Hyderabad has witnessed a spate of food poisoning incidents in the last few months that have given a big question mark on the food safety measures adopted in the city. These unfortunate incidences have exposed massive areas of weakness in hygiene, enforcement of the rule of law, and consumer education that has created a boiling kettle of diseases that loom large on the health of the people.
The Outbreaks
The first big fatality that went to press was on late October where a 29 year old woman died from food poisoning after consuming momos from a cook on the road side in Nandi Nagar Banjara hills. Over 50 other people who ate in the same stall fell ill and the GHMC initiated an investigation. This event drew attention to the importance of increasing the degree of safety of foods in the city.
One more serious case was of three students who collapsed and were admitted to the local hospital after consuming biryani and grilled chicken of Aroma Restaurant in Ranga Reddy District. They displayed symptoms like vomiting, diarrhoea and nausea so they had to present themselves to a medical professional. The individuals lodged a complaint at the Food Safety and demanded the management’s action against the restaurant and food delivery service they ordered the meal from.
Hygiene Gaps and Regulatory difficulties in Food Safety Standards
Food hygiene is an important factor in public health; and, it is one of the biggest issues in the world today. However, there is a steady rise in the numbers of diseases associated with the consumption of contaminated food products regardless of the modern techniques used in the production and processing of foods. There are deficiencies in hygiene practices against food handling, preparing and storing compounded by political and regulatory issues that are primarily responsible for this menace. Unless these problems are to be solved and controlled more strictly, improved enforcement of existing standards and enhanced consumers and stakeholders awareness within the food industry, it is critical to strengthen the legal frameworks.
Hygiene Gaps in Food Safety
- Inadequate Sanitation Practices: Poor hygiene and sanitation measures practised in food businesses are one of the main reasons for foodborne diseases. This comprises inadequate hand washing, dirty surfaces where foods are prepared, utensils which have been used to prepare foods which are also used in the preparation of other foods. These hygiene shortfalls are likely to result in proliferation and transmission of dangerous pathogenic bacteria including Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria.
- Improper Food Handling: This is because of factors like cross contamination between raw foods and cooked foods, inadequately handling food. For instance, one can be preparing chicken and vegetables on the same board without washing the board, bacteria can be transferred from the chicken to vegetables.
- Storage Issues: Another hygiene failure most people commit is improper storage of food inclusive of fresh produce. Lack of proper temperatures when storing foods that are supposed to be stored in the refrigerator or the freezer will cause bacterial growth. In the same way, when the food is packed and sealed inappropriately may lead to contamination of the food.
- Lack of Training: Most of the food handlers and workers do not have proper training regarding food hygiene. This results in lack of knowledge which in one way or the other may lead to un-intentional mistakes that endanger food hygiene. Food workers need to be trained and informed through different programs so as to meet expected degree of good food hygiene standards.
Regulatory difficulties in food safety
- Inconsistent Standards: The other significant problem of the current food safety regulation is the disparity in the prescribed norms and standards of the food safety across the regions and countries. This leads to a problem of consistency of practical methods of food safety, especially for large corporations operating across borders. It is a possibility that arriving at some common parameters of food safety all over the world can minimize this problem.
- Limited Enforcement: In the special consideration of the food safety regulation even in the areas that set very high restrictions, the problem of constraint in enforcing the regulation because of the lack of funds as a tool in their disposal remains a challenge. This situation exposes regulatory agencies to challenges that include; lack of funding, insufficient staffing, and lack of infrastructure to conduct constant inspections.
- Complex Supply Chains: Another regulatory issue is the operation and length of supply chains in the food industry at the present period. Mixing different components from different parts of the world make it hard to monitor the safety of each of the components. It makes it even more difficult to investigate foodborne related diseases since there is high possibility of cross contamination.
- Lack of Coordination: To achieve sustainable food safety regulation the roles of different stakeholders such as government departments, producers, retailers and consumers must be well articulated. Nonetheless, they found out that the absence of integration between the Country Assistance Teams and others sometimes create weak linkages in the legal framework.
Towards a Conceptual Framework for Hygiene Gaps and Regulatory Issues
- Strengthening Regulations: Food safety legislation existing at the government and regulatory level needs to be enhanced and brought up to date to counter new risks. This can involve explaining firmly the practices accepted in terms of sanitation, food, and storage, staff education and training. Also, ensuring that regulatory approach is science based can greatly assist in making the standards as effective as is probable and as related to practice as is feasible.
- Enhancing Enforcement: Regulatory agencies require more funding and human resource in order to have strong enforcement tools. Constant checks, enforceable measures against violation, and quick action to diseases relating to food improve compliance with regulatory measures by the food preparation units.
- Promoting Education and Training: training of staff, food handlers and workers is important in ensuring effective measures of food hygiene. In their training, programs should include areas of hygiene, food hygiene, and sanitation procedures. Also, educating the customer on the aspects of food hygiene can make them change or promote positive behaviors towards their food.
- Improving Supply Chain Transparency: Arrangement of traceability systems to the food supply chain can assist in identifying source of foods and their circulation in the market. They can also help achieve quick and efficient ways of isolating points of contamination or conducting efficient recalls during food borne illnesses.
- Fostering Collaboration: Codifying and agreeing upon general common principles regarding food safety together with all stakeholders in food supply chain is essential in order to integrate all constituent elements of good food safety system. This ranges from Memorandums of Understanding between departments, producers and wholesalers as well as cooperation between associations of consumers and producers.
Rising consumer awareness about Food Safety
It is one of the important topics concerning public health is food safety, which interferes with consumers’ health in a direct way. Nevertheless, outbreaks of foodborne illnesses remain a leading problem worldwide today, even as players across the food supply chain strive to meet the new and improved food production standards. Which are important to reduce such risks and make people conscious and careful about the quality of the foods they take Consumer awareness is important in the reduction of these risks. The following are the measures that could be adopted to increase awareness level of the average consumer about food risks.
The Education and Outreach Programs
- Community Workshops and Seminars: The prospect of holding several community workshops and seminars is also good when aiming at informing the consumers on food safety measures to take. These events can include topics such as the ways in handling, storing and preparing food properly. This something that can be encouraged by inviting official food safety experts as well as other health professionals to address the attendees.
- School and University Programs: Inculcating food safety principles among learners that goes a long way as learners is the best approach towards making them understand food hygiene rules that can be imbibed in school or university. Health related classes, which are implicated in hygiene, nutrition and foods, also assist the students to know what to do in order to improve on their health.
- Public Awareness Campaigns: Government and other institutions such as NGOs and health department can conduct campaigns to pass information concerning food safety. These campaigns can cover any media, whether it’s the television, radio, social media, or even the print media.
Cooperation with Food Industry Actors
- Partnerships with Restaurants and Food Outlets: Ensuring the restaurants, cafes, and food vending companies understand what needs to be done in order for them to follow food safety standards. Restaurants and cuisines can hang all sorts of certificates and hygienic ratings to make sure customers trust the quality of the food they are about to consume. Additional improvement in those practices can also be made by encouraging these businesses to enrol in food safety training.
- Retailer Involvement: From the experience of marketing cheese products, super and grocery stores can take an active part in educating the consumers on food safety measures. It also offers a perfect opportunity for retailers to launch informative campaigns in the form of signs and illustrated brochures placed near the stalls and the staff training program. In addition, delivering food safety materials and giving out workshops and demonstrations on food safety issues can help customers.
- Food Labelling and Transparency: Proper labelling with comprehensible messages are crucial for the public. Nutritional information, list of ingredients used, the authenticity date together with handling instructions should be described on labels. The importance of transparent labelling can also be described by the fact that when such practices are employed anyone who wishes to purchase foodstuff can do so when fully informed about the consequences of consuming such a food product which may lead to an outbreak of food related diseases.
Investing and using technological and digital instruments
- Mobile Apps and Online Resources: Creating a new generation of portable tools in the form of applications and Internet sources that focus on food safety will help to facilitate access to information. Such platforms may help consumers provide advice on proper handling of foods, any recalls, and even possess features that allow tracking down the causes of foodborne sicknesses. The usability of these resources can be improved when there is a friendly pointing device, and when updates are frequently given.
- Social Media Engagement: Social media should be utilized effectively in reaching out to more people on issues to do with food safety. These are great ways of creating shareable informative content whether it is tips, articles or videos which health agencies, food safety organizations and influencers can create and share among the community. Another aspect of audience participation is a quiz, live broadcasts, and other polls are also useful to establish a more profound connection between the consumers and carry out proactive discussions about food safety.
- E-learning and Webinars: This means that any topics concerning food safety can make use of e-learning courses and webinars for those consumers that may wish to learn more. Such educational sessions can be conducted envisioning any type of academic connection with food including even basic principles of hygiene up to sophisticated methods of food safety. It should be certified that upon the end of the training the participants can be issued some certificates which will remind them of the importance of food safety.
Encouraging Consumer Advocacy
- Empowering Consumers: Failure in food safety is costly and consumers need to be empowered to fight for the industry to change this vice. In order to foster such change, people should be motivated to report any incidences of violation of food safety measures, any surveys on food safety, and their experiences in such incidences.
- Support for Consumer Organizations: Another way is to strengthen consumer advocacy non-profit organizations that can enhance the work on raising the population’s awareness. Such organisations can perform research, apply pressure for more stringent measures to be implemented and supply information and assistance to consumers.
- Community Involvement: Inviting communities to participate in change efforts regarding food safety issues could help create people’s ownership of food safety change. Supermarkets, especially local and organic fruit and vegetable markets such as community gardens, food cooperatives and farmers’ markets are important in sustaining/advancing food safety messages.
Understanding Food Poisoning
Food poisoning or also called as food borne illness and it is an acute illness that a person can get by consuming contaminated food or drink. It happens when the body takes in ingested food contaminated by unsafe bacteria, viruses, parasites, or toxins. This condition can as well vary from a mere inconvenience to being a severe medical condition that is a clear and present danger to the society’s health.
Causes of Food Poisoning
- Bacterial Contamination: Pathogenic bacteria responsible for food borne illness are; Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Listeria, and campylobacter. Most of these pathogens are found in inadequately cooked or preserved food and may spread through unsanitary water or from un-sanitized hands.
- Viral Infections: Food pathogens like Norovirus and Hepatitis A can find their way into foods and result in foodborne diseases. They are transmitted through touching of infected persons and contact with affected areas, water and surfaces.
- Parasites: Some of the food poison agents are Parasites such as Giardia, Cryptosporidium and Toxoplasma. They are found in polluted water or raw or undercooked meat as well as unwashed fresh vegetables and fruits.
- Toxins and Chemicals: Some bacterial substance derived from the food borne bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus cause food poisoning. Furthermore, it is possible to have a qualitative pollution by certain chemicals such as pesticides, heavy metals and food additives which make food to be a cause of an illness.
Symptoms of Food Poisoning
The signs of food poisoning differ depending on the type of food pathogen, bacterial, or chemical that has taken hold. Common symptoms include:
- Nausea and Vomiting: Nausea and vomiting are expected symptoms of food poisoning, because our body wants to eliminate the pathogens.
- Diarrhoea: Diarrhoea is frequent and often accompanied by watery stools that can lead to severe dehydrations, if not well addressed.
- Abdominal Pain and Cramps: Sudden or spasmodic abdominal pains usually indicate cases of food poisoning.
- Fever: Sometimes there may be other symptoms or mild to high temperatures due to the body’s immune response to the infection.
- Fatigue and Weakness: People develop general body weakness and fatigue as the body struggles to combat the disease.
Immediate Measures to Take
If you suspect food poisoning, it's crucial to take immediate action to manage symptoms and prevent complications:
- Stay Hydrated: To avoid dehydration, consume enough water; oral rehydration solutions, or clear soup. Do not consume caffeine and sugars which can actually worsen the condition.
- Rest: It is also needed to effectively assist the body in its repair or recovery processes. Avoid excessive physical efforts and have sufficient amount of sleep.
- Monitor Symptoms: Monitor your symptoms and get professional help if one or all of them become severe, or if you develop a severe symptom such as high fever, persistent vomiting, severe dehydration, or bloody diarrhoea.
- Avoid Solid Foods Initially: Once the vomiting and nausea has stopped begin a diet of plain and lightly cooked foods such as bananas, rice, and applesauce etc.
- Seek Medical Advice: Consult a doctor, particularly if the infected person is a child, senior, pregnant or has a compromised immune system. Some children may require certain treatments or may require certain form of medications to treat the infection.