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1.0 Introduction

Food can make us sick if it contains either dangerous organisms or toxins. Often

the toxic food looks, smells, and tastes okay. You might suspect foodpoisoning if several people who have eaten the same thing develop similar

symptoms, or if a child gets sick without being exposed to anyone else who is

sick. (Dr. Alan Greene, August 2007)We do not know the level of cleanliness of

the food we consumed. (William Schafer, Extention Food Technologist, 1998) At

the end of the day, when we suffered from diarrhea, stomach ache, vomit and

etc then only we realized that we had been poisoned by the food we eat. In

addition sometime, grade A restaurant also can cause you to get food

poisoning. For example one of our group member Nurul Azzahra, suffered from

food poisoning after having dinner at one the grade A restaurant in Shah

Alam. The question is how this kind of restaurant deserves to get grade A, which

mean good.

In Malaysia, there are many cases involving food poisoning that has been reported

especially among school children. (J.D Lovrenciear, Semenyih, 2007, Nov

01) Toxins from chemicals or pesticides can also cause food poisoning.

Improper handling of foods can lead to the present of bacteria. Bacteria

such as Campylobacter, E.Coli and salmonella are the common types that

can cause infection to occur. (Barbara P. Homeier,MD, March 2005) We must

know particularly the causes and symptoms that contribute to the food poisoning

and the right methods of handling food should be practiced in order to prevent

food poisoning.

1.1 Background

This section will present detailed explanation of food poisoning, the nature if the

symptoms and the causes and the prevention

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1.1.1 The definition of food

Food as defined by Mac Millan Advance Leaner for English Dictionary,

Page 547, is the things that people or animal eats or the things that

plants need in order to grow

1.1.2 The definition of poison

Poison is defined as a substance that can kill or harm people, animals or

plants. (Longman Active Study Dictionary, New Edition, Page 513)

1.1.3 The description food poisoning

Therefore, food poisoning is an illness affecting your stomach cause by

eating foods that contains harmful bacteria and toxin. (Mac Millan

Advanced Learner Dictionary, page 547) Toxins from chemicals or

pesticides can also cause food poisoning. Improper handling of foods can

lead to the present of bacteria. Bacteria such as Campylobacter, E.Coli

and salmonella are the common types that can cause infection to occur.

(Barbara P. Homeier,MD, March 2005)

1.2 Terms of reference

On the 21 of January 2008, Mr. Che Azmi Che Mahmood, the BEL422

lecturer had instructed us, Shellney@Veronica Sadom, Nurul Azzahra Bt

Othaman, Shahira Bt Mohamad and Faizah Bt Sukiman to conduct report

writing on a chosen topic. Our group had chosen a topic on food poisoning in

Shah Alam from year 2005 to 2007. This report will include the background of

the study, causes and symptoms, statistical data on the findings and

conclusion. A complete report on the above matter with recommendations must

be submitted on the 17th March 2008.

The objectives of the report are:

1.2.1 To identify the causes that contributes to the food poisoning

1.2.2 To identify the symptoms that contributes to the food poisoning

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1.2.1 To determine the right methods of handling food should be practiced

in order to prevent food poisoning

1.3 Method and scope of the report

In conducting this report, our group referred to the secondary data which

were obtained from internet, published report and articles. All the data were

gathered and analyzed. Our scope will be the increasing number of food

poisoning in Shah Alam from year 2005 to 2007. (Table 2.1, Data gathered from

Health Department)

2.0 Findings

This section will highlight the findings from the various online and printed

sources, data from Health Department.

Table 2.1

Year Number of cases

2005 55

2006 10

2007 211

(Sources: Health Department Selangor)

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The Number of Food Poisoning Cases in Shah Alam

for the year 2005 to 2007

0

50

100

150

200

250

2005 2006 2007

Year

NumberofCases

number of cases

The bar chart shows the number of food poisoning cases in Shah Alam which

occurred in year 2005 to 2007. The data was gathered from Selangor Health

Department.

From the bar chart we can see that the highest case of food poisoning is in year

2007 which consist of 211 cases. On the other hand, the lowest cases occurred in

year 2006 which is only 10 cases reported. In year 2005, the case of food

poisoning in Shah Alam is 55 cases. Hopefully, the number of food poisoning

cases will decrease for the next year.

2.1 The causes that lead to food poisoning

2.1.1 Improper handle of food

Normally, foods that are poorly handled can easily become contaminate.

Those peoples who do not wash their hand after using the bathroom

often cause contamination. (John P Cunha, DO)

2.1.2 Inappropriate storage

Inappropriate storage of foods will cause bacteria to spread. Flies or other

insect that alight on the foods we eat can also cause food poisoning. (John

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P Cunha, DO)

2.1.3 Contaminated water (Tam Yong Yee, NST Online)

Fresh fruit and vegetable that is wash with water that is contaminated

with animal manure or human sewage may also cause contamination.(Monica Rhodes, March 15, 2007)

2.1.4 Uncooked food

Some people get poisoned by eating food that has not been cooked

properly so that the bacteria have not been destroyed. (Dr. Rob

Hicks, December, 2006)

2.1.5 Food prepared by unhealthy person

The possibility for someone to get a food poisoning is great when they eat

the foods cooked by someone who is unhealthy. For example when he

or she coughing during cooking or preparing the foods. (Malaysia

Health Department)

2.1.6 Overusing pesticide

Food can be intoxicated through the overusing of pesticide during the

growing of the vegetable or using the pesticide that is illegal. (John P

Cunha, DO)

2.2 The symptoms of food poisoning

2.2.1 Stomach ache and vomiting

The symptoms of food poisoning can vary, depending on what has caused

it. The most common symptoms are vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea

due to inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. (The National Library

of Medicine, 02 July 2007). Incubation period are different for each

cause of food poisoning. Some types produce symptoms and illness

within 30 minutes to a few hours. Most cases of food poisoning take

between 12 to 48 hours to develop and symptoms come on

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suddenly. (John P Cunha, DO)

2.2.2 Fever and Chills

Symptoms may also include fever and chills, dehydration, muscles aches,

weaknesses and exhaustion. Other types take between a few days andup to a week before symptoms start to appear. (The National Library of

Medicine, reviewed by Daniel Parlman, MD 02 July 2007) If the food is due

to an infection with campylobacter, it may take a week or longer to

develop symptoms. It is the most commonly identified food-borne

bacterial infection encountered in the world. (John P Cunha, DO)

3.0 Conclusions

Based on the findings of the study, it can be concluded that many causes will

make food poisoning occurs. Since that the number of food poisoning is increase

seriously, due to many causes that some people did not take it as consideration.

People must take a good care of themselves, pay attention to the cleanliness of the

places surround them and also the food hygienic to avoid them from food

poisoning. It is important for us to pay particular attention to food

preparation and storage to avoid food being contaminated. Bacteria can

grow faster especially in the moist and warm weather and these may cause the

food to spoil quickly and it can possibly cause illness. Therefore, we have to

make sure that we should practice the right way of food sanitation.

From the findings, normally incubation periods or a symptoms will varied

depending on what has caused it and individual immune. Usually, people who

suffered this illness will take a few days or longer days to recover. They need to

have enough rest and complete nutrition for their body to cover back from

dehydrated process.

As a conclusion, the growing number of food poisoning cases in Shah Alam is due

to many factors that is proven by the causes and symptoms mentioned earlier.

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4.0 Recommendation

4.1 Immediately putting cold foods such as raw meat and fish into therefrigerator or freezer as soon as you return from shopping, or after

cooking where you kept all the balance of the raw meat into freezer,

and putting any cooked left over into the fridge as soon as they

cooled down. (Barbara P.Homeier,MD, reviewed March 2005)

4.2 Making sure any reheated food is piping hot and all foods is covered and

chilled. (Dr. Rob Hicks, December 2006)

4.3 Washing your hands after visiting the toilet, before handling food or

touching ready food. (Monica Rhodes, March 15, 2007)

4.4 Make sure that chopping boards, knives and other utensils are washed and

dried properly after use before storage to reduce the risk of bacteria

growing. (Monica Rhodes, March 15, 2007)

4.5 Keeping all types of food and drink away from any household chemicals,

such as cleaning products and bleach.

REFERENCES

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1.NST online (www.nst.com.my)

2.Medical Record unit, KJNS (Selangor of Health Department) www.JKNS.com.my

3.Dr. Rob Hicks. 2006, December.www.kidshealth.org.html

4.Barbara P Homeier, MD. 2005, March. What is poisoning? www.bbc.co.uk

5.

http://www.jkns.com.my/http://www.kidshealth.org.html/http://www.kidshealth.org.html/http://www.jkns.com.my/http://www.kidshealth.org.html/