Chemical Contamination Research Paper

Words: 992
Pages: 4

A physical contamination can occur at any stage of the food chain and are characterized as additional matter or alien objects normally not existing in food that can cause injury, disease or psychological trauma to the organism. According to their nature, mechanical contaminants can be classified in three groups: mineral origin (soil, stones, dust, metals, glass, fibre, etc.); plant origin (weeds, leaves, stems, etc.) and animal origin (mites, insects, rodents, etc.). Radioactive contaminants are also included among physical contaminants (FAO, 2004).

8.3.1. Chemical contamination
A chemical contamination can happen at any stage in food production and processing. Chemicals are not hazardous if properly used or controlled. The risk of chemical contamination occurs when the environment is not controlled or the recommended treatment taxes are exceeded. The presence of a chemical may not always represent a hazard. The concentration of a particular chemical will
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Biological contamination
Biological hazards include microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, yeasts, molds and parasites. Some of these are pathogens or may produce toxins. A pathogenic microorganism causes disease and can vary in the degree of severity (FAO, 2004).
Dealing with seafood requires several safety measures in order to prevent microbial contamination. In aquatic environments, this is a key step to unsure food safety. The biological contamination can be acquired from different sources: from the aquatic environment that may present a high microbiological diversity through fecal pollution; from the normal aquatic ecosystem that presents a high diversity of ubiquitous bacteria; along the food chain due to weak safety practices, or even at home during food processing and preparation (FAO, 2004, Zanin et al., 2014).
Bacteria are the most well-known microbiological hazards, however, fungi, parasites and virus are important microorganisms that may jeopardize food safety (Lunestad et al.,