Food Poisoning  

Food poisoning occurs when food that is contaminated is ingested.  Contamination can result from the presence of bacteria, toxins, viruses, and parasites.  These contaminations can take place when food is mishandled, is not thoroughly cooked, is not kept at the correct temperature, or at any time during food production. Contamination does not always result in illness in the person who has eaten the food, but is related to the state of health and the age of the person involved, and the particular type of contamination.   

Some of the types of food poisoning are:  Botulism, Cholera, E. coli enteritis, Staphylococcus, Diphyllobothriasis (fish poisoning), and Salmonella.  Botulism is the most serious food-borne illness and can lead to death.  Botulism is most often caused by incorrect food canning methods.  Food poisoning symptoms generally include: vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, weakness, headache, fever, and chills.  Those at highest risk are infants, women who are pregnant, the elderly, those with a serious illnesses, those who have a weakened immune system, and those who travel in foreign countries. 

The following are signs that the patient should be taken to the hospital:  fever over 101 degrees, vomiting with blood, problems with breathing, swollen joints, development of a rash, problems with urination, swollen stomach, swollen abdomen, yellowing eyes or skin, cramps that linger for more than 15 minutes, fainting, dizziness, or vision problems.  To test for food poisoning, doctors may check stools, vomit, the food source, or the patient’s blood.  During recovery, patients should not eat solid foods until diarrhea has passed, stay away from dairy foods which can exacerbate diarrhea, and drink plenty of fluids.  For most categories of food poisoning, the recovery period is 1 - 2 days.   

Precautions can be taken to help avoid the possibility of food poisoning.  Some of these steps include:  cooking eggs thoroughly, washing hands before food preparation, following the guidelines for cooking meat very carefully, washing dishes that have held meat with a bleach/water solution between uses, keeping foods refrigerated and storing at the proper temperature, not using foods in containers that are not sealed properly, not eating raw seafood or any meat that is too rare, throwing away foods that are out-of-date or have an unusual smell, washing fruit and vegetables before eating, not drinking water that has not been treated or that comes from a well or a stream, checking online for the health ratings of restaurants you frequent.