Food Safety Issues Across the Food Chain and the Contaminants Involved

Abstract

Variety of food contaminants, toxicants and adulterants have been found to be responsible for certain health challenges such as poor utilization of nutrients upon consuming contaminated foods which ultimately results in the deficiency of essential nutrients required by the body. Sequel to this, several food borne disease outbreaks and problems of ill health in humans and animals have gained wide international recognition. Majority of food contamination occurs through naturally occurring toxins and environmental pollutants or during processing, packaging, preparing, storage, and transportation of food. At normal levels of food consumption, there is little potential for toxicity from natural food toxins. Nevertheless, there is always the possibility of an idiosyncratic response of undetected contamination. As technology advances, the detection of such contaminants becomes easier. However, there are several contaminants that are still unknown. This review provides current insight on the effects elicited by food contaminants on the body’s ability to utilize nutrients upon consuming contaminated foods. Keywords: Contaminants, Nutrients, Health Hazards, Food, Toxicants, Health hazards. DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/118-04 Publication date: August 31 st 2022