Food
List of Terms: C
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> Campylobacter jejuni
Sources: Raw milk, untreated water, and raw and undercooked meat, poultry, or shellfish. Illness Incubation: Generally 2 to 5 days after ingestion. Symptoms: Diarrhea (sometimes bloody), abdominal cramps, fever, muscle pain, headache, and nausea. Duration: 7 to 10 days. > Canning Human Pathogen Association: Clostridium botulinum. Food Safety Implication: Many raw foods, especially raw vegetables, contain heat-resistant spores of Clostridium botulinum. (See photo below.) While canning can help foods last longer, if it is not done properly, the spores will grow and produce a deadly toxin. If the toxin is consumed, a person could develop botulism, a serious foodborne illness. If a person's diaphragm is affected, he or she will not be able to breathe and could die. Fortunately, botulism is a very rare disease in the United States and is treatable if diagnosed early. (Also see Clostridium botulinum.) How It Works: First, food is washed and prepared before packing it in a sterile (free of microorganisms) tin-coated steel can or glass jar. To prevent food spoilage and kill any pathogenic organisms, the container is then subjected to high heat - at least 250° F (121° C) - for a certain amount of time. Cooking times vary depending on the food.
Food Safety Precautions: Exercise safe canning practices at home by following these tips:
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> Cell The Main Parts of a Prokaryotic (lacking a distinct nucleus) Cell are:
Note: A prokaryotic cell does not have a well-defined nucleus enclosing its genetic material.
> Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) With a work force of about 800, the Center promotes and protects public health and economic interest by ensuring that food is safe, nutritious, wholesome, and accurately labeled. It also ensures that cosmetics are safe and honestly, accurately, and informatively labeled. > Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) CVM also contributes to the surveillance activities of the Food Safety Initiative. The division has developed and coordinated the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS), a collaboration between the FDA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture/ Agricultural Research Service, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NARMS monitors shifts in susceptibility to 17 antimicrobial drugs of zoonotic enteric organisms from veterinary and human services. > Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) |
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> Clostridium botulinum Proper heat processing destroys Clostridium botulinum in canned food. Freezer temperatures inhibit its growth in frozen food. Low moisture controls its growth in dried food. High oxygen controls its growth in fresh foods.
Sources: Home-canned and prepared foods, vacuum-packed and tightly-wrapped food, meat products, seafood, and herbal cooking oils. Illness Incubation: 4 to 36 hours after ingesting. Symptoms: Dry mouth, double vision followed by nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Later, constipation, weakness, muscle paralysis, and breathing problems may develop. It's important to get immediate medical help because botulism can be fatal. With proper treatment, most victims survive. Duration: It can take from 1 week to a full year to recover. > Clostridium perfringens
Sources: Meat and meat products. Illness Incubation: Usually occurs 8 to 12 hours after eating contaminated food. Symptoms: Abdominal pain, diarrhea, and sometimes nausea and vomiting. Duration: The illness is usually mild and lasts a day or less; however, symptoms can be more serious in the elderly or people with weakened immune systems. > Cold Chain Food Safety Implication: Along the farm-to-table continuum, it's critical that food is kept at the proper temperature to keep it ready for market and safe to eat. For example, fresh produce is quickly cooled after harvesting to slow down the ripening process and reduce the spread of decay. The temperatures are carefully controlled throughout the processing operations. The temperature inside shipping containers is controlled to maintain proper temperature during transit. The cold chain continues when food is stored, displayed, and served at retail outlets. Consumers also need to properly transport and store food at home. > Cold Pack (also known as Freezer Gel)
Food Safety Implication: Perishable food should be kept at 40° F (4° C) or colder to slow the growth of harmful bacteria. A cold pack in your cooler helps foods stay cold. Food Safety Precautions:
> Coliforms > Competitive Exclusion Food Safety Implication: The idea behind competitive exclusion is to prevent harmful bacteria, like Salmonella, from colonizing and infecting young animals. This in turn reduces foodborne illness caused by animal products. However, it's important to note that even treated animals can become contaminated during food processing or in the kitchen, so food handlers must continue to practice the 4 Cs of Food Safety when preparing raw meat or animal products, such as raw eggs. (See the 4 Cs section.) How It Works: Competitive exclusion is currently being used with chickens; however, it may have application for other animals, such as pigs and even humans. Young chickens are born with an undeveloped gastrointestinal (GI) tract. As part of normal development, bacteria will colonize the (GI) tract. The non-pathogenic bacteria mixture is sprayed on day-old chicks. The chicks ingest the drug as they preen (groom themselves). These good bacteria colonize the chick's (GI) tract where Salmonella would usually live. When Salmonella arrive in the intestine, the "good" bacteria have already colonized the gut. They have taken up residence in the available binding sites. They have eaten the available food, and they have created an environment favorable for themselves. In turn, the Salmonella have no food, no binding sites, and an unfriendly environment, so they cannot survive. Competitive exclusion gives the chicks the beneficial gut "microflora" (bacteria and other microorganisms that normally inhabit the intestines) they need at a time when they are most vulnerable to Salmonella colonization. It also gives them the natural disease resistance of a mature, healthy bird - making it virtually impossible for Salmonella to multiply. Competitive exclusion also reduces Salmonella in the environment because there are fewer infected birds to contaminate the farm.
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> Composting Food Safety Implication: When composting is carefully controlled and managed and the appropriate conditions are achieved, the high temperature generated can kill most pathogens in a few weeks. However, composting that is not done properly can pose a health risk. For example, animal or human wastes that are thrown into a compost pile at home may be contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, which may not be killed during the composting process and can contaminate the plants or water around them. Thus, the use of improperly-prepared compost as a garden fertilizer creates the risk of foodborne illness. > Conjugation > Contamination > Critical Control Point (see Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point) > Cross-Contamination > Cryptosporidium
Sources: Fecally-contaminated water, food, or environmental surfaces. Illness Incubation: 2 to 10 days after ingestion. Symptoms: Diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps, low-grade fever. The illness is more chronic in patients with AIDS, also resulting in voluminous watery diarrhea, weight loss, anorexia, and malaise. Duration: 7 to 14 days. > Cyclospora Sources: Fresh produce or water that was contaminated with infected human stool. Illness Incubation: Generally 1 week. Symptoms: Diarrhea, loss of appetite, substantial loss of weight, bloating, increased gas, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, low-grade fever, and fatigue. Duration: From a few days to a month or longer. > Cytoplasm (see Cell) |