Q. Investigations of food borne diseases?
Most important aspect of food borne disease would be to collect the right sample. Now, what procedure to follow while collecting the specimen? Let us try to understand a few steps involved in the collection of the food specimen. Collect the specimens of all left-over foods. It is often observed that once a food borne disease occurs, all the suspected food is discarded deliberately or in the natural course. Efforts should be made to trace the sample. Normally, in the Indian context, in case of food borne "disease outbreaks, the first to investigate are Police under section IPC 304A. Often, the incriminating sample is destroyed to erase any trace of evidence. If foods from commercial sources are suspect, carehlly record the label information. If the food handler's role is suspected, the hand washings or swabs of infected wounds should be collected. All the samples should be collected in sterile containers (sterile jar, beakers or plastic jug) and should be transported to the laboratory in an ice-bucket and analyzed at the earliest. Collection of biological samples of affected persons such as urinelblood is also necessary.