Invisible threat. Scientist told how dirty food kills 420,000 people a year

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), spoiled food plays an important role in undermining our health. This ranges from hindering physical and mental development, causing nutritional deficiencies, causing chronic and infectious diseases, and causing mental disorders. It is shocking that one in ten people of our planet is the victim of foodborne illness every year. Antonina Mutoro, a nutrition scientist at the African Center for Demographic and Health Research, talks at InlScience about the causes of food contamination and what steps we can take to reduce the risk of disease.

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The reality is that the fundamental right to safe and satisfying food has been taken away from many, largely because of contaminated food. Harmful chemicals and microscopic organisms lurking in our food and powerful enough to cause disease characterize pollution. According to the World Health Organization, pollution takes a heavy toll on one in ten people in the world and takes the lives of around 420,000 people each year.

This pollution can take many forms:

physical pollution refers to the presence of foreign bodies in food that can cause injury or act as carriers of microorganisms that cause disease. Pieces of metal, glass, and stone can pose a choking hazard or damage teeth, while something as mundane as a lock of hair becomes polluting.

biological pollution Refers to living organisms such as microorganisms (bacteria, viruses and protozoa), pests (lice, cockroaches and rats) or parasites (worms) found in foods that can cause disease.

chemical pollution Ingestion of substances such as soap residues, pesticide residues, toxins released by microorganisms such as aflatoxins can cause poisoning.

What is the culprit of food contamination? Basically, this is poor quality food processing, such as poor hand hygiene before preparing and eating food, after going to the toilet, or after sneezing or coughing. Using unclean utensils, not washing food sufficiently, and storing raw and cooked food together create problems. Painful processing of food and consumption of undercooked food, especially meat, should be avoided.

Poor agricultural practices, especially the overuse of pesticides and antibiotics, or the use of contaminated soil and water to grow food exacerbate the pollution problem. The use of improperly composted or raw animal manure or sewage is also harmful.

However, fresh food is often provocateurs of diseases. For example, contamination of meat, fruit and vegetables with human waste is not uncommon in Kenya, as contaminated water is used to wash food and contaminants are transferred directly to food by flies.

Street food also often contains contaminants because it is inexpensive and can be found in low- and middle-income countries.

How to detect contaminated food? Biological and chemical pollutants cause more than 200 foodborne illnesses such as typhoid fever, cholera and listeriosis, mainly manifesting as diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

In extreme cases, they can lead to neurological disorders, organ failure, and even death. Therefore, any symptoms such as persistent diarrhea and vomiting after consumption require immediate medical attention.

Young children are most susceptible to foodborne illnesses, accounting for 40% of the disease burden due to their immature immune systems. In low- and middle-income countries, malnutrition, inadequate hygiene and sanitation weaken children’s immunity. Under these conditions, the disease reduces food intake and increases nutrient loss through diarrhea and vomiting, creating a vicious cycle of malnutrition, infection, and possibly death.

Pregnant women and people who are immunocompromised by age or disease are also vulnerable and require special care to prevent foodborne illness.

Treating foodborne diseases costs more than $15 billion annually in low- and middle-income countries, highlighting the need for prevention. What are the food contamination prevention strategies available for each category? Some effective strategies include proper hand hygiene at regular times, wearing clean protective clothing when preparing food, properly storing food, washing raw food with clean water, and handling raw and cooked food separately.

Good agricultural practices, such as using clean water and complying with pesticide guidelines, can help control pollution. In addition, food vendors should be trained in food safety and have clean water and proper sanitation on hand.

In her role at the African Center for Population and Health Studies, Mutoro is involved in the African Healthy Food project, which aims to improve food security in urban informal settlements through food security. In particular, he has developed a food safety guide for street vendors with Nairobi’s local authorities.

Previously Focus wrote about the dirtiest places in your refrigerator. More than 1.8 million bacteria lurk there!

This material is for informational purposes only and does not contain advice that may affect your health. If you have problems, contact a professional.