Food Contamination/Adulteration

Food contamination is the term used to describe the presence of hazardous substances and bacteria in food that may infect consumers. Chemically contaminated food poses a serious threat to consumer health. It is dangerous because it causes sickness and develops illnesses like cancer and internal organs.

Categories Of Food Contamination/Adulteration

According to the point at which pollutants enter the food processing, food contamination or adulteration may be categorised. Which are:

1. Agrochemicals

2. Environmental contaminants

3. Hair

4. Contaminants in the manufacturing process

1. Agrochemicals

These are chemicals used in farming and animal husbandry to increase yields and lower costs. These substances are used to eradicate pests, insects, and rodents. Unknowingly, these chemicals often touch seeds and agricultural goods, infusing the toxins into food items. The food product becomes contaminated as a result of this procedure.

Pesticides, rodenticides, insecticides, and other chemicals are a few examples of chemicals used on seeds.

2. Environmental contaminants

These substances are present in the setting where food is cultivated, harvested, transported, stored, packed, processed, and consumed. The food may get contaminated if it directly touches its surroundings. Environmental contamination may come from various sources, such as a. air; b. water; c. soil; d. packaging materials, e., processing/cooking equipment; and f. naturally occurring poisons.

3. Hair

In most civilisations, eating food that contains hair carries a significant taboo. It has a chance of causing choking and vomiting. People who work in the food business are often compelled to conceal their hair. People often object when food is offered to them that has hair in it.

4. Food processing contaminations

These are often present when food is heated, smoked, cooked, etc. By adding different chemical additives to raw materials to enhance flavour, processing contaminations are feasible. Most often, the chef may not have known that certain components had expired.

Method of Preventing Food Contamination

Food Standards Agency (FSA) reports that individuals are more likely to get sick from food produced at home than from restaurants, fast food establishments, or other food places. The danger of food contamination at home should be decreased using the following strategies.

1. Wash your hands completely

Before handling food or after taking raw foods like meat, fish, eggs, and vegetables, wash your hands well with soap and hot water. Additionally, wash your hands after using the restroom, blowing your nose, touching an animal, including a pet, or touching a waste bin.

2. Wash your Worktops

Wash your worktops before and after preparing meals, especially if you use them to handle raw meat, fish, vegetables, or poultry items like eggs.

3. Wash Dishcloths

Wash dishcloths and tea towels often, then let them air dry before using them once again. Clothes that are dirty and wet are the ideal breeding grounds for germs.

4. Use Different Chopping Boards

Use different chopping boards for food that is ready to eat and still in the raw state. Raw food may contain dangerous microorganisms readily transmitted to other foods, work surfaces, chopping boards, and utensils.

5. Keep Raw Meat Apart

It’s crucial to keep raw meat separate from meals that are ready to consume, such as salad, fruit, and bread. This is because these items won’t be cooked before being consumed. Therefore, any germs that touch the food may not be killed off before being consumed.

6. Always Keep Raw Meat Covered on the Bottom Shelf of the Fridge

Raw meat should never come into contact with or spill onto other foods. Always keep raw meat covered on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.

7. Cook Food Completely

Always cook food completely and ensure that it is boiling throughout. Ensure the flesh inside of all chicken, hog, burger, and sausage items are fully cooked and not pink.

8. Maintain a refrigerator temperature of 50 degrees or below and chill leftovers quickly

If you have prepared food that is left over, make sure to cool it as soon as you can, often within 90 minutes, and store it in the refrigerator or freezer. Use up and refrigerate leftovers within two days.

9. Respect Expiry Dates

Even though food is over its expiration date, it may still smell and seem edible. Scientific experiments that demonstrate how rapidly dangerous bacteria may grow in packaged food are used to determine the expiration dates.

Drug Contamination and Adulteration

It is a procedure in which a medicine is made or packed in a dirty, unsanitary environment, rendering it detrimental to one’s health. Most often, medicine makers would lower the quality of their products to increase revenues. This is because they don’t want to spend much money on the supplies they’ll need. This situation is terrible. When a drug is degraded, it ceases to meet national or international standards. The Nigerian government established a regulatory authority named NAFDAC (National Food and Drug Agency) to regulate adulterated and contaminated drugs.

WEEK 5 – 8

Crimes and National Security

It is the ability to maintain appropriate economic contacts with the rest of the world while protecting the territorial and physical integrity of the country. The government developed the concept of national security to protect the country’s institutions, governance, and natural resources from unneeded and outside influence.

Crimes that Affect National Security

Many crimes have a detrimental impact on and threaten a country’s security. These offences comprise:

Drug Trafficking

Drug trafficking was covered in detail in the preceding chapter. To be clear, drug trafficking encompasses all operations related to the production, transportation, sale, and distribution of illicit substances. The reputation of the trafficker as well as the reputation of the trafficker’s nation, are both tarnished by this act. This crime undoubtedly, brings shame to the country and carries the death penalty in some jurisdictions. Nigerian authorities founded NDLEA to combat drug traffickers’ operations (National Drug Law Enforcement Agency). To stop the production, distribution, manufacturing, sale, export, and trafficking of hard narcotics, this organisation was founded in January 1990. Cocaine, cannabis, heroin, and other hard substances are included.

Human Trafficking

The illegal capture of individuals for slavery, forced labour, or commercial sexual exploitation is what this is. A country’s population is one of its most valuable resources. A threat to national security arises when a country’s population declines due to human trafficking. Underpopulation is caused by human trafficking in

There won’t be many people around to make use of the numerous amenities the government has given. Considering that no one is using the facilities, this could cause many of them to deteriorate. Brain drain is brought on by human trafficking. Potential natural abilities are invariably taken away together with those trafficked from one country to another. As a result, those who ought to naturally contribute to the growth and development of their own country end up helping another. The penalty for human trafficking is five to ten years in jail.

Vandalism on pipelines

An oil pipeline has been purposefully and brutally destroyed in a town, local government, state, or nation. This crime is rife in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta region. Insurgents typically commit this crime. Every time the pipeline is targeted, it reduces crude oil production, leading to a fabricated fuel shortage throughout the nation. The government’s revenue projections are impacted by pipeline vandalism. This usually distorts the budget implementation for capital projects like building roads, and houses, creating jobs, and the like. Pipeline vandalism is punishable by paying penalties, being imprisoned, or both.

Terrorism

It is the threat of violent acts that instils terror in a community or a country’s residents. Terrorism is committed for racial, political, or religious reasons. Typically, it is intentional and disregards public safety. Often, terrorism targets a nation’s military installations. It entails the use of force, threats, and potentially harmful weaponry. Although there are innumerable terrorist organisations, the most well-known include ISIS (Islamic State in Syria), Hamas, the Taliban, Hezbollah, the FARC (Columbia), Alshabaab, Alqueeda, Boko Haram, etc. These terrorist organisations employ similar tactics using threat, force, and weapons. The crime of terrorism significantly impacts national security. The administration of government in a nation plagued by terrorism is typically challenging.For this reason, many countries invest a lot of money in both internal and foreign security. The majority of the time, terrorists have no legitimate demands or causes for agitation; they simply like killing defenceless people. Terrorism crimes are subject to the death sentence, which may include hanging or being executed by the

firing squad.

Embezzlement

This is the practice of dishonestly withholding or diverting funds from a group, organisation, or country intending to use the funds or assets for personal gain. The theft is a deliberate act carried out methodically, with the embezzler taking care to hide the crime. Top government leaders are frequently involved in this crime. Most often, money intended to carry out large projects is syphoned off and ultimately embezzled, resulting in the project’s premature termination. The offence of embezzlement carries a prison sentence as well. The EFCC (Economic and Financial Crime Commission) and ICPC are two organisations the Nigerian government established to combat this crime (Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission). These commissions were set to take on the country’s corrupt individual(s).

Arson

The malicious and intentional setting of fire to a building, a vehicle, a piece of land, or any other piece of property to inflict harm is a felony. It entails intentionally setting fire to one’s own or another person’s property to obtain compensation. An arsonist is a person who starts fires. When citizens object to specific government policies, they frequently set government property on fire, forcing the government to make a financial commitment to the damaged property. This activity poses a serious threat to national security and property.

Some government employees occasionally plan and purposefully set key documents on fire to conceal illicit behaviours such as embezzlement, theft, and corruption. This behaviour is a result of a fire breakout. In contrast, it is considered arson and is punishable by imprisonment.

Unlawful Bunkering

Providing fuel to ships without the necessary government authorisation is prohibited. A country’s economy could become unstable due to illegal bunkering. Today, unlawful bunkering in Nigeria results in the diversion of about 400,000 barrels of crude oil. For the nation, this crime results in financial loss. The money that could have been used to fund capital improvements in local communities instead finds its way into the pockets of greedy people. The penalty for this crime is a fine, incarceration, or both. Importing foods and medicines that have gone bad

Food and medicine imports past their expiration dates can spread disease if people consume them without realising it, when this illness is unchecked, an epidemic results. The Nigerian government formed an organisation called NAFDAC in January 1993. (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control). This organisation is in charge of policing and regulating the production, distribution, sale, use, advertisement, and use of packaged water, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, medical devices, and chemicals (pure water). In Nigeria, importing outdated food and medicines is a crime that carries a prison sentence and a fine. Fake food and medication goods have caused many individuals to suffer. Because of this crime, the government set up this organisation to stop importing these hazardous foods and drugs.