Pineda Linares Diana Lisette

Food & Beverage Management

The Bacteria Serial Killer

Throughout the centuries, humans have evolved both physically and
intellectually, in such a way that even the ancient dangers
threatening the existence of the first men today represents only
bitter memories; man has changed so much that he has even gone from
being prey for several species, to being the greatest predator in
the world. However, the earth is so vast that we know only a small
percentage of what actually lives with us and it seems that the
majority of the worlds population lives ignoring the current dangers
that threaten the survival of our species.
If we look back at history, we find that not only wars or natural
disasters are the phenomena that have taken more human lives;
pathogens such as viruses and bacteria are agents that have existed
even before all species and have a resilience that has enabled them
to survive throughout the history of life on earth. Their diversity
is infinite and because of its mutability, they are considerably
dangerous for multicellular organisms as we are. Being invisible to
the human eye, its attack is silent, but it can become mortal; and
humanity has lived it on different occasions, as in the great
epidemics of the Middle Ages: smallpox, black plague, spanish fever,
etc. Or the most recents: cholera, tuberculosis, ebola, H1N1, HIV.
Although we are still getting sick for cause of microorganisms, it
seems like technology and medical advances have achieve a significant
progress sufficiently to eradicate or mitigate the effects of the
most common infections in humans; but here's the problem: there are
thousands of different types of viruses and bacteria that most of us
are unaware of and many others that have been mutating and becoming
resistant to commonly used medicines, thus becoming a latent threat
to our species.
In the documentary we can appreciate the study of a case of
generalized infections that took place in Wishaw, Scotland in 1996.
This infection occurred because the hygienic practices of food
handling were nonexistent in the local butchery that provided more
than 200 establishments throughout the city, the meat products were
infected with the bacteria Escherichia Coli 0157, and because of its
great spread, the pathogen was able to enter to the systems of
hundreds of people and even took the lives of 21 of them, since there
is no cure for this infection.
This bacteria is somewhat rare, and cases recorded to that date had
been only a few in the country; however, the fact that the butchers
used the same knives to cut different products, or did not clean the
equipment they used, was enough for this microorganism to infect
 Pineda Linares Diana Lisette
Food & Beverage Management

people who were more than 10 km away from the city; this only gives
us an idea of the lethality that Ecoli 0157 has.
So, if there is no cure for this and many other diseases of microbial
origin, how humanity will face these threats? I can assure that
science will continue advancing and technology will seek new methods
and treatments in order to eradicate the deadly effects of as many
diseases as possible; but while that happens, we can only PREVENT;
and how can we prevent? On food and beverage issues, which is what
behove us, we must follow the standards of hygiene in food handling,
since being a means by which disease can be transmitted, food must
be handled under methods that ensure safety to people who ingest it,
here the importance of information and training for all staff of
Food & Beverage establishments ; this, coupled with the fact that we
not only should seek profit in the commercialization of food but
must assume the social responsibility that implies; since the health
and welfare of people is at stake; and we should prevent the spread
of diseases even no longer at a commercial level, but daily in the
culinary practices inside our homes;
After watching the video, it does not seem an exaggeration that by
not boiling a product properly you can die, don't you?