried by an evaporator. The steep water is recycled by making a concentrated fermentation liquid.

SO2 PLANT
Sulphuric acid is used for controlling microbial activities as well as to soften the corn kernels.


GERM SEPARATION
Next, the kernels are broken up by a mill and water is added to facilitate milling, this process forms a slurry. The germs should be released from the kernels without any damage to ensure none of the oil escapes.
The germs are separated from the slurry by a centrifuge and hydrocyclones. The germs are then washed and screened to remove any starch. The rest of the slurry are dried for further processing.

GERM DRYING
The water on the surface of the germs are removed by a tapered screw press. The semi-dried germs are then dried to approximately 4% moisture. Remaining fibre are removed and transported for storage.

FINE GRINDING AND SCREENING
After removing the germs, the dried slurry is then grounded to release starch and gluten from the endosperm. It goes through a fibre washing system to remove the starch and gluten. The product of this process is crude starch milk.

STARCH AND GLUTEN PRIMARY SEPARATION
The crude starch milk comprises of starch, gluten and other soluble. It’s processed by a safety strainer and de-gritting cyclone. Due to the different density of gluten and starch, centrifugal force can be used to separate them. Gluten enters the overflow while starch, the underflow.

STARCH REFINING
The crude starch milk is refined by washing with fresh water. By using strong hydroclones and centrifudge, the starch settles quickly. Again, this process can happen because of the different density of water, fibre and starch.
Impurities that are present together with the extracted starch are removed by sieve. This is the only known way to remove impurities from this last stage.

STARCH DEWATERING.
The extracted starch is then dewatered by passing through a peeler centrigudge. After this process, it is discharged to the moist starch hopper.

STARCH DRYING
From the hopper, the starch is fed into a flash dryer to dry in hot air. The dried starch with moisture of 12~13% is then sent for storage.[1]


[1]gmo corn - Google Search
http://home3.inet.tele.dk/starch/isi/starch/tm18www-corn.htm [accessed 25/6/08]

Common crops that are genetically modified

I've found a list of crops that are commonly modified, the table is shown as below

Taken from http://biotech.cas.psu.edu/articles/gmo_crops.htm (20/6/08)

Since my group will be doing on genetically modified corn starch, i have research more in depth into corn. Upon my research, i've found that Non-Gmo corn starch are 5% more expensive that gmo corn.[1] This is expected as GMO crops are made for higher yield and so the reduction in prices will follow. Consumers will not mind paying the premium for non-gmo corn products if they are concerned about ethical or health issues that are associated with GMO products.

There are articles that show that genetically modified crops are nutritionally same as non genetically modified crops. The animals are also not affected by the introduction of GMO-crops into their diets. However, in my opinion, this article is biased as it is linked to biotechnology institutions. [2]

[1]http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080701/tbs-korea-corn-gmo-b8dd11d.html

[2] http://www.monsanto.co.uk/news/ukshowlib.phtml?uid=5022

What is gmo crops?

Basically, gmo crops stands for Genetically modified organism, GMO crops indicates that the crops have been modified genetically for specific purposes. The seeds of these crops are taken to a laboratory to conduct a series of test to modify their genetic make up. The modified crops can have delayed ripening, example of these are tomatoes. But the main purpose of genetically modifying crops is to increase crop yield. To acheive this effect, several ways to modify the crops genetic make up is used. These includes, resistant to drought, resistant to pest, enhanced growth rate or even resistant to viral infections. Another purpose is to increase vitamin in the crops or to add vitamins that never existed in the original crops

An astonishing fact is that in the United states, 60% of the food supplies inside the supermarket contains ingredient that is derived from GMO crops. That means that majority of the food have ingredients that are genetically modified. [1]

GMO Crops - Biotechnology Food & Agriculture
http://biotech.cas.psu.edu/articles/gmo_crops.htm (accessed 20/6/08)

UPDATE!

Been busy with work and the project itself! Hardly have time for myself, so i will update what i've done these past week into this post.

Did the hazard analysis for the raw material Chili powder, water, as well as for the process of seasoning and cooling. Quite a simple task because information are ready on the net. None of mine comes under a CCp.


I also found an antioxidant that is suitable for use in our frying oil. One of our teacher mention it before, but i forgotten the name. So i tried my luck with google and i managed to find it! TBHQ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tert-Butylhydroquinone

Very commonly used in industrial vegetable oil for frying , rembered the teacher mentioned that the oil for frying instant noodles has this.


For the report, i did the introduction part. Was quite difficult because everything is based on my imagination! Since it is a superficial company, i have to make information out of nothing. Edited it to add on some information but amirah decided to cut it short.

Helped amirah with paraphrasing the recall procedure text cause there was quite alot to paraphrase. Feel that it should be cut short more because the discussion should be longer. Now the recall procedure already take up 3 pages, there's less than 1 page for discussion. Will bring this up with everyone on discussion board. Work hard people! We can relax abit more after monday, it's been hard on everyone but hope all of us will press on ;)

New process flow

I am so sorry everyone, i didnt know that we are meeting at 9pm, so i assumed it is 7pm. I am unable to attend the meeting because i have something on, however i have done some research with the time i have. Please review my research and see if its useful, i'll check and reply to the discussion board when i get back. I have found two process flow which i think we can use. My supervisor told me the process flowchart in the company cannot be used, therefore i tried searching online for others. My tip to finding process flowchart is to find specific names of common processed food products. For example 'canned tuna process flowchart' or 'whitebread process flowchart'. How to get ideas? just look around your house. ;) Please try it should you all need to find a more suitable process flowchart.

we have to draw up the process flowchart if we want to use this, this is quite simple and easy to understand.
http://www.grainchain.com/14-to-16/technology/baking-process.aspx

This is website has more detailed flowcharts on pages 23,34,43. Its all on processing fishes.
ftp://ftp.fao.org/codex/ccfh34/ApV0118e.pdf

Sorry for the late posting of research, didnt have chance to use the computer yesterday. I did quite some research but most of the stuff i found were irrelevant to what we are doing on, which is food. Therefore my research is kind of short, although i have quite a few links.

Ideal process flowchart
A process flowchart is usually used to simplify and clarify how the process is moving, it also provide room for improvements of the process. For example, redundant steps could be cancelled out when improving the process flowchart (1). The process flowchart to be used should show the actual process flow instead of the process flow that is ideal (2). An I deal process flowchart should include all important details such as storage temperature, cooking time or equipments involved (3).

Importance of product specifications
The Product specification is important because analytical tests are performed to make sure that the quality of the product conforms to specification and requirements. This way, end products with quality that do not meet requirements are screened and removed before shipment. Thus, the company that acquires the product can be assured that majority of the product are free from defects before processing them with other raw materials (4).



1)Methods & Tools Flowchart
http://www.qaproject.org/methods/resflowchart.html (cited 20/4/08)

2)Flow charting
http://quality.enr.state.nc.us/tools/flowchart.htm (cited 20/4/08)

3) Flowcharting Help Page (Tutorial) by Dexter A. Hansen
http://home.att.net/~dexter.a.hansen/flowchart/flowchart.htm (cited 20/4/08)

4) Watson Inc. - Importance of a Certificate of Analysis
http://www.watson-inc.com/quality_importance.php (cited 20/4/08)

Process flowchart

Very difficult to find this online. Why? If you think about the company's point of view, i think it's difficult to even put up your list of ingredients up online. But i guess it's okay because it's compulsory to put it on your product label anyway. So knowing the ingredients is easy, how about the process? Putting the process flow chart online is as good as letting everyone know how to make your product step by step. Nevertheless, i tried to find it on google image last night, only managed to find two. The reason why i used google image instead of google, is because flowchart is usually saved as an image file.

Cheese Making
Quite a simple process flowchart on cheesemaking, temperatures and processes all given. However one drawback is that we may not know the process that cheese making uses

Salad
Very detailed background information on the salad making process in terms of biological, chem and physical hazards. However i think the process flowchart is inadequate because temperatures for cooking are not given.

Avian flu information

The Avian Flu is a virus that affects several bird species including poultry birds such as chickens and ducks. Infected birds contaminate feed and water through their saliva and feces which will then infect other poultry [1].

There are two groups of the virus, the low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The HPAI strain is more transmissible than LPAI, and can affect the eggs’ interior. However, infected eggs are easily detected as their shells are brittle and break easily. Hens will also stop laying eggs when infected with the virus, thus this effectively reduces the risk of having HPAI infected eggs [2].

Moreover, experiments have concluded that the virus is destroyed at 74˚C [3]. Thus, the manufacturer can be rest assured that Avian Flu is not a concern because baked products are subjected to heat treatment of around 175˚C. Pasteurized eggs can also be used as an alternative because the virus is destroyed during pasteurization. [4]. Powdered eggs can also substitute fresh eggs as it has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to be safe for consumption during the Avian Flu outbreak [5].

The risk of humans getting infected with the Avian Flu is usually low. However, it can happen when a person comes in contact with an infected poultry or contaminated surfaces. Symptoms of a person with Avian Flu include fever, cough, sore throats, muscle aches, eye infections and even pneumonia [1].

Regional countries which are affected by the virus are the Republic of Korea, Viet Nam, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Indonesia, China, and Malaysia. Of these countries, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Malaysia have successfully eliminated the virus out of their country and are considered free of the Avian Flu by WHO. Therefore, if the manufacturer should want to continue using fresh eggs as part of their ingredient, the best solution is to use eggs that are imported from countries free of the Avian Flu outbreak [5].
Links i found:
1) US FDA-CFSAN - What Consumers Need to Know About Avian Influenza
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/avfluqa.html (accessed 1/4/2008)

2) Avian Influenza and Poultry – Food Safety
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/animal/avia-poul/index_e.html

3) WHO No bird flu risk for consumers from properly cooked poultry and eggs
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr66/en/index.html

4) Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan - WHO warns against bird flu complacency
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C03%5C08%5Cstory_8-3-2008_pg7_11

5) WHO Avian influenza ( bird flu) - Fact sheet http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/avian_influenza/en/#countries



Subsitutes for fresh eggs

Powdered eggs
http://www.crisis.gov.sg/NR/rdonlyres/9349A9CF-2449-4D24-B070-0BAEE0A38E59/0/Powderedeggs.pdf

Pasteurized whole eggs
http://waltonfeed.com/self/eggs.html

Singapore's Avian Flu website
http://www.crisis.gov.sg/flu/