Food poisoning is an illness caused by eating contaminated food. It’s not usually serious and most people get better within a few days without treatment. In most cases of food poisoning, the food is contaminated by bacteria, such as salmonella or Escherichia coli (E. coli), or a virus, such as the norovirus.

Infectious organisms — including bacteria, viruses and parasites — or their toxins are the most common causes of food poisoning. Infectious organisms or their toxins can contaminate food at any point of processing or production. Contamination can also occur at home if food is incorrectly handled or cooked.

Campylobacter is a species of bacteria that is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness in the US. Most cases of foodborne illness caused by Campylobacter are sporadic, and not part of outbreaks.

Contaminated foods and beverages sicken an estimated 48 million Americans each year. The five bugs most likely to cause an outbreak: Norovirus, Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, E. coli, and Campylobacter. Together, they accounted for roughly 9 out of 10 illnesses from outbreaks from 2011 to 2015.

They list “The Big 6” pathogens (Norovirus, Nontyphoidal Salmonella, Salmonella Typhi, E. coli, Shigella, and Hepatitis A) as being highly infectious, able to cause severe disease in small quantities, and each will be featured individually in this series of articles.

6 Common Foodborne Illnesses & How to Prevent Them

• Norovirus.
• Salmonella.
• Clostridium perfringens.
• Campylobacter.
• E. coli.
• Listeria.

Commonly recognized foodborne infections are:

• Norovirus Infection (aka Norwalk virus, calicivirus, viral gastroenteritis)
• Salmonellosis (Salmonella)
• Scombroid Fish Poisoning.
• Shigellosis (Shigella)
• Toxoplasmosis (Toxoplasma gondii)
• Vibrio Infection (Vibrio parahaemolyticus)
• Yersiniosis (Yersinia species)

Types of Foodborne Illnesses

• Salmonellosis – a potentially life threatening infectious disease caused by various species of Salmonella bacteria.
• Hemorrhagic Colitis – infectious disease primarily caused by the bacterium Escherichia coli O157:H7.
• Listeriosis – infectious disease caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.

A foodborne infection is an inflammation of the stomach and bowels. The infection can happen when you eat or drink something that is contaminated by a bacteria, virus or parasite. Often the inflammation leads to diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, abdominal cramps and sometimes fever.

Follow these 5 principles to help prevent foodborne illness:

1. Wash Your Hands.
2. Properly Handle Raw Animal Products.
3. Use Clean and Sanitized Utensils, Equipment, and Surfaces.
4. Use Food Before It Expires.
5. Keep Animals Away from Food and Food Preparation Areas.

Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and colloquially referred to as food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of “mad cow disease”), and toxins such as aflatoxins in peanuts.

Food- and water-borne illnesses may be caused by toxins created by growing bacteria; toxins produced by the harmful algal species; or contamination of food and/or water with certain bacteria, viruses or parasites. Many cases of food poisoning happen when someone eats food that has harmful bacteria in it.

Food safety and hygiene is of utmost importance for businesses, as it helps to protect the health of consumers from foodborne illnesses and food poisoning. Food businesses have a duty of care when supplying food to consumers, and therefore food safety and food hygiene must be a priority.

Food safety refers to routines in the preparation, handling and storage of food meant to prevent foodborne illness and injury. From farm to factory to fork, food products may encounter any number of health hazards during their journey through the supply chain.

The 3 Types of Hazards

• Biological hazards include bacteria, parasites, fungi and viruses.
• Chemical hazards are harmful substances such as pesticides or machine oils.
• Physical hazards are objects which contaminate your foods such as pieces of glass or metal, toothpicks, jewelry or hair.

The factors involved in the potential threat caused by foods are inappropriate agricultural practices, poor hygiene at any stage of the food chain, lack of preventive controls during processing and preparation of the food, incorrect use of the chemical materials, contaminated raw materials, food and water and …

The Danger Zone One of the most important factors to consider when handling food properly is temperature. Table 3 lists the most temperatures to be aware of when handling food.

Reduce food poisoning risk with four easy steps. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans outlines four basic food safety principles: CLEAN, SEPARATE, CHILL and COOK.

Examples of high-risk foods include : Dairy products (milk, cream, cheese, yogurt, and products containing them such as cream pies and quiches) Eggs. Meat or meat products….Examples of low risk foods include :

• Fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Bread.
• Most baked goods.
• Candies.
• Pickles.
• Honey.
• Jam and preserves.
• Syrups.

‘Low-risk foods’ like breads and produce must still be handled properly to ensure safety and prevent food-borne illness. High-risk foods provide the ideal conditions for bacterial growth, so they need to be handled very carefully to prevent food poisoning.

What bacteria need to grow and multiply

• Food (nutrients)
• Water (moisture)
• Proper temperature.
• Time.
• Air, no air, minimal air.
• Proper acidity (pH)
• Salt levels.

1 : not likely to result in failure, harm, or injury : not having a lot of risk low-risk investments.

We have decided to use three distinct levels for risk: Low, Medium, and High.

Low-risk foods are ambient-stable such as; bread, biscuits, cereals, crisps and cakes (not cream cakes). Such foods are unlikely to be implicated in food poisoning and include: · foods that have been preserved, for example; smoked or salted fish.