FOOD CHAIN CRISIS
Management
Framework
PREVENTING
E.
coli
in
FOOD
Escherichia coli (E. coli)
is a
bacterium found in the digestive tract of
animals and humans.
Generally harmless, some
E. coli
are
pathogenic and can contaminate food,
water and the environment.
Hundreds of thousands of people
are made ill by
E. coli
each year, with
hundreds of them dying.
In recent years, there has been an
increase of outbreaks with significant
impact on health care systems and
agricultural production.
Frequent sources of foodborne
infections include unpasteurised dairy
products and juice, insufficiently cooked
and processed meat, raw fruits and
vegetables, and unsanitary handling and
storage of prepared foods.
Proper storage and cooking
will help prevent foodborne disease
including those from pathogenic
E. coli.
Pathogenic
E. coli
are characterized
according to the type of clinical
symptoms they cause. The pathogenicity
is determined by their genome.
E.coli
can easily exchange genes and generate
novel forms of disease.
The source of food contamination
is human and animal faeces.
PREVENTING
E.
coli
in
FOOD
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The contamination path can be
very complex and involve all aspects of
human, animal and plant interfaces and
their interactions with the ecosystem.
The epidemiology of each pathotype
varies with the reservoir host, levels of
community sanitation and hygiene, and
agriculture and food production systems.
Prevention and control require a
multidisciplinary approach in animal and
plant production as well as risk-based
approaches along the entire food supply
chain.
These include the application of Good
Agricultural Practices (GAP), Good
Manufacturing Practices (GMP), Good
Hygiene Practices (GHP) and Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
from the farm to the consumer.
To improve the quantity and
quality of food, FAO promotes good
management practices in the dairy,
horticulture and beef sector, often in
collaboration with the private sector.
The IDF/FAO Guide to Good Dairy
Farming Practice and the FAO Manual
for Good Practices for the Meat Industry
as well as the development of training
material and capacity development
interventions in relation to hygienic milk
handling and processing, and testing
and quality control, are some examples
of FAO initiatives to help prevent
E. coli
infections.
FAO supports veterinary public health
systems and services to strengthen
veterinary supervision as well as
the inspection of animal slaughter,
slaughterhouse hygiene and meat.
The sustainable intensification
of crop production (Save and Grow,
FAO 2011) increases crop yields and
reduces the risk from
E. coli
infections.
It emphasizes careful monitoring of
nitrogen levels to minimize unnecessary
applications of pesticides and reduce
the risk of outbreaks of plant pathogens
while reducing the impact on the
environment.
Healthy animals and healthy crops
produce safer food and reduce the
risks from
E. coli.
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What is
E. coli
?
Escherichia coli, also known as E. coli,
is a bacterium that is commonly found
in the gastrointestinal tract of humans
and warm-blooded animals.
Due to its high prevalence in the
gut, E. coli is used as the preferred
indicator to detect and measure faecal
contamination in the assessment of
food and water safety. Considered as
harmless commensals, E. coli strains
constitute about 1 percent of the normal
gut microbial population. While most of
the strains within the gut are beneficial
human gastrointestinal pathogens, others
are harmful.
Pathogenic E. coli are distinguished from other E. coli by their ability to cause serious illness as
a result of their genetic elements for toxin production, adhesion to and invasion of host cells,
interference with cell metabolism and tissue destruction.
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How do people become exposed to E. coli?
E. coli is almost exclusively of faecal origin, and it is transmitted through faecal contamination of
foods and water, as well as cross-contamination, or by direct human contact during food preparation.
Meanwhile, the primary exposure route appears to be through consumption of contaminated foods, such
as raw or undercooked ground meat products, raw milk and fresh produce.
Regardless of the severity or absence of disease symptoms, infected individuals and animals can shed up
to 106 to 109 colony-forming units (cfu) per gram of faeces, and shedding of E. coli can also occur from
asymptomatic carriers.
What symptoms does E. coli cause?
Different strains of E. coli that cause human diseases are classified according to the type of disease
symptoms that they cause in humans. These strain types can be divided into six groups or pathotypes,
although characteristics are not exclusive and may be shared by more than one group (pathotype).
Shigatoxigenic E. coli (STEC) is one of the pathotypes. It causes symptoms ranging from mild to severe
and bloody diarrhoea. In up to 10 percent of patients (particularly young children and the elderly),
the infection may lead to a life-threatening disease, such as haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS).
Enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) are a subset of STEC typically associated with bloody diarrhoea and
HUS, which produce cytotoxins, known as verotoxins (VT) or Shiga-like toxins (Stx). In relation to public
health, E. coli (O157:H7) strain is the most important EHEC serotype linked to foodborne disease,
resulting in a high incidence of EHEC infections and deaths each year.
Emerging disease challenges
E. coli can exchange genetic material via mobile genetic elements, such as plasmids and bacteriophages,
and can adapt to new and stressful environments. These factors are believed to contribute to the
emergence of intestinal pathogenic types, some with enhanced survival and persistence in food
systems or pathogenicity. The relative ease with which E. coli bacteria exchange genetic material was
demonstrated in the case of the E. coli (0104:H4) strain responsible for the outbreak in Germany in
May/June 2011. It was found to carry genetic material from both the enteroaggregative (from humans)
and enterohemorrhagic (from animals) strains. In addition, the strain is resistant to many antimicrobials.
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