Harmful compounds and toxins in food

It was not until 1960, when the famous ‘Turkey X’ disease killed 100,000 turkey poults in Great Britain and various other disasters followed in rapid succession, that the Western world became aware that common spoilage moulds could produce significant toxins.

Food poisoning micro-organisms are called pathogens or pathogenic organisms. These produce toxins which are released into the food the organisms grow on.

The toxin can be either exotoxins, which are toxins, released into food by microorganisms during growth and before the food is eaten or endotoxins which are released by microorganisms eaten with contaminated food.’

In processing of food, there is possibility that the food may carry low numbers of pathogens, which could be insufficient to cause clinical symptoms but which could multiply at some later stage in the product life-cycle, especially under uncontrolled conditions in the home and cause food poising.

Ingestion of contaminated food due to the presence of poisons or toxicants causes food poisoning. Food poisonings may be classified onto four types depending on the type of poison contaminating the food:
*Bacterial
*Fungal
*Biological
*Chemical

Botulism, the most serious form of bacterial food poisoning, is caused by neurotoxins produced by Clostridium botulinum. The toxins are absorbed from intestinal tract and transported via the circulatory system to motor nerve synapses, where their action blocks normal neural transmissions.
Harmful compounds and toxins in food