FAT-TOM is a mnemonic device used for food industry to
help organize and remember the important safety requirements we must be aware
of about food to make sure it is not contaminated. This mnemonic device stands
for, food, acidity, temperature, time, oxygen and moisture, these six safety
requirements for food are very important at home, or the restaurant to make
sure we do not ingest any contaminated that could make oneself very ill.
Biological contamination is all about the
microorganisms that can appear or sneak into our food. Most microorganisms are
harmless and very small living organisms that we can only see with a
microscope. Saying that, that means we can not tell if our food is contaminated
by the harmful microorganisms, also known as pathogens, until we eat it and
feel ill after.
Chemical contamination is when food gets contaminated
by chemicals that find their way into food packaging or food itself that cause
that food to be contaminated. This could be a wide range of items. Sometimes it
can be what you store the food in, such as, painted pottery, copper, pewter,
zinc. Chemical contamination can also be from where you store it and what the
food products are by. For example, if you stored your food with beauty products
or cleaning products and those odors can be released and contaminate the food
with those foreign chemicals to the food. Once someone ingests contaminated food
with chemical’s, it usually has an immediate effect on oneself.
Another food contamination is the physical contaminants.
Physical contaminants are when objects fall into or somehow get into the food.
This can be a wide range of objects. Some objects could be fingernails, metal,
wood, glass, dirt, staples etc. This kind of contamination does more damage physically
such as choking, scratching the throat, bleeding.
There is five biological contaminations that are
important to beware of due to giving foodborne illnesses. Bacteria is something
that is found everywhere, some bacteria is good and helps us, while others are
very harmful and bad for us. Bad bacteria is mainly controlled by time and
temperature.
Depending on the food, certain foods need to be placed in certain
temperatures to keep bacteria out. Which then brings us to time, certain foods
can get bacteria in a snap of finger if set in the wrong temperature, and some
foods it takes an hour or more and other can be minutes. This is very important
to be aware of what foods need to be in what temperatures, and if misplaced how
much time they can be there until goes bad of bacteria.
Another is viruses. Viruses need a living host to
live, even though viruses do not grow on food or in it, they can still carry
that virus to the recipient of that food. You can get a virus through water, or
a contaminated surface and food. Typically, to receive a foodborne illness it
is to happen through fecal-oral ways.
Parasites need to have a live host to carry on their
illness and to as well reproduce. Parasite’s are not found in most common foods,
they are more commonly to be found in wild game, foods associated from seafood
and food that gets processed and contaminated with water. To make sure you do
not get a foodborne illness from parasites, make sure you buy food from good
food companies.
Fungi are a small group of contaminations. They
include yeast, molds, and mushrooms. People need to make sure they are aware of
mold that grows on food. Make sure you get food from reputable suppliers.
Lastly, protozoa is a contamination that is spread
through unclean food or water. How it affects the body is through the digestive
system, where it lives there and then multiplies itself inside our intestines.
Top five foodborne illnesses:
-Hepatitis A
-Shiga toxin-producing E. coli
-Shigella
-Salmonella Typhi
-Norovirus
Commonly
transmitted diseases from people to food:
-Campylobacteriosis
-Cryptosporidiosis
-Escherichia coli
-Giardias
-Listeriosis
