Foodborne toxins

Foodborne intoxications, the most common cause of food poisoning outbreaks, occur when during their growth, specific pathogenic bacteria release toxins into foods that subsequently is consumed.

There is a wide variety of microorganisms that are able to produce toxins. It does appear that carbohydrate source such as glucose is needed for toxin formation.

Toxin is formed at pH values that allow growth. At pH values more than 7, the toxin has been found to be unstable and the biological activity of the toxin is reduced.

In some infection, microbes produce toxins indie the infected person; body. In food poisoning cases, the microbes produce toxins in the contaminated food, and when people eat the food, the toxins make them very ill.

One of the characteristic of foodborne toxins it retains their toxicity through storage, preservation and preparation of the food. Food processing and preparation are often important in the destruction or removal of toxins.

Lipophilic toxins, such as the aflatoxins, can easily cross the lipid membranes of cells. Water-soluble toxin will usually cross only in their unionized forms, which are dependent on the pH of the GI tract.

Another characteristics is toxin molecules consists of a heavy chain of about 100 kDa, and a light chain of about 50 kDa, These chains are joined by a disulfide bridge.
Foodborne toxins