Universitatea de tiine Agronomice i Medicin Veterinar Bucureti

Facultatea de Medicin Veterinar

Specializarea : Controlul i Expertiza Produselor Alimentare

REFERAT
la disciplina:
Limba Englez
TITLUL:

The importance of food safety

Student: Crainic Raluca- Ioana

Anul: al III - lea
Grupa: 4302

Anul universitar 2015 - 2016

Semestrul I

Food safety is about handling, storing and preparing food to prevent infection and help to
make sure that our food keeps enough nutrients for us to have a healthy diet. Unsafe food and
water means that it has been exposed to dirt and germs, or may even be rotten, which can cause
infections or diseases.
Food that hasn't been prepared safely may contain bacteria like E. coli. Unsafe food can also
spread foodborne illnesses like salmonellosis and Campylobacter. The good news is that you can
keep on top of bacteria and foodborne illness by playing it safe when buying, preparing, and
storing food.
It is very important for all of us to understand that clean food and safe food is one of the
important things that determines our health and wellness. These diseases can make people very
sick or even be life threatening for some of them. Foodborne illnesses can became a serious
problem for public health and for the societate and contribute significantly to the cost of health
care. Some of these infections also make it difficult for our bodies to absorb the nutrients they
need to get healthy.
A foodborne outbreak occurs when 2 or more cases of a similar illness result from eating the
same food and cases like this existed all over the world. A foodborne outbreak indicates that
something in the food safety system needs to be improved or changed. The food safety system
includes food: production, processing, packing, distribution/transportation, storage, preparation.
If one of this systems fail, it puts in risk the food safety and also peoples health.
Public health scientists investigate outbreaks to control them and to learn how to prevent
similar outbreaks in the future. Success is measured in part through the reduction in outbreaks of
foodborne illnesses.
The great majority of people can experience at some point in their life a a food or water borne
disease. Thats why it is important to make sure the food we eat and the water we drink is not
contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria, parasites, viruses, toxins and chemicals.
Studies have shown that more then 200 diseases are spread through food. Millions of people
get sick and many die as a result of eating unsafe food. Diarrhoeal diseases alone kill an
estimated 1.5 million children annually, and most of these illnesses are attributed to contaminated
food or drinking water. Proper food preparation can prevent most foodborne diseases.
Also, the food that is contamiated can cause a long-term heath problem. The most common
symptoms of foodborne disease are stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhoea. Food contaminated
with heavy metals or with naturally occurring toxins can also cause long-term health problems
including cancer and neurological disorders, thats why we need to be ver careful with what we
eat or drink and also to be sure from which we get our food to be a trusted source.
Foodborne diseasses can affect vulnerable people much more than it can affect other group of
people. Infections caused by contaminated food have a much hugher impacto on people with a
poor or a fragile health status. Some of this vulnerable people can be the old people that have a
weaker immune system or even young people with a weaker immune system and children that
dont take care of what they eat or drink. This can easily lead to serious illnessand even death.
For kids, pregant women, old people, the consequences of foodborne disease are usually more
severe and may be even fatal.
Consumers should be well informed about the food that they consume and adopt adequate
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behaviors. They should know common food hazards and how to handle food safely, using the
information provided in food labelling.
Food selection is certainly a challenging job, but, however, it is the most crucial first step
towards ensuring food safety. A reasonable level of knowledge regarding food items is essential
since many foodborne diseases go from minor food poisoning to serious cancers and that is
attributed to the kind of food we consume. Some of the important tips to avoid wrong food
selection are: always eat fresh fruits an fresh vegetables, milk and its products should be obtained
from healthy livestock, try to avoid take-away foods as it is difficult to verify their authenticity
and so much more.
Also its important the way we keep the food we eat. One important thing is to always wash
the fruits and the vegetables we eat in clean water because the their surface can be contaminated
with different microorganisms that we ingest and can cause a serious problem for our helth. Also,
we should use vegetables (especially green-leaf) and fruits (banana, berries, grapes) with a short
shelf life as early as possible. Another important thing is to wash our hands with soap and clean
water after going to the toilet, working with animals, working with food and before eating
because our hands are one of the biggest source of contamination.
The meat and should be kept inside the freezer compartment of the refrigerator. The food that
we take out of the freezer should not be thawed open in the kitchen, and outdoors. It should be
thawed in the refrigerator, in cold water, or in the microwave.
When we buy packaged meat, chicken or turkey, fish, we should firstly check the expiration
date on the label and be very careful to not buy a food if it has expired or if it will expire before
you plan to use it. Also, we should not buy meat or fish that has a strong or strange smell. We
should follow our nose and eyes and even if the expiration date is OK, pass on any fresh food that
has a strange smell or that looks unusual.
Its important to separate any raw meat, fish, or poultry from vegetables, fruit, and other foods
you'll eat raw. Products in a raw state can contain a lot of unhealthy microorganisms.
Check eggs before buying them. Make sure that none of the eggs are cracked and that they are all
clean. Eggs can get contaminated even through their shell. Also the fruits with broken skin can
get contaminated with bacteria the skin and cause serious problems.
A problem with treatments against food infections is that form day to day some harmful
bacteria are becoming resistant to drug treatments. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing global
health concern and a bigger concern is that antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in animals may be
transmitted to humans via food.
Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, industry, producers, academia,
and consumers. Everyone has a role to play. Local communities, womens groups and school
education also play an important role.
As a conclusion the food we eat and water we drink can be very harmful for our heath and
weal because even if most of the disease are are treatable and the doctros usually have a cure for
them, some of them can be mor difficult and even fatale.
People around the world should be careful with what they eat and from where does that food
come and also should have a very good personal hygiene. Food safety its important to keep our
health and for that we also need to respect some rules about what we eat and how we eat it.