Food poisoning and thousand deaths.

According to a recent study, each year, roughly 1 out of 6 Americans (i.e about 48 million people) gets sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die from foodborne diseases. It is also believed that the figure could be way beyond this in most developing countries, and even the world at large, and it keeps increasing gradually.

Food poisoning kills, not because it isn't preventable or curable, but for the fact that just a few people are actually informed and aware of what food poisoning really is.

                                      WHAT IS FOOD POISONING?

Food poisoning, also called foodborne illness, is an illness caused by eating contaminated food. Food poisoning is mostly caused by foods contaminated by bacteria, such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Listeria, botulism, or a virus, such as the norovirus.

Food poisoning occurs when sufficient numbers of these types of bacteria/virus, or their toxins, are present in the food you eat.

                                     CAUSES OF FOOD POISONING.

Some of the pathogens which causes food poisoning, such as Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli may be found in our food-producing animals.

It is very important to note that these food contaminating bacteria can multiply very quickly, particularly in certain conditions. These conditions and factors are what increases the risk of food poisoning, reason being that they affect bacterial growth. These conditions/factors include:

» Not cooking food thoroughly (particularly poultry, pork, burgers, sausages and kebabs).

» Time – in ideal conditions, one bacterium can multiply to more than two million in seven hours. Considering the duration at which we mostly keep or store our food items, these pathogens have enough time to multiply possibly three to four folds.

» Temperature – food poisoning bacteria grow best in the temperature range between 5 °C and 60 °C. This is referred to as the ‘temperature danger zone’. This means that we need to keep perishable food either very cold or very hot, in order to avoid food poisoning. Keeping cooked food unrefrigerated for more than an hour could also be an addition to this.

» Nutrients – most foods contain enough nutrients for bacteria to grow. This is especially the case with potentially high-risk foods such as dairy and egg products, meat and poultry and seafood.

» Water – bacteria need water for their growth. Without water, growth may slow down or stop. That is why dried foods do not spoil.

» pH – is the measure of acidity or alkalinity and is also important for controlling bacterial growth. Low pH (acid conditions) generally stops bacterial growth, but where the pH of food is neutral, as is the case for many foods, most bacteria grow quite well.

» Eating food that has been touched by someone who is ill with diarrhoea and vomiting

» Cross-contamination (the spread of bacteria, such as E. coli, from contaminated foods).Cross-contamination is a cause of food poisoning that's often overlooked. It occurs when harmful bacteria are spread between food, surfaces and equipment. Cross-contamination can also occur if raw meat is stored above ready-to-eat meals. If juices from the meat drip on to the food below, it can become contaminated.

For more details on food poisoning read Symptoms and prevention of food poisoning.
For more details on food poisoning read Food poisoning Culprits you must know.


REFERENCE:
Better Health Channel
NHS Choices