Food safety should always be on our mind, as this is one area in our life where we do get an option. While air pollution is hard to fight, food contamination is often preventable. Keep in mind that failure to be on the safe side in what concerns food consumption can lead to serious diseases, some of the more common ones being:
Gastrointestinal Problems
Gastrointestinal problems with symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloody diarrhea (due to E. coli in food) are common manifestations of microbial infections caused by toxic bacterial strains.
Nervous System Problems
Problems of the nervous system involving memory and learning problems may occur especially in children and infants due to consumption of food with organophosphate pesticides which have been shown to be neurotoxic chemicals. Symptoms include memory and learning problems.
Thyroid Dysfunctions
The dysfunctions of the thyroid gland can be caused by the consumption of perchlorate. Food contaminated with perchlorate has been recorded, and this may add to daily perchlorate intake from other sources (such as drinking water), causing thyroid problems and metabolism problems.
Cancer
Cancers may develop over time due to exposure to low amounts of food pollutants over long periods of time. Many carcinogenic chemicals may pollute food, including chlorinated solvents, benzene, arsenic, etc.. In this manner, they can increase the risk of cancer development later on in life.