Food poisoning- How well the world is managing the food-borne diseases?

Food-borne pathogens, innumerable in number, cause a catalogue of diseases, many of them with potential to cause death. Why is that we are not able to prevent such food poisoning episodes totally inspite of enormous scientific knowledge and large resources at our disposal? The question is a difficult one to answer satisfactorily though many reasons can be cited. Think of the gigantic size of this sector spanning across more than 150 countries in 5 major continents. According to some estimates food processing industry produces more than 50, 000 products at any given time and at least 10% of these are replaced by new products using new technologies. In such a scenario where millions of hands are involved in handling the food from farm to the fork and an extended distribution spanning over 15000 Km where do we look for the culprits whenever a food poisoning episode breaks out? It is like picking a pin from a haystack! Still world has done reasonably well so far .

Globally the out put of processed foods is variably placed at 1.6 to 4.8 trillion  dollars from a raw material base worth 48 trillion dollars. How far these figures are reliable we do not know but by any standard the dimension of this sector is gigantic. If this is so how well we have done in controlling this scourge with the facilities, expertise and experience at our disposal?  World wide 2 billion cases of food borne disease incidences are reported every year though some doubts remain regarding such a high figure. Except in developed countries like the US, Europe, Australia etc the documentation of food-borne diseases incidences in most other countries, is a sham lacking credibility. USA reports that there were 47.8 million cases of food related incidences, working to about 1600 cases per 1 lakh population which highlights the seriousness of food poisoning in that country. Out of this 9.4 million cases were pathogen related, caused by 31 known bugs. Even after hospitalization and best medical care Americans are known to get, there were more than 3000 deaths which could not be prevented. In the UK there were 5.5 million food poisoning cases, almost 1 in 16 of the population affected by infection carried by the foods they consumed. Compare this with what is happening in Asia where there were 7 lakh deaths caused by spoiled foods, it is said!.

What are these pathogens about which world is so scared of? They can be bacteria, viruses, fungi etc which cause symptoms to appear in 12-72 hours. These symptoms include vomiting, fever, aches, diarrhea and others. How can these vectors gain access to foods? Through negligence in handling, processing, storage and due to bad sanitary environment. Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli 0157:H7 are the major causative organisms for a major part of the food poisoning cases reported in many countries. There are many other bugs like B.cereus, Listeria spp, Shigella spp, Streptococci spp, Staphylococcus spp and a few others pitching in to cause other food poisoning episodes. Bacteria like Clostridium botulinum, Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus secrete enterotoxins which are poisonous while Aflatoxins and Ochratoxins are secretary products from fungi like Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus. If we know so much about these predators in our foods what holds us back to improve the process technologies to ensure their destruction totally? Unfortunately many food borne diseases are caused during post-processing phase of food handling which is outside the control of the manufacturers. 

One would assume that the food industry will be keen to deploy most reliable, fastest and lowest cost diagnostic tools to detect and eliminate pathogens from their raw materials, intermediate materials and final packed products.  Researchers from the US have claimed to have developed a new diagnostic tool for detecting the presence of bacteria, viruses and other pathogens precisely and quickly. The test is based on the accepted biological theory that each and every microorganism has a specific and unique biomarker in their cells that could be DNA or RNA and by targeting this marker through a specially designed biochip, presence of these vectors can be detected fast. Though the present stage of development is confined to single biochip for each individual pathogen, there appears to be technical feasibility of developing multiplex chips that has the ability to detect several pathogens at one go.

Probably the enthusiasm of the scientists was spurred by the sufferings of millions of people affected by food poisoning and naturally they assumed that the food industry would be the perfect market for their new innovation. The quick time test they developed is claimed to identify, several bugs including the dreaded E. coli 0157, which has caused a number of deadly outbreaks in the United States and other parts of the world. Their test also is supposed to identify other pathogens responsible for brucellosis also which results from eating undercooked meat or unpasteurized dairy products. Though their test was inexpensive and fairly fast, the food industry does not seem to be too impressed as the latter wanted even faster tests that could give results in a jiffy! 

Probably food industry does not want to save on the cost on the testing kit considering that the consequences of "not catching" the infection in time could be more disastrous in economic terms. A bench mark time of 2 hours was demanded to conclude the test which the above innovation was not able to achieve. That shifted the focus of the researchers to target medical industry where hospital sanitation is crucial to avoid infection of patients through ill maintained environment, furnishings, medical tools, foods served, human interface and many other sources. The test can also recognize the virus that causes Dengue fever, potentially valuable for surveillance activities both here and abroad, and human papillomavirus (HPV), which is linked to cervical and oral cancers. That is how a test targeted at food industry became a darling of the medical industry in no time. Thus food industry's loss became medical industry's gain! 

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

Gene based dieting-Does it really work for body weight reduction?

Losing weight is a big business with many "experts" recommending special diets for achieving the objective of shedding body weight and bringing down body mass index (BMI) within the limits considered to be ideal. Millions of dollars are riding on this industry and in spite of all the efforts by scientists and the well being industry there is no guaranteed result oriented "treatment" or regime which can be considered successful to all the people. Who has not heard of Atkins Diet or Ornish Diet or South Beach Diet which had their golden run for a few years but eventually faded from the center scene. There are many health managing semi-medical type of centers, especially in India where special diets are administered to in-house patients for periods of one or two weeks. Though they are successful in rejuvenating the patients for some time, once they come out of the facilities and start on a regular diet the lost weight comes back with a vengeance. Is there no solution for this unenviable situation where man has found himself sucked into the obesity trap due to many reasons, most important being unbalanced dietary intake?

Food we eat to survive and lead a healthy disease free lifestyle has metamorphosed into a pleasure giving experience to day having lost the aura of health associated with it. Who is responsible for this distortion? Some say it is the industry which is "corrupting" the public with its reckless range of food products with progressively diluted nutritive value and full of food additives with doubtful safety credentials. Many sociologists feel that the food marketing strategy of the industry is to be faulted as large pack sizes and jumbo serving portions encourage consumers to eat or drink more than what they really need. Easy access to markets nearby and the personalized transport system invariably act as incentives for more eating. It is the stand of the nutritionists that most foods are designed improperly with sensory perception getting priority over nutrient content. Whatever it may be, fact still remains that over weight and obesity are here to stay with no sign of abatement in spite of many efforts at different levels. 

One of the most effective tools in the hands of the government is punitive taxation on fat-rich and sugar-rich products making these products more and more costlier. Such a policy is bound to show results in a short time but could be temporary as price sensitivity among people is relatively short lived. Tobacco industry still survives though smoking is becoming exorbitantly costly, especially for middle class population due to incidence of high taxes on them. Ultimately the responsibility for eating rightly and in a balanced way rest on the individual and unless there is a realization within that high fat and high sugar in foods can be "toxic" to their lives, very little can be achieved by the State. The argument that those who are obese need medical attention is another view increasingly being accepted but that cannot be a solution to a problem which is refusing to fade way easily. Assuming that the present obese population can be treated through drastic medical interventions, what about future? How are we going to arrest the growing trend of obesity and increasing number of people crossing the Rubicon? 

For quiet some time there has been a class of scientists attributing the tendency to put on body weight to genetic factors though no conclusive proof was forthcoming. The unsolved riddle of same diet causing one to put on weight while another one not showing this tendency could be the reason for the scientists to look at the genetic angle a little more carefully. The "brown fat vs white fat" issue brought out recently may be another angle to unravel the mystery associated with obesity. But it only helps to treat a patient by implanting stem cells that can differentiate into fat cells capable of making brown fats which are easily burned by the body. There is still another view which highlights the role of the human microbiome in deciding about the proclivity of any individual to accumulate body weight. The claim that some microorganisms can even be inherited from parents may be some what far fetched indicating that child of a fat mother must also be fat! 

It was in 2010 another twist was given to the genetic angle to obesity when a private company in the US and the reputed Stanford University collaborated and brought out a starling fact that disposition to put on weight is encoded in the genes of individuals. They were able to decode the variations in some genes that make a person vulnerable to illogical weight again. The science of Nutrigenomics is a relatively new discipline and linking of diet to genes is opening up new avenues to treat obesity. Certain genes like ABP2, ADRB2, PPAR-gamma are shown to have variations in their single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) which can predict whether a particular diet can cause overweight. The FTO gene which contributes to Fat mass and obesity related protein is reported to have high impact on body weight. According to this theory variations in FTO gene can cause an increase in the levels of the hunger hormone Ghrelin which makes dieting extremely difficult for such an individual. Those with FTO gene variations may have an irresistible craving for foods with high fat and high sugar.

How can all the above "revelations" help in tackling obesity? If some of the well being industry players are to be believed all it needs is to take a swab from the cheek of a person to finger print the DNA make up and based on this, right type of diet can be prescribed for him. Thus people with the DNA type that can favor low carbohydrate diet must go for the same without bothering too much about the fat content. to get the best result. For others low fat diet may be more appropriate.to achieve the goal. In India one of the fitness specialized companies is offering the so called  "DNA FIT" program claimed to be "a custom-fit solution" that can "answer for all those who have been seeking a scientific, individualized weight loss program that offers speedy, yet sustainable results". It also claims to be Asia's first DNA based weight loss program. How far these claims are realistic cannot be verified in the absence independent opinion from experts, though it offers some hope for those desperate to slim down after failing all other routes to achieve positive results.

A million dollar question that still remains unanswered is how come there is such a large gene variation happening just in the last 10-15 years when obesity rate started climbing steeply and showing no signs of abatement. Is this due to the environment which is precipitating this epidemic to cause such widespread changes in the DNA make up of people? Or could it be due to increased consumption of processed foods containing many additives having this effect on the DNA? What ever it is, how can the world manage to reverse this trend with almost 16% of the population vulnerable to obesity and 70% of the population with 50% chances to become obese based on their gene make up, unless they change their eating habits according to their DNA type? It is paradoxical that ultimately the focus comes back to individuals who have to take action as per the above findings and DNA picture provides only a suggested solution for adoption.   

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

THE TELOMERASE 'MAGIC'- CONTROLLING THE DESTINY?

Healthy living means different things to different people. But quality of life every human being has to strive for is decided by the type of food eaten and the daily regimens followed in managing the day to day stresses. But all said, the cells which make up the tissues in the body are governed by the well established Hayflick limit which restricts the multiplication by division to roughly about 50 cycles where after they die. In contrast an equally stunning discovery revealed how cancerous cells are not constrained by the above limit, being able to multiply rapidly ad libitum and stay young. It was only recently the real reason for such anomalies of cell multiplication was understood and the role of the enzyme telomerase was discovered in influencing cell division. Telomeres, occurring at both ends of chromosomes contain condensed DNA material and almost like a cap (similar to the two capped ends of a shoe lace) it gives stability to the chromosomes. Repeated cell divisions via mitosis reduces the telomere length and after about 50 divisions they practically disappear.

Nature has endowed the cells undergoing regular division such as those in the immune system with the enzyme telomerase to replace the lost bits of telomeres while in most somatic cells this enzyme, even if present, is not active. Embryonic cells express telomerase because of the necessity for fast growth of all cells. Telomerase enzyme is a reverse transcriptase that carries its own RNA molecule which is used as a template for elongation of telomeres which normally get shortened after each replication cycle. Thus telomerase is like a double edged sword because of its positive role in preserving the cells on one hand and the destructive role in helping the cancerous cells to grow unlimited on the other hand.

The Preventive Medicine Research Institute in California, USA came out with the startling findings that the telomerase activity in normal and healthy human beings can be enhanced through a regime of healthy diet, regular exercise and relaxation and cell damage responsible for aging can be slowed down significantly for a longer life. Though this study cannot be considered adequate to arrive at a firm conclusion due to the limited number of volunteers involved, it does give an indication of future direction of endeavors attempting to push life expectancy further and increase longevity. The life style changes used in the study involved consuming for 3 months a diet high in fruits and vegetables, supplements of vitamins and fish oils, adopting an exercise regimen and stress avoidance and it was found that the blood levels of telomerase in these subjects increased by a whopping 29% compared to the levels before the study. As anti-aging foods, drugs and therapies are increasingly becoming popular amongst consumers, this line of investigations will eventually bring about commercially viable technologies based on the telomerase system. Already the Swiss pharma giant Roche has the license to make a unique kit for testing for hard-to-detect cancers like bladder cancer through the telomerase enzyme assay in urine.

The larger question is whether human beings, when they are in the prime of their life, will ever pay attention to the fact that eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, when they can afford, will be the biggest investment which will bring returns in later years in the form of longevity and freedom from some of the debilitating diseases that confront the society. It is unfortunate that wisdom dawns only at the old age when it is too late to recover from the past sins of over eating, sedentary living and stressful daily chores.

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