Salmonella Risks & Symptoms

Salmonella infection arises from a bacterial group named Salmonella, which can be transmitted from the feces of humans or animals to others of the same species. Salmonella plays a significant role in causing both hospitalizations and fatalities related to foodborne illnesses.

Several factors can increase the likelihood of contracting salmonella, including:Consuming raw or undercooked meat, poultry, eggs, or egg products, and ingesting unpasteurized milk. Recent outbreaks of Salmonella-related illnesses have been associated with various food items such as flour, peanut butter, salami sticks, onions, prepackaged salads, peaches, and ground turkey.
Handling animals or pets, such as turtles, snakes, and lizards.

The incubation period, spanning from exposure to the onset of illness, ranges from 6 hours to 6 days. Common symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.

Typically, signs and symptoms of a salmonella infection persist for several days to a week. While diarrhea may endure for up to 10 days, the return to regular bowel habits may take several months.

Salmonella typhi represents a distinct strain exclusive to humans and is transmitted solely through contaminated food or water. This particular type tends to trigger a severe and life-threatening infection known as typhoid fever.
Salmonella Risks & Symptoms

Peanut Allergy

Peanut allergy is considered a major cause of life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions and it is estimated to affect 4 to 8% of children and 1 to 2% of adults.

Peanut allergy, a type of external hypersensitivity, is an abnormal immune response to peanut. In this type of reaction, the immune system is inappropriately triggered by an allergen, which is a food protein or a non-amino acid portion of a protein, such as carbohydrate.

Allergy to peanut usually is lifelong and the allergic symptoms happen throughout the body, from the minor symptoms such as itching tongue or abdominal pain to major systematic reactions or anaphylaxis.

Peanut allergy is the most common cause of food-induced anaphylaxis, a medical emergency which characterized by life-threatening upper airway obstruction, bronchospasm and/or hypotension.

Anaphylaxis is uncommon but not rare, it signs and symptoms can include:
*Constriction of airways
*Inflammation of the throat that makes it difficult to breathe
*Hypotension or a severe drop in blood pressure
*Rapid pulse
*Dizziness, lightheadedness or loss of consciousness

In peanut-induced anaphylaxis IgE reacts with peanut allergens to release messengers such as histamine.
Peanut Allergy

Thiamine deficiency and their symptoms

Thiamine efficiency can cause cardiovascular and neurological signs and symptoms. Beriberi a serious thiamine efficiency disease, usually affects Asians, who subsist mainly on a diet of unenriched rice and wheat.

Among the symptoms of beriberi: chiefly nervous and cardiovascular systems affected; mental confusion, muscular weakness, loss of ankle and knee jerks, painful calf muscles, peripheral paralysis, edema (wet beriberi), muscle wasting (dry beriberi), enlarged heart.

In the United States, although uncommon, it usually occur in alcoholics, malnourished young adults, and infants who are on a low proteins diet or are being breast-fed by thiamine efficient mothers.

Sign and symptoms of infantile beriberi include cyanosis, dyspnea, tachycardia, aphonia (soundless crying), and eventual cardiac failure.

Although whole grains may be rich in thiamine, processing of grains significantly reduces their thiamine content. Likewise, because thiamin is water soluble and heat sensitive, cooking largely results in the loss or destruction of this vitamin especially when chlorinate waster is used.
Thiamine deficiency and their symptoms

Pollen-food syndrome

Patents allergic to certain airborne pollens can display adverse reactions on the ingestion of plant-derived foods as a result of IgE-cross –reactive structures shared by pollen and food allergen sources.

This clinical entity is known as the pollen-food syndrome. Pollen-food syndrome or oral allergy syndrome is a term describing associations between inhalant pollen allergies and allergic manifestations on ingestion of particular fruits, vegetables and spices.

It results from a primary sensitization to labile pollen allergens such as Bet v 1 or profilin, and the resulting phenotype is mainly mild, consisting of local oropharyngeal reactions.

Sensitization to the pollen occurs through the respiratory system. Patients with pollen-food syndrome generally tolerate cooked forms of the fruit or vegetable to which they are allergic, and allergists often recommended that they cook reactive fruits and vegetables before ingesting them.

Symptoms of pollen-food syndrome are coffined almost exclusively to the oropharynx and include itchy mouth, scratchy throat or swelling of the lips, mouth, uvula, tongue, and throat tightness.

Itchy ears are sometimes reported. Rarely, other target organs are involved.
Pollen-food syndrome

Foodborne illness of shigellosis

Foodborne illness of shigellosis Also known as bacillary dysentery, shigellosis, an invasive disease of the human colon is present worldwide.

Shigellosis is a significant cause of foodborne illness in developed as well as underdeveloped countries. It is a bacterial infection cause by organsism in the Shigella genus, with four species that include S. dysenteriae, S. flexneri, S. boydii and S. sonnei.

 Food microbiologists should be aware that shigella species can cause a rather severe form of foodborne illness and relatively low numbers of the organisms can cause disease.

Shigellosis is characterised by fever abdominal cramps, tenesmus, and dysenteric stools containing mucus blood and pus. These symptoms reflect invasion of the colonic mucosa by Shigella, the critical stage in the pathogenc process.

Product suspected of causing food poisoning should be analysed for shigella. Shigella sp. cause a diarrhea. The diarrhea may be bloody or nonbloody. Humans and other large primates are the only natural reservoirs of Shigella spp.

Transmission of from person to person by ingestion of fecally contaminated food or water. Disease onset typically occurs between 12 hours to 2 days after exposure. The infectious dose is quite small, as few as 10-200 organisms.
Foodborne illness of shigellosis

What are the symptoms of food allergy?

Food allergy is defined as an adverse health effect that is due to a specific immune response and occurs reproducibly upon exposure to a given food.

The sign and symptoms of food allergy are frequently overlooked by both patient and physician.  Such signs and symptoms may have multiple possible causes. The most common food allergy signs and symptoms include:
*Tingling or itching in the mouth
*Hives, itching and flaring of eczema rash
*Swelling of the lips, face, tongue and throat or other parts of the body
*Wheezing, nasal congestion or trouble breathing
*Throat tightness, repetitive coughing
*Abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting
*Dizziness, lightheadedness or fainting

Having sudden allergic symptoms within an hour or two of eating a food should raise suspicious of a food allergy. A food allergy can cause chronic daily symptoms that may be more difficult to connect to particular foods.
What are the symptoms of food allergy?

Symptoms due to toxicity of zinc

In humans, most of the body’s zinc is in the skeletal muscle (about 60%) and one third in the bone, skin, liver, brain, kidneys and the heart have small total amounts in this regard. Excessive intakes of zinc cause toxicity.

Zinc has low human toxicity by the oral route, but high levels can cause gastrointestinal distress. An acute zinc toxicity (such as from 4 g of zinc gluconate, which provides 570 mg of elemental zinc) produces some of the following symptoms: metallic taste, headache, weak heart beat, nausea, vomiting, epigastric pain, abdominal cramps and bloody diarrhea.

Tachycardia, hemolytic anemia, pancreatitis, renal damage and death have been reported on this occasion.

Long term oral intakes of zinc at levels of 18,5 to 25 mg/day can interfere with copper absorption and intakes 10 to 30 items the RDA can impair immune responses and decrease serum high density lipoprotein.

The most common sources of zinc poisoning in human are metal fumes, and illness arising the ingestion of acidic foods prepared in zinc galvanized containers. The inhalation of zinc phosphide or phosphine gas also results in acute toxicity.
Symptoms due to toxicity of zinc

Beriberi: symptom of thiamin deficiency

Beriberi, a serious thiamine-deficiency disease is most prevalent in Asians, who subsists mainly on diets of enriched rice and wheat. Although this disease is uncommon in the United States, alcoholics may develop cardiac beriberi with high output heart failure neuropathy and cerebral disturbances.

In times of stress, malnourished young adults mat develop beriberi; infantile beriberi may appear I’m infants on low-protein diet or in those breast-fed by thiamine-deficient mothers.

Beriberi has been described from a neurological point of view in prisoners of war. In this description the key feature in prisoners with was presence of foot and wrist drop. This finding was associate with tenderness of muscles over the lateral portion of the legs lateral aspect of the thighs and lateral forearms.

Beriberi affecting the peripheral nervous system predominantly was known as ‘dry beriberi’. If heart failure was the major manifestation, the condition was called ‘wet beriberi’. In Britain and North America, beriberi heart disease is seen in alcoholics.

In wet beriberi there is degeneration and demyelination of both sensory and motor nerves resulting in severe waiting of muscles. The vagus band other autonomic nerves can also be affected.
Beriberi: symptom of thiamin deficiency

Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

The bacterium that causes staphylococcus poisoning is Staphylococcus aureus, the same bacterium that causes white-head pimples, infections, boils, and carbuncles.

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most dangerous types of bacteria because of the many serious infections it can cause and because of the difficulty in treating these infections.

These cells are spherical or ovoid in shape, non-motile and liquid cultures, arrange themselves in grapelike clusters, in small groups, in pairs or in short chains.

They grow best in the presence of air (oxygen) but they also grow in the absence of air. They will grow in media or in foods that contain as much as 10% salt (NaCl). When this organism grows in foods they produce a toxin that can be filtered away from foods and the bacterial cells.

There are three major contamination scenarios existing:
* Staphylococcus aureus frequently associated with dairy cows and is leading cause of intramammary infection

*The second major source is recontamination by food handlers carrying enterotoxin-producing Staphylococcus aureus in their noses or on their hands

*Air, dust and biofilm in difficult-to-access niches in primary and secondary food production facilities can also serve as source of Staphylococcus aureus to foods.

The toxin is not destroyed by cooking. Every year in the United States, roughly 400,000 hospital patients are infected by Staphylococcus aureus.

Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea that occur shortly after ingestion of Staphylococcus aureus toxin-contaminated food.
Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

Hypolactasia

Milk is the only source of lactose, a disaccharide. Lactose is hydrolyzed to its monosaccharides, glucose and galactose, by a specific enzyme, lactase, which is β-galactosidase and located in the brush border of small-intestinal microvillus epithelial cells.

Hypolactasia is defined as lactase deficiency inherited as an autosomal recessive trait. Lactose intolerance is defined as symptomatic hypolactasia.

There are five causes of hypolactasia
*Congenital loss and it is very rare
*Inherited loss on weaning (very common)
*Gut infections such as rotavirus and Giardia
*Damage to the villi in the small intestine caused by radiotherapy or bacterial overgrowth
*Hormonal disturbances, menopause and aging

The symptoms are the result of lactose absorbing water in the intestine through osmotic mechanism, which speeds intestinal transport. Lactose is then metabolized by colonic bacteria producing lactic acid, hydrogen and CO2.

Among hypolactasia symptoms:
*Flatulence and meteorism
*Ill-defined abdominal pain
*Diarrhea

The symptoms start 1-2 hours after a lactose-containing meal and its depend on the amount of ingested lactose.

In children hypolactasia rarely develops before the age of 5 years. School-aged children often have milk-induced complaints associated with hypolactasia.

Hypolactasia occurs in 17% of Northern European inhabitants. It is more common in the Mediterranean are and much more common in many tropical countries.
Hypolactasia 

Wheat intolerance

Sufferers from wheat intolerance are sensitive to the whole grain of wheat, whereas people with celiac disease are sensitive to the wheat protein, gluten.

It is a condition in which the body does not adequately digest wheat, although the reaction remains a metabolic disordered and does not involve the immune system.

Wheat intolerance is much more common than wheat allergies and those who have it usually have a delayed onset of symptoms as long as two to three days later.

These people suffer with various degrees of symptoms, ranging from stomach discomfort to chronic headaches and diarrhea. Wheat intolerance also gives symptoms of asthma, eczema, general aches and pains, mood swing and itchy skin.

Some individuals with wheat intolerance may still be able to eat wheat occasionally or in small servings.
Wheat intolerance

Symptoms of hyponatremia

Hyponatremia is the most common electrolyte abnormality and is defined as plasma sodium concentration of less than 135 mmol/ L.

Hyponatremia results from an excess of water relative to sodium, regardless of the volume status. Young adult patient appears to tolerate a specific level of hyponatremia belter than does the older patient.

Symptoms may include headache, lethargy ataxia and hypertension. Other symptoms than accompany severe hyponatremia include loss, appetite, nausea, vomiting, cramps, weakness, altered level of consciousness, coma, and seizure.

In the great majority of cases, hyponatremia is mild as asymptomatic and generally does not require aggressive treatment.

Hyponatremia is associated with substantially increased mortality, both as a direct effect of hyponatremia and because hyponatremia is associated with severe systemic disease.

Severe hyponatremia of rapid inset may lead to brain edema and herniation and therefore requires rapid treatment. Cheyne-Stokes respiration may be a hallmark of severe acute hyponatremia.
Symptoms of hyponatremia 

Food idiosyncrasies: Sulfite sensitivities

One of the common food idiosyncrasies is sulfite sensitivity. Sulfites are preservatives used most commonly in wine and dried fruits and vegetables.

Sulfite is used as food additives in a variety of foods. Sulfites exist in several forms: sulfur dioxide, sodium metabisulfite, potassium, metabisulfite, sodium bisulfite, potassium bisulfite and sodium sulfite.

Sulfite sensitivity is an idiosyncratic reaction of undefined mechanism associated with the ingestion of sulfites in foods and medications. The symptoms associated with idiosyncratic reactions can be form trivial to life threatening.

People who are sensitive to sulfite can have such severe reactions that range from shortness of breath to fatal shock.
sym
Very small amounts of sulfites can cause anaphylactic shock and bring in an asthma attack in sensitive people. The FDA requires that processed foods containing sulfites list sulfites in the ingredient label.
Food idiosyncrasies: Sulfite sensitivities

Symptoms of food allergy

Allergies have become an epidemic of the 21st century. Substances that cause allergy reactions are called allergens. 

A symptomatic allergy will exhibit different symptoms depending on the location of the reaction.

Food sensitivity can affect virtually any organ system in the body. In digestive tract, the allergy may cause nausea or vomiting; in the skin, it may cause rashes and in the nasal passages and lungs, it may cause inflammation or asthma.

Because food is ingested into the gastrointestinal tract, GI symptoms should be the first consideration in deciding whether food allergy could be a significant problem.

Gastrointestinal symptoms in food allergy are often chronic or acute vomiting, diarrhea and colic. Colic appears to be a common symptom, but nearly always in combination with other symptoms.

People who have life-threatening reactions usually have asthma and frequently have a history of atopy, including atopic dermatitis and food allergy as young children.

Symptoms may develop within minutes to a few hours after ingestion of the food, and in life-threatening cases, symptoms include sever bronchospasm.

In adults, food allergy triggers most often the oral allergy syndrome, which occurs almost exclusively and an immediate, IgE-mediated reaction.

 The short time interval between allergen exposure and onset of symptoms such as itching of the buccal mucosa, and the classical set of food like apples and other pome fruits that triggers the oral allergy syndrome make diagnosis usually easy.
Symptoms of food allergy

Acute hypervitaminosis A

Toxicity has been observed in people who have either chronically or acutely consumed more than 10 times the RDA. Hypervitaminosis A is caused by excessive intake of preformed vitamin A and has never been attributed to consumption of carotenoids.

The Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for preformed vitamin A is 3,000 ug RAE (10,000 IU) per day. Ingesting larger amounts (such as 50,000 IU) of vitamin A in a short time may result in acute hypervitaminosis A.

Acute hypervitaminosis A can be defined as any toxicity manifested following the ingestion of a single very high does or several repetitive very high doses over a few days. It may occur at any age from digestion of excessive amounts of vitamin A.

Symptoms of acute hypervitaminosis A include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, double or blurred visions, hemorrhage, nose bleeding, increased interracial pressure, headache, dizziness, skin desquamation, and muscle incoordination.

Desquamation of the skin and mucous membranes may begin within 36 hours and becomes severe. There are no skeletal changes.
Acute hypervitaminosis 

Food allergy symptoms

What is food allergy? A food allergy is an immune system response that creates antibodies to attack substances in a food that body immune system identifies as harmful.

Having sudden allergic symptoms within an hour or two of eating a food should raise suspicions of food allergy. Symptoms of food allergies including:

Respiratory symptoms
*Rhinitis – copious watery discharged from mucous membrane of nose
*Asthma – pulmonary distress or breathing difficulty

Cutaneous symptoms
*Urticaria – hives. It is one of the most common symptoms of anaphylaxis.
*When foods cause a constant inflammation in the body, the person may have chronic rashes of allergic eczema, also called atopic dermatitis.

Gastrointestinal symptoms
*They may be gut symptoms of vomiting, pain or diarrhea. Chronic stomachache can be the sign of a food allergy.
*Diarrhea – watery stools, usually with cramping
*Itching in the mouth
*Swelling of the tongue

Other symptoms
*Angio-edema/edema – swelling, often widespread and severe especially when affecting the oral / laryngeal area. It is one of the common symptoms of anaphylaxis.
*Anaphylactic shock –severe generalized shock – can result in death headache. Anaphylaxis is a severe allergic retain that is rapid in onset and can be fatal.
*Weight loss and poor growth of children
Food allergy symptoms

Human Nutrition

Human Nutrition
Knowledge, in the field of nutrition, is relatively new, especially regarding the vitamins and some trace elements, and medical practitioner not always as well informed in nutrition as they should be. Consequently, while information on the early symptoms of nutritional deficiency is often available, some cases of dietary inadequacy may go unnoticed to the detriment of those involved.

The need to maintain a nutritionally adequate diet has spurred the development of data relating to dietary needs. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council has published a table of recommended dietary allowances that are considered adequate for optimum boy functioning.

When the dietary intake is insufficient for short periods, body reserves may be substituted, especially for energy needs, but eventually, the body must be replenished with essential food components. When the dietary intake is insufficient for long periods, disease resulting for inadequate nutrition will develop.

By gross analysis, in terms of food components, humans have been reported to consist of approximately 18% protein, 0.6% carbohydrate, 15.5% fat, 3% minerals, 0.000001% vitamins, and the rest about 63% water. It is considered by many experts in nutrition that the body requires daily helpings of food from certain basic food groups that include

• Meats, poultry, fish, eggs and beans

• Green and yellow vegetables

• Milk, cheese and other dairy products

• Breads and cereals

• Fruits

Human Nutrition