Spice of Life Class 24 – A Week (or so) in the Life of a Pathogen (Keeping your Food
Safe from the Market to the Table)
I.
Outline
A. An Introduction to Food Spoilage, Food Infections and Food Poisoning
B. Factors that Influence the Incidence of Foodborne Disease
1. One morning, out on the farm….
2. The day continues in the packaging plant
3. Life in the Grocery Store
4. Home, Sweet Home!
C. Pathogenic Bacteria Examples
II.
An Introduction to Food Spoilage, Food Infections and Food Poisoning
A. Food Spoilage
1. Definition
2. What Causes It?
1. Biological Causes
a. Bacteria
b. Yeast
c. Mold
B. Chemical Causes
C. Physical Causes
D. Food Poisoning and Food Infections (Foodborne Disease)
III.
Factors that Influence the Incidence of Foodborne Disease
A. One day, out on the farm…..
1. Environmental sources of contamination
2. Human sources of contamination
3. Animal sources of contamination
B. And Then in the Packaging Plant…..
C. Life in the Grocery Store
1. Separate
2. Clean
3. Chill – “The Zone”
D. Home, Sweet Home!
1. Separate
2. Clean
3. Cook
a) The Zone, Again
b) Killing E. coli and other non-spore pathogens
c) Killing Clostridium and other spore-formers
d) Destroying toxins
4. Chill
IV.
What are some of the types of pathogens that are out there?
a. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7
b. Salmonella
A transmission electron micrograph of
Salmonella montivideo. Courtesy of E.A.
Zottola, University of Minnesota.
c. Clostridium botulinum
http://foodsafety.cas.psu.edu/jar_bread.htm