Bacterial Food Poisoning

Quite often, however, the symptoms of food poisoning are relatively mild and may not require medical attention. Such cases are not reported, so it is difficult to know how many cases are occur each year, however, it is clear that food poisoning is a widespread problem.

Food poisoning by bacteria is a reportable disease so you have to inspect your food-serving premises and shops to identify the cause of the illness and prevent its recurrence. Bacteria can be transferred to food by several means, including:

· Using the same utensils to serve contaminated food.

· Careless attention to personal hygiene while handling food, e.g. not washing hands after visiting the toilet, touching nose while preparing food.

· Leaving skin infections and cuts uncovered while preparing food.

· Coughing, sneezing, or spitting while preparing food.

· Incomplete cleansing of food utensils and serving dishes.

· Pests, e.g. houseflies, cockroaches, beetles and certain moths.

· Rodents, e.g. rats, mice.

· Household pets, e.g. dogs, cats, hamsters.

· Infected or diseased cattle and dairy cows.

· Contaminated water supply.

· Soil and dust.

Once bacteria have been transferred to a food, they will grow and multiply under the following conditions:

· Incomplete thawing and cooking of certain foods, e.g. poultry, pork

· Holding cooked foods, e.g. chicken, shellfish, at room temperature before serving.

· Incomplete or repeated cooking of leftover food.

· Careless storage of food.

Reasons for the increase in the number of cases of food poisoning include:

· More ready-prepared foods are eaten, e.g. meat pies, pasties, partly cooked breads.

· More people eat out at restaurants, take- away shops, and hotels. Large-scale catering may result in outbreaks of food poisoning.

· Increased importing of food, from countries where food hygiene laws may not be strictly enforced.

· Increased importing of animal feeds, which may be contaminated and will infect the animals that eat them.

· Insufficient training of staff who handles food.

· Failure by consumers to store food correctly and use it by the recommended date.

· Temperature too high in domestic freezer or refrigerator, leading to the growth of bacteria.

Recommended guidelines to avoid food poisoning state:

Babies, elderly people, people recovering from illness, and pregnant women should never eat raw egg in any form. Eggs should be well cooked so that both white and yolk are solid. Pregnant women and people with a low resistance to infection should avoid eating soft, ripened cheeses or under-heated cook-chill ready-made meals.

Bacterial food poisoning: A concise exposition of the etiology, bacteriology, pathology, symptomatology, prophylaxis, and treatment of so-called ptomaine poisoning
by: Adolf Dieudonné
publisher: University of Michigan Library, published: 1909-01-01
ASIN: B00313IVRC
price: $11.99 (new)

Food Poisoning from Favorite Dips! (Dr. Bud Tarreto)
www.captureyourhealth.com Phone: 877-405-6054 (toll free) According to a study through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 25 people were identified with food poisoning with the use of salsa and guacamole! Why? What are the symptoms? What can I do if I have food poisoning? How can it be prevented?

Bacterial Food Poisoning

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 19th, 2011 at 10:07 AM and is filed under Health issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.