Health Risks on the Horizon: Food for Thought

Foodborne illness resulting from improper or unsafe food handling practices can pose substantial health risks to oil and gas exploration and production operations around the world. While such health risks may be inherent in many food service activities, the risks are greater in catering programs supporting oil and gas activities at remote sites of developing nations. Assuring a safe and healthful food service operation becomes an essential responsibility of health and safety personnel.

Although the term "food poisoning" has been used for many years to refer to any illness caused by food, the problem is better described as "foodborne illness", which may be caused by many agents.¹  These include poisonous substances which may develop from bacteria in food (Staphylococcal Aureus toxin or Botulinum toxin), foodborne infections resulting from bacteria (Salmonella or Shigella organisms), viruses (Hepatitis A), and parasites, (Trichinosis) as well as several other toxic substances within foods which may derive from animal, plant, or chemical origin. (Table 1).

Foodborne illnesses, once viewed as being largely discomforting and transient, have not only developed the ability to cause incapacitating illnesses and even death but now also have the potential to cause outbreaks on a massive as well as international scope. One reason for this is the increasing use of large-scale food production and processing facilities that are integrated with highly efficient distribution systems. Thus, any contamination entering this food production process has the potential to be rapidly spread throughout the distribution system. In addition, recent episodes of foodborne illness have readily crossed international boundaries, highlighting the vulnerability of current food growing, manufacturing, and distribution processes. These outbreaks have involved contamination of ground beef (and even fresh apple juice) with E. Coli type 0157:H7 in the United States, raspberries containing Cyclospora from Central America, alfalfa sprouts with Salmonella from Pakistan, and seafood contaminated with cholera from South America. The increasingly global aspects of world food sources present a significant risk to health and emphasize the need for effective food service management practices.²