Escolar Documentos
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Cultura Documentos
April 7, 2015
FOOD SAFETY: Getting The Basics Right
Dr. Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS & Dr Suresh K Pandey
Food
Food and Water are the
most basic necessities for
survival.
Most diseases, specially in developing
countries are still food and waterborne
Beyond survival, quality and quantity
of food determine good health or lack
of it.
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Social issues
Huge wastage in marriages (15%)
Executive guest control order 1960s
Lack of granaries, warehouses,
rotting food grains
Food Safety
Unsafe food can lead
to a range of health
problems
diarrhoeal disease, viral disease (the
first Ebola cases were linked to
contaminated bush meat)
reproductive and developmental
problems, cancers..
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Key Facts
Unsafe foodcontaining harmful
bacteria, viruses, parasites or
chemical substancescauses more
than 200 diseases, ranging from
diarrhoea to cancers.
Food-borne and waterborne
diarrhoeal diseases kill an estimated
2 million people annually, 700,000 in
SE Asia, including many children
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Food threats
Bacteria: Salmonella, Vibrio,
Campylobacter...
Virus: Norovirus, Hepatitis A
Parasies: Echinococcus Entamoeba,
Ascaris, Giardia
Prions
Chemicals
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Codex Alimentarius
Latin for book of food
Collection of internationally
recognized standards, codes of
practice, guidelines and other
recommendations relating to foods,
food production and food safety.
Newer Problems
Drug Residues, pesticides, genetically
modified foods
Intensive agriculture
Antimicrobial resistance
Climate change
Food allergies
Mineral deficiencies, obesity and
NCDs processed food
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Recent Concerns
One of the most
ubiquitous and
long-lasting
recent changes to
the surface of our
planet is the
accumulation and
fragmentation of
plastics,
Plastic
It has been estimated
that over one trillion plastic bags are
used worldwide each year and .5%
to 3% of all bags winds up recycled
In 2006, the United Nations found
that each square mile of the ocean
has 46,000 pieces of plastic in it.
Toxic Farming
234 pesticides registered in India till
2012, 24 of these classifies as
potential carcinogens by US EPA
67 pesticides in use which have been
banned elsewhere
Many banned and restricted
pesticides in India appear in residue
testing
Bio-accumulation & Bio-magnification
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Pesticides
More than 95% of
the pesticide doesnt reach the target
organisms, and reaches air soil and
water and contaminates them
More water needed per crop
Media Attention
Punjab
Food basket to disease basket
20 % of all sampled wells have
nitrate levels above the safety limit of
50 mg of nitrate per litre for drinking
water
Cause methemoglobinemia, (bluebaby syndrome) and cancer.
Overuse without precautions
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Punjab
2.5% agriculture
land and 18%
pesticide use
Cancer train to
Bikaner
Malwa region
most highly affected
Chemicals
Naturally occuring: mycotoxins
(aflatoxin, ochratoxin), marine biotoxins
Persistent organic Pollutants: industrial
processes, waste incineration dioxins
and PCBs - reproductive &
developmental problems, damage the
immune system, interfere with
hormones and cause cancer.
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Heavy metals
Lead, Cadmiumm and Mercury though
air water and soil pollution
Dangerously high amounts of Barium,
Cadmium, Manganese, Lead and
Uranium, signifying long-term exposure
in hair of physically and mentally
challenged children in Punjab
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
GM Crops
Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt)
bacteria produce chemicals harmful
to selective insects biological
pesticide
The gene coding for Bt toxin injected
into cotton to give Bt cotton
Initially, increased yield, more profits,
but a vicious cycle ensues, needs
refuge areas
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Indian Scenario
Need to strike a
balance between
organic farming
(Sikkim) and
increased production
Hygiene
Do not overdo,
overuse, use
precautions
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Storage
Let us start
Swchchata
here!
Dr Vidushi Sharma, MD, FRCS
Food Adulteration
Milk products such as khoya, butter,
ghee, milk-based sweets, pulses
(arhar and rajma), mustard oil,
groundnut oil, poultry and meat
Food Adulterants