Foodborne diseases

Hello plant based foodies, wherever you are in the world and the galaxy!

Today we want to address a topic that we believe is of interest to all people, vegan or not. As a community dedicated to food, we feel it is necessary to offer informative content that can be useful to the vegan family, users and readers in general. So today we want to address, in a simple way, a subject that is fundamental when we talk about food: Foodborne diseases.

The concept of foodborne diseases can be defined as any disease caused by the ingestion of food, and they constitute a public health problem because they can even cause epidemics. Among the factors that generate this type of pathology are:

• Food contamination: which can occur at any stage of the production, supply, transport, processing and consumption chain. Contamination may result from the degradation of water, soil or air in the area where they are produced, stored, transported, processed and consumed.

• Inadequate food storage, handling and processing conditions; for example, failure to maintain the cold chain.

When asked what are the diseases transmitted by food, the range is wide, as they can range from diarrhea to cancer. The symptoms associated with these pathologies are varied, although in most cases gastrointestinal problems occur; and they can also manifest with neurological, gynecological and immunological symptoms.

The etiologic agents associated with foodborne diseases, i.e., the physical, chemical, or biological entities that can cause these diseases, are Bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, toxins or chemical substances, such as heavy metals, present in food.