FOOD BORNE INFECTIONS-PERILS OF IGNORING VIRUSES!

Restaurants world over provide excellent quality foods from the sensory satisfaction angle and families choose restaurants mostly based on the eating quality of the preparations served. Of course the price tag, presentation, ambiance, hospitality, safety and variety of foods offered all weigh in while choosing an eatery. Eating out has become a necessity to day because of time constraints for most families to spent in the kitchen. Recent reports that even the best restaurants cannot ensure safety to its customers are rather disturbing. Probably there is some truth here as most sanitation procedures focus only on bacteria and do not cover viruses which has the potential to create havoc if not removed from the serving dishes and plates through effective washing. Is this a serious problem? Currently no one knows though some scientists believe it can pose a challenge in future.

"While there are dishware cleaning guidelines, there are no actual laws that mandate food service businesses must use them. We know that when public food establishments follow the cleaning protocols, they do a very good job at getting rid of bacteria," says Pascall. "But, we don't know if those protocols work to kill viruses – and this may help explain why there are still so many illnesses caused by contaminated food." In 2010, Pascall was awarded with a grant from the Ohio State Center Clinical and Translational Science to test how effectively the current government standards, which are proven to sanitize against bacteria, are able to rid dishes and silverware of viruses. Pascall theorized that viruses could be a bigger health issue, because it only takes a small number of viruses to make a person sick and many viruses could withstand the high temperatures used in commercial dishwashing protocols."While there are dishware cleaning guidelines, there are no actual laws that mandate food service businesses must use them. We know that when public food establishments follow the cleaning protocols, they do a very good job at getting rid of bacteria," says Pascall. "But, we don't know if those protocols work to kill viruses – and this may help explain why there are still so many illnesses caused by contaminated food." Working with a team of virologists, Pascall set out to test the ability of common viruses – norovirus and sapovirus - to make it through a variety of "real life" food service cleaning scenarios. Norovirus is responsible for 90% of epidemic non- bacterial cases of gastroenteritis and is commonly associated with illnesses seen on cruise ships and other "closed communities" where the virus can spread easily. Building off these research results, which are currently being compiled, the team will next investigate if Hepatitis A and the avian flu virus are able to get past current washing and sanitization protocols.

Fortunately food poisoning episodes of non-bacterial origin are far and few and this must have lulled the industry in ignoring the danger posed by them. The fact that most virus-driven food poisoning episodes have been reported not from restaurants but from closed communities provides a clue as to the optimum conditions for the spread of virus. It is scary to hear about the possibility of bugs like Hapatis A and Avian Flu developing sufficient resistance under the current washing regime though it is only very distant possibility. Of course there are well known methods to inactivate viruses and if necessary detergent industry can be expected to come up with washing powder formulations containing anti-viral agents. Taking up investigation in this direction is timely and appropriate and the world will be waiting with baited breath to hear about the conclusions of such studies.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

WATER FILTERS AND VIRUS REMOVAL

63 years of independence has not led to any degree of water security in practically any part of India. On the contrary the water safety has deteriorated to an extent no citizen can trust that civic bodies across the country in providing relief to him from the scourges of health afflictions caused by the so called "protected" water supply systems by drinking unboiled water. An off shoot of the failure of the government to improve quality and safety of water provided, thousands of private players have emerged manufacturing "safe" water in plastic bottles and carboys making a kill out of the fear of the citizens about "government" water!. The water processing industry also offers domestic treatment systems varying in price from Rs 2000 to Rs 20000 for "purifying" water from public supply. Now comes the report that all these treatment systems do not offer complete protection, especially from virus related infection.

"Despite loud promises that these gadgets suck out disease-causing bugs from drinking water, most purifiers sold across India do not completely eliminate water-borne viruses like Hepatitis E, says Pune-based National Institute of Virology. A study by the government-funded body that conducts research on communicable diseases and viruses evaluated eight domestic water purifier brands. It found only two - one equipped with a hollow fibre membrane and the other with a gravity-fed filter - could completely remove the viruses. The study also found no standards existed for virological evaluation of water purification devices in India and called for well-defined parameters. The NIV relied on the United States Environment Protection Agency's (USEPA) guide, standard and protocol benchmark for testing microbial purifiers".

As the above report has not emanated from any consumer activist organization and has the government authenticity there is no quarter for suspecting its bona fides. The findings assume significance in the light of emergence of virus as a major disease vector responsible for many diseases. Though the study cannot be considered complete, there are sufficient indications that the prevalent certification system for water purifiers needs urgent revisit for including their efficacy in making water virus free. Probably BIS will come out with new certification yardsticks factoring the virus removal need into the existing standards.

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

FOOD ALLERGY-NEED FOR MORE RESEARCH

Food allergens pose serious life threatening risks amongst a significant segment of the population in many countries and early detection can save precious lives. While such allergies are on the rise in western countries, no reliable data exist in most of the developing countries including India. Statistics on population affected by food allergy are neither accurate nor reliable since such data compilation is far and few in many countries. Probably traditional eating habits and lesser consumption of processed foods in the developing countries might be giving the impression that food allergies are far and few in these countries. No one knows for real the ground reality regarding the extent of such incidences prevailing in many developing countries. There is even a view orchestrated recently that the projected figures for food allergic population is exaggerated and the very methodologies now in use to detect allergies are not fool proof, calling for more studies in this area.

"The articles looked at allergies to cow's milk, hen's eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish, which account for more than 50 percent of all food allergies. The review authors found that food allergies affect between 1 percent and 10 percent of the U.S. population, but it's not clear whether the prevalence of food allergies is increasing. While food challenges, skin-prick testing and blood-serum testing for IgE antibodies to specific foods (immunoglobulin E allergy testing) all have a role to play in diagnosing food allergies, no one test has sufficient ease of use or sensitivity or specificity to be recommended over other tests, Dr. Jennifer J. Schneider Chafen, of the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System and Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues, said in a news release. Elimination diets are a mainstay of food allergy therapy, but the researchers identified only one randomized controlled trial (RCT) — the gold-standard of evidence — of an elimination diet".

One of the reasons for lack of reliable information on food allergies could be the overwhelming incidence of infectious and other diseases that occur amongst the population in developing countries, especially those who inhabit the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Probably this has deflected any attention on food allergy cases, considered far and few in these countries. It is for consideration whether under the "unique identification number" project of GOI, information on food allergies can also be included amongst the personal details of each citizen.

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com