Food science and technology 2013- 2017

FOOD SAFETY

Food safety is an important issue today due:
1. Many demands on the food production system
2. A variety of food handlers serving a number of immunicompromised individuals

Providing safe food is a responsibility of a number of players like;
-Agencies like standard bureaus (UNBS), Ministry of Health, Agricultural organisations, metropolitan authorities eg KCCA.
-Professional organizations
-Food processor and consumers

Food safety concerns include;
•Foodborne illnesses (primary concern)
•Nutritional adequacy
•Environmental contaminants
•Pestcides residues
•Food additives

We need to know the hazards in the food supply chain and how to control/ prevent them before reaching the consumer
Best program to use is a proactive system called Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points HACCP.
Hazards are categorized as biological/ microbiological (mainly pathogen & parasite related), chemical (out of range intentionally or non intentionally added additives, naturally occuring toxins) and physical (from foreign objects in food e.g stones, wood).

LETS FOCUS ON PROVISION OF QUALITY FOOD PRODUCTS TO OUR CONSUMERS

Did you know?

There so many causes of food poisoning.

These stem from contamination of food during preparing and processing. Forexample if food is hygienically mishandled and then inadequately cooked, such food will contain microbes or their toxins.

These cause food poisoning which can be evident by symptoms like abdominal cramp, nosea, vomiting.

Below are causes of food poisoning
Bacteria and Viruses
Bacteria and viruses are the most common cause of food poisoning. The symptoms and severity of food poisoning vary, depending on which bacteria or virus has contaminated the food. Such bacteria include E. coli in uncooked contaminated vegetable salads, salmonella in poultry and eggs

Parasites
Parasites are organisms that derive nourishment and protection from other living organisms known hosts. The most common foodborne parasites are protozoa, roundworms, and tapeworms.

Mold, Toxins, and Contaminants
Most food poisoning is caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites rather than toxic substances in the food. But, some cases of food poisoning can be linked to either natural toxins or chemical toxins. Toxins include afla-toxins, mycotoxins

Allergens
Food allergy is an abnormal response to a food triggered by your body's immune system. Some foods, such as nuts, milk, eggs, or seafood, can cause allergic reactions in people with food allergies.

Hello. this page is mainly for informative and educational purpose (mainly but not limited to food Science and technology) because its the core for starting and existance, so please take caution as you check in. Lets increase the awareness of food science and technology and all related aspects to help improve people's lives. Thank you.
Proud food scientists

below are some of the skills expected of a food scientist

Key skills for food scientists (general)
•Knowledge of a range of sciences and their applications to food
•Good business, IT, analytical and numerical abilities
•Being a confident independent worker
•Meticulous attention to detail, particularly with regard to health, safety and hygiene
•Good communication skills
•Strong teamworking skills

The way to go with the food industry...

There is no doubt that the next generation of our food supply will have more science than ever as we move from farms to labs and we engineer our foods to be more tasty, healthy, sustainable and nutritious. http://hubs.ly/H06B3Ym0

Remember

We all like to eat nice foods but also want to be healthy!!
We find our selves eating highly processed foods like highly polished flour, sugar, sweets. These are so reach in ready glucose which is easily absorbed in the body. This trigers the pacreas to secret high levels of a hormone called insulin instantly. When this occurs for man times, the pancreas cells are over worked and so can nolorger secret enough insulin in blood. This results into un contolled growing levels of glucose in blood (type 2 diabetes mellitus). Its real dangerous to have alot glucose in blood because in blood it combines with proteins to form glycolated protein molecules which damage systems like blood vessels, coat on eyes hence reduced ision etc. Member glucose is not broken down to Energy thus the body resorts to fat catabolism (breakdown) to supply energy. To much of this is dangerous because it leads to a high level of keton bodies in blood which are toxic, a condition called diabetic keteacidosis identified bý a sweety breath smell. It can also lead to deposits of fatty substance on blood vessels thus high blood pressure with its complications and sometimes blood vessel breakage thus blood supply to some tissues/ body pats cut off.
Therefore we should eat more of wholefoods like whole grains, whole flour, fruits because the cantain lots of fibers which allow slow release of energy/ glucose into the body even when eaten wit highly processed foods. Lets eat less of highly processed foods. Lets do some body exercise everyday then we will e healthy

Key facts fo W.H.O
Nearly 9 million children under the age of five die every year, according to 2007 figures.
Around 70% of these early child deaths are due to conditions that could be prevented or treated with access to simple, affordable interventions.
Leading causes of death in under-five children are pneumonia, diarrhoea and health problems during the first month of life.
Over one third of all child deaths are linked to malnutrition.
Children in developing countries are ten times more likely to die before the age of five than children in developed countries.

The challenge – accelerating child survival
Latest figures show that 9.2 million children under-five are dying every year, down from over 12 million in 1990. Most of these children are dying in developing countries from preventable causes for which there are known and cost-effective interventions. Unless efforts are increased there will be little hope of averting the additional 5.4 million child deaths per year, or a reduction of two-thirds, needed to achieve Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 by 2015.

Way forward
Scaling up effective health services: more than 60% of all under-five child deaths can be avoided with proven, low-cost preventive care and treatment. Preventive care includes: continuous breast-feeding, vaccination, adequate nutrition and, in Africa, the use of insecticide treated bed nets. The major causes of under-five deaths need to be treated rapidly: for example, with salt solutions for diarrhoea or simple antibiotics for pneumonia and other infections. To reach the majority of children who today do not have access to this care, we need more and better trained and equipped health workers. Families and communities need to know how best to bring up their children healthily and deal with sickness when it occurs.
Political awareness, commitment and leadership are needed to ensure that child health receives the attention and resources needed to accelerate progress towards MDG4. Better information on the number and causes of under-five child deaths will help leaders to decide on the best course of action.
By W.H.O

Good manufacturing practices which but not limited to proper sanitation& food handler hygiene, following Stanard Operational procedures, having a well designed &active, HACCP plan, good quality control/ assurance plan will ensure that we produce products that are of high quality& safe for human consumption. Thus all food manufacturing companies be it small, medium or large scale should strictly follow the Good manufacturing practices for good results