Food contamination is generally defined as foods that are spoiled or tainted because they either contain microorganisms, such as bacteria or parasites, or toxic substances that make them unfit for consumption.
A food contaminant can be biological, chemical or physical in nature, with the former being more common.
These contaminants have several routes throughout the supply chain (farm to fork) to enter and make a food product unfit for consumption.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized food contamination as a global challenge in several documents and reports.
Source; National Library of Medicine
