Food pollution.

Food pollution means the presence in food or associated with food of toxic chemicals(elements or compounds) and/or biological contaminants which are not naturally present in food or are above their natural background levels (for those chemicals which are naturally found in some foods).

Effects of mercury discharge in fishes food chain.

This may affect each of us by causing mild to severe foodillnesses or, even worse, contributing or causing the development of serious health problems such as hormonal and metabolism problems, or even various types of cancer. Nervous system problems may also be induced by food polluted with certain pesticides. Additionally, in rare cases when highly polluted food is consumed, serious food poisoning or death may occur almost immediately. In average, more than 70 million cases of food-borne illnesses occur in U.S. every year resulting in approx. 5,000 deaths per year! The causes of food pollution are many.

Basically, any pollutant that comes in contact with food has the potential to pollute the food. Various vegetables may get contaminated with toxic bacterial strains (from irrigation water, groundwater, or soil) which may only be destroyed by processing the polluted food at high temperatures.

As for the toxic chemicals, they may get into the food causing food pollution in a variety of situations including: growing of food (e.g., crops, fruits, vegetables) in polluted soils, solid wastes (e.g., mine  tailings) or areas with polluted groundwater; irrigation of grown food (e.g., vegetables, fruits, crops) with polluted water; growing of food (e.g., crops, fruits, vegetables) in areas with polluted air; agricultural treatments with pesticides, insecticides, and/or herbicides; agricultural application of sewage sludge and/or polluted fertilizers (which contain ash from power plants);consumption of polluted water and/or food by animals (fish or other animals);food processing, packaging, and handling; propagation and concentration of pollutants through the food chain.

Food pollution means the presence in food or associated with food of toxic chemicals or biological contaminants which are not naturally present in food.

-Main Causes:

Farmers nowadays use different chemical products
 to increase their production

Ø  Growing of food in polluted soils, solid wastes or areas with polluted groundwater Irrigation of grown food such as vegetables, fruits or crops with polluted water or growing in areas with polluted air. Agricultural treatments with pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides. Agricultural application of sewage sludge and polluted fertilizers (which contain ash from power plants).

Mutant fishes, they are real!

Ø  Consumption of polluted water and food by animals, like the mercury problem in the sea. Over the years, many companies have used mercury to manufacture a range of products, many of the residues of these products had gone to the sea contaminating fish. When mercury enters a body, it absorbs it. Humans are especially vulnerable to its effects. The consequences of mercury are more dangerous in pregnant women and young children. One of its consequences is that it affects to the brain and the nervous system. In an adult, mercury can affect fertility and can cause heart disease as it affects the regulation of blood pressure. Mercury begins to travel through the food chain when big fish eat the little fish contaminated. Rather than dissolve or disintegrate, mercury accumulates to increasing levels. 

-Serious Outbreaks:

The vast majority of food poisoning are individual or sporadic cases. The origin of most sporadic cases is undetermined. In the United States, where people eat outside the home frequently, most outbreaks (58%) originate in restaurants. They experience similar illness after consuming food from a common source. Often it is a combination of events which contribute to the onset of an outbreak. For example, food can be left at room temperature for several hours, allowing bacteria to multiply, which combined with inadequate cooking process not remove them resulting in dangerously high bacterial levels. Outbreaks are usually identified when those affected know each other.

However, with increasing frequency of outbreaks are identified by public health staff by unexpected increases in laboratory results for certain strains of bacterias. It is said that an outbreak occurs when two or more people to prevent them, there are controls in all countries that guarantee the highest levels of safety, hygiene and quality along the chain. However, you are still poisoning outbreaks. According to studies published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention U.S. in late 2010, about 48 million people get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die each year in this country due to foodborne diseases .

Modifying the genetical structure in
vegetables has bad consequences.

• Outbreak of Escherichia coli (EHEC) in Germany.

The crisis erupted in the state of Hamburg during the last days of May when the Secretary of Health pointed to Spanish cucumbers as the source of a severe infection caused by the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). However it was later revealed that the source of the bacteria is not localized in Spanish vegetables but vegetable sprouts sprouted a garden of organic agriculture in northern Germany. Due to this contamination with bacteria, killed 36 persons in Germany and another in Sweden. In addition, an estimated 4,000 people were infected.

• Outbreak of E. coli in strawberries. The first outbreak of E. coli on strawberries in the U.S.

It was registered in the state of Oregon. It was discovered on August 8, in an orchard of 14 acres, and the strawberries were put on sale in the states of Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas and Clatsop. The authorities reported that the strain (0157: H7) of the bacteria was not the same who had attacked in Germany (O104: H4). 

The strawberries have never been involved in an outbreak of E.coli 0157: H7, so state officials at first were not sure what caused the disease in people. Ten environmental samples collected in the orchard producer of strawberries tested positive for E. coli O157: H7. The suspected source of the contamination were deer and deer feces. The outbreak strain was found in samples of the field in three different places.

-Conclusion:

In conclusion, We think that it would be very important to keep researching into different ways to prevent and reduce food pollution, because it makes a very bad impact in our society, spreading diseases that we didn’t knew that existed. In our opinion, a natural based agriculture  would incredibly reduce food pollution. See you in the next article, hope you had fun, please, share this knowledges and give our website a like, thanks for all your support!

Alejandro, Adrian and Raúl.

Bluebird.