9781422280447

Chapter 1 What Is Food Safety?

W ords to U nderstand fecal: describes waste material discharged from animals and humans after food has been digested. gastrointestinal: relating to the stomach and intestines. inflammation: swelling. microbes: microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses. pathogens: bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms that can cause disease. T he year 2015 was not a good one for the restaurant chain Chipotle. Founded in 1993 as a Mexican fast-food restaurant, Chipotle prided itself on “using high-quality raw ingredients” and “classic cooking techniques.” Its website boasted that the firm was committed to “sourcing the very best ingredients we can find and preparing them by hand.” The company even bragged that its vegetables were “grown in healthy soil,” because, as Chipotle said, “we understand the connection between how food is raised and prepared, and how it tastes.” But in December 2015, nearly 140 people, many of whom were Boston College students, got sick after eating at a Chipotle restaurant near campus. All had been stricken with norovirus , a gastrointestinal disease caused by fecal contamination.

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