Introduction
Biological contamination is the most dangerous form of food contamination. When food becomes contaminated with pathogens, or harmful microorganisms, people that consume the food can become sick and, in some cases, people may even die as a result of the contamination.
Biological contaminations cause foodborne illnesses, also known as food poisoning.
Although there are millions of kinds of microorganisms in the world, there are a few harmful ones that are the most common when we refer to food contamination and the causes of foodborne illnesses.
Task
Your assignment today is to follow the links to find out more about the 6 most common food pathogens. Use the information you gather to complete the handout on Common Food Pathogens.
Process
Follow the links below to research the different types of Food Pathogens and find out the following information:
1. What is the source of the pathogen?
Ex. Clostridium Perfringens is a pathogen commonly found in foods that contain beef, poultry or meat gravy.
2. What are the symptoms of an illness caused by this pathogen? What is the incubation period?
Ex. Symptoms of Clostridium Perfringens include watery diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and fever. It can take 8-24 hours to show symptoms, and the illness usually passes within 24 hours.
3. How can we minimize the risk to consumers?
Ex. Illness from Clostridium Perfringens can be prevented by cooking meat to the correct temperature, and avoiding the Temperature Danger Zone when storing the food before and after cooking it.
Links:
Salmonella:
https://www.livescience.com/64031-salmonella.html
Norovirus:
https://www.livescience.com/42944-what-is-norovirus.html
Campylobacter:
https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/what-is-campylobacter-infection#3-9
E. Coli:
https://www.livescience.com/64436-e-coli.html
Listeria:
https://www.livescience.com/50582-what-is-listeria.html
Clostridium Botulinum:
Evaluation
The handout will be marked out of 30. You will be evaluated on whether the information in each square of the table is both complete and correct.
Conclusion
This is an introduction to the next Chapter in our Basics FST course, Chapter 3: A Closer Look at Microorganisms.
The chapter includes information on all types of microorganisms, including these pathogens and viruses as well as fungi, parasites and protozoa.
Teacher Page
Common Biological Contaminants Webquest
|
PATHOGEN/VIRUS |
SOURCE |
SYMPTOMS & INCUBATION |
MINIMIZING THE RISK |
|
Salmonella |
|
|
|
|
Norovirus |
|
|
|
|
Campylobacter |
|
|
|
|
E. Coli |
|
|
|
|
Listeria |
|
|
|
|
Clostridium Botulinum “Botulism” |
|
|
|