A scientific expert committee jointly convened by WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) - called JECFA - is the international body responsible for evaluating the health risk from natural toxins in food. International standards and codes of practice to limit exposure to natural toxins from certain foods are established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission based on JECFA assessments. What are natural toxins? And what are their adverse health effects on humans and livestock if these toxins formed in food?
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https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
Toxic compounds are produced by a variety of plants and animals. Natural toxins may be present serving specific function in the plant and animal or evolved as chemical defense against predators, insects or microorganisms. These chemicals have diverse chemical structures and are vastly different in nature and toxicity.
Common examples of natural toxins in food plants include glycoalkaloids in potatoes, cyanide-generating compounds in bitter apricot seeds and bamboo shoots, enzyme inhibitors and lectins in soya beans, green beans and other legumes.
Natural toxins are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by living organisms. These toxins are not harmful to the organisms themselves but they may be toxic to other creatures, including humans, when eaten. These chemical compounds have diverse structures and differ in biological function and toxicity.
Natural toxin of animal origin may be a product of metabolism or a chemical that is passed along the food chain. While poisoning after eating terrestrial animals is relatively uncommon, poisoning due to marine toxins occurs in many parts of the world. Marine toxins produced by toxic microalgae are accumulated in shellfish, crustacean and finfish following their consumption. Tetrodotoxin, a potent marine neurotoxin, is thought to be produced by certain bacteria. It is found in over 90 species of puffer fish and may cause lethality after ingested even a small amount. Seafood poisoning commonly reported in coral reef fish is due to the presence of ciguatoxin that may be found in more than 300 species of fish. Histamine produced by bacterial spoilage of scombroid fish causes another kind of seafood poisoning.
Some toxins are produced by plants as a natural defense mechanism against predators, insects or microorganisms, or as consequence of infestation with microorganisms, such as mould, in response to climate stress (such as drought or extreme humidity).
Dear Dr. Fares Khalifa Thanks a lot for your comment and contribution. Really thanks. Thanks for your kindness and support.
Other sources of natural toxins are microscopic algae and plankton in oceans or sometimes in lakes that produce chemical compounds that are toxic to humans but not to fish or shellfish that eat these toxin-producing organisms. When people eat fish or shellfish that contain these toxins, illness can rapidly follow.
@ Manal Hadi Kanaan That what is toxin for us is used as a powerful mitigation strategy by plants against stresses. For example, grass pea is perhaps hardiest among food legumes. Its hardiness owes to a chemical, called ODAP. This ODAP is a neurotoxin, and continuous intake of grass pea seeds has been correlated to paralysis of lower limb of humans.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
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Excessive eating of foods leads to obesity, and thus some of it turns into toxins harmful to the health of the body
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Kindly have a look at this useful article from the WHO:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
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Natural toxins are chemicals that are naturally produced by living organisms. These toxins are not harmful to the organisms themselves but they may be toxic to other creatures, including humans, when eaten. Some plants have the capacity to naturally produce compounds that are toxic to humans when consumed.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-safety/chemical-contaminants/natural-toxins.html
Mycotoxins are another group of natural toxins. The word mycotoxin is derived from the Greek word for fungus 'mykes' and the Latin word 'toxicum' meaning poison. Mycotoxins are toxic chemical products formed by fungi that can grow on crops in the field or after harvest. The foods that can be affected include cereals, nuts, fruit and dried fruit, coffee, cocoa, spices, oilseeds and milk. There are now more than 300 known mycotoxins of widely different chemical structures and differing modes of action - some target the kidney, liver, or immune system and some are carcinogenic. Common mycotoxins include aflatoxins, ochratoxin A, ergot alkaloids, fumonisins, patulin, trichothecenes (such as deoxynivalenol which is also known as vomitoxin) and zearalenone.
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/food-safety/chemical-contaminants/natural-toxins.html
Natural toxins are found inherently in some foods of plant and animal origins. Examples include naturally occurring toxins in certain species of mushrooms and berries and in plants that may be used in herbal remedies or plant-based food supplements. Some plant-based foods may also be toxic if they are not processed or cooked appropriately before consumption (e.g., pulses or sprouts from pulses containing lectins that cause gastrointestinal symptoms and cassava and sorghum that release cyanide from cyanogenic glycosides). In some plant-based foods, the level of inherent toxins may build up if they are stored inappropriately for long periods (e.g., glycoalkaloids in sprouting and green potatoes). Foods of animal origin that may be inherently toxic include shellfish that may contain toxins that cause amnesia, paralysis, and other forms of neurotoxicity, various species of reef fish that may contain ciguatoxin that causes gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms, and puffer fish containing the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/natural-toxin
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Natural toxins in food can cause both acute and chronic health effects with a range of clinical symptoms. Acute symptoms range from mild gastrointestinal upset, neurological symptoms, respiratory paralysis to fatality. This is more likely among the susceptible groups of the population such as children and the elderly. Within hours if not shorter, acute symptoms are seen following ingestion of various marine toxins in shellfish and other seafood. Acute poisoning is also seen in the consumption of wild mushrooms or inadequately treated plants such as ginkgo seeds and bitter apricot seeds. Chronic toxicity is seen more often in poisoning caused by plants toxins such as many alkaloids. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids that are present in weeds in crops and in certain plants may cause toxicity to the liver over prolonged consumption. The amount of food that would cause toxic effects depends on the toxin level present as well as individual susceptibility.
https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_11_02.html
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Natural toxins can cause a variety of adverse health effects and pose a serious health threat to both humans and livestock. ... Adverse health effects can be acute poisoning ranging from allergic reactions to severe stomachache and diarrhoea, and even death.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
Kindly check
https://www.cfs.gov.hk/english/multimedia/multimedia_pub/multimedia_pub_fsf_11_02.html
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
WHO has a nice article on this issue.
The toxic effects of natural toxins include nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, hepatic toxicity, cancer, inflammation, irritation, diarrhea, death, ataxic neuropathy, loss of consciousness, etc
Natural toxins are toxic compounds that are naturally produced by living organisms. These toxins are not harmful to the organisms themselves but they may be toxic to other creatures, including humans, when eaten. These chemical compounds have diverse structures and differ in biological function and toxicity.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
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Just as an example, Botulism is due to a natural toxin in food (botulinum toxin) ... I think "to show a button"
Natural toxins can cause a variety of adverse health effects and pose a serious health threat to both humans and livestock. Some of these toxins are extremely potent.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
Adverse health effects can be acute poisoning ranging from allergic reactions to severe stomachache and diarrhoea, and even death.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
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Natural toxins are found in many plants and animals, sometimes formed automatically in our food stuffs while we leave them without proper protection for long time. Any kind of toxin is very harmful for human or animal health as well as for environment. Toxic substances make serious trouble with severe disease in human and animal bodies, like diarrhoea, dysentery, headache, skin disease, vomiting, convulsion etc. even the cause of death also.
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https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/natural-toxins-in-food
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