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All About Food Poisoining Food Borne Illness

Everything You Need To Know About

Food Borne Illness or Food Poisoning Including:

Learn the Source of Your Food Poisoning Illness, How To Treat it and How To Report

Did You Know that the Source of Most Food Poisonings is Not From Food Prepared and Consumed at Your Home!

How to Recognize and Avoid Food Poisoning Hazards at Restaurants, Markets, Meat & Seafood Markets, Private Parties & Events, Catered Parties, Catering Trucks and Street Vendors and much more...

This site and its many pages, are dedicated to providing valuable information on How to Prevent and Avoid Food Poisoning and Food-Borne Illness Hazards by giving you, the consumer, the tools you need to identify those situations, facilities, foods and more that pose a risk of Food Poisoning.

What makes this site unique is the focus. Most information available on avoiding and preventing Food Poisoning, Food-Borne Illness and Food Safety issues focus on what you can do in your own home, and your own kitchen. This misses the fact that studies have shown that most food poisonings (as high as 72%(1))result from from consuming food away from your home (restaurants, delis, cafeterias, private events etc.).

There is a lot of great information in these pages and I hope you pick up something that will help you minimize your chances of ever suffering from a debilitating food borne illness.

Most Recent Articles

	The Inherent Food Borne Illness Dangers of Cold-Served Foods and How to Reduce Your Risk Why do Cold-Served Foods pose a higher risk for food borne illness / food poisoning than hot foods? Learn how to reduce your food poisoning risk from Cold-Served foods.
	Natural Remedies, Treatments, Supplements and Possible Cures for Food Poisoning / Food Borne Illness Suffering From Food Poisoning? Here are Your Best Options for Treatment Including Natural Home Remedies, Treatments, Supplements and Potential Cures!
	Campylobacter and Food Poisoning Learn the Sources, Signs, Symptoms, Treatment, and Means to Prevent One of The Most Common Food Poisoning Microorganisms!
	How to React to a “Bug” or any Foreign Object Found Alive or Dead in Your Food Can you Get Food Poisoning from an Insect, or Foreign Object? Learn the steps and actions to take when this happens!
	How to Identify and Avoid Foods From Unlicensed, Unpermitted or Unapproved Sources How can you differentiate between the Legal and the Illegal Restaurant or Market? And how can you tell the difference between a Legal Approved Food Product and an Illegal Unapproved One. Learn the Requirements for a Food Label...
	Are Gloves a Good or Bad Sign of Good Personal Hygiene and Food Poisoning Prevention in a Restaurant? Learn Glove and Handwashing Requirements in a Restaurant, Deli, Cafeteria, Meat Market and More!

A Food Poisoning Story -

Does This Sound or Feel Familiar??

I was driving when it first started.

It began with a small stomach cramp. Then after just what seemed like a few minutes, the cramps became much more severe, almost like a grumbling, and I felt the beginning of a nauseating feeling, which I knew was telling me I might have to throw up soon.

Fortunately, I was close to home when the severe cramps, and nausea started. I pulled into my driveway. Quickly got out, which was not a good idea since as soon as I stood up, the ‘might have to throw up’, turned to 'have to throw up' within the next minute or less.

I quickly made it to the door, unlocked it and just made it to the toilet to release whatever was in my system, at least the top part... (click here to read the rest of the story)

What is Food Poisoning or Food Borne Illness and What are the Many Causes?

Simply put, it is illness resulting from, or directly related to the consumption of a food or drink.

Chances are that at least once in your life you have experienced food poisoning and probably mistakenly passed it off as “the flu.” I daresay that those of us who can remember the experience are not eager to go through it again.

Food Poisoning or Foodborne Illnesses (I use these terms interchangeably) are frequently mistaken for the flu because many of the symptoms (diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting, fever, chills, headache) are indistinguishable from the flu. There is a way to distinguish between the two. See Recognizing Food Poisoning Symptoms.

Food poisoning, also known as gastroenteritis (what the doctor would diagnose you with), is much more common and much more serious than the general population realizes.

Most food poisonings fall into one of two categories. The first is food intoxication, where a chemical or natural toxin (often produced as a by-product of bacteria present in the food) causes illness. The second is food infection, where the microorganism itself grows inside your body and is the source or your symptoms or cause of illness. Most food poisonings are actually food infections. (To read more on the differences click on www.Food_Poisoning_Infection_vs_Intoxication)

There are a number of other ways in which food can make you sick. Chemicals, heavy metals, foreign objects, food-infesting insects, parasites, fungi, viruses and bacteria are all possible causes.

The greatest and by far most common risk of becoming ill or dying from food is from contamination with harmful microorganisms, commonly known as germs. The likelihood of becoming seriously ill by microorganisms is far greater than that of pesticide risks, environmental contaminants, nutritional imbalances, food additives and natural toxicants.

Microorganisms include bacteria, viruses, molds, parasites and more. Since bacteria and viruses are by far the majority cause of food-borne illness cases in the United States, these two bugs are the main focus of prevention.

Microorganisms that cause disease are called pathogens. When certain pathogens enter the food supply, they can cause foodborne illness, or food poisoning and millions of cases occur each year.

The United States Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimate that food-borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year.

Among all illnesses attributable to food-borne transmission, 30 percent are caused by bacteria, 3 percent by parasites and 67 percent by viruses. (1)

The Surveillance Report from the Food Diseases Active Surveillance (FoodNet) for 2004, identified Salmonella as the most common bacterial infection reported. (42% Salmonella, 37% Campylobacter, 15% Shigella, 2.6% E. coli O157:H7, and 3.4% others such as Yersinia, Listeria, and Vibrio).

Five pathogens account for over 90 percent of estimated food-related deaths: Salmonella (31%), Listeria (28%), Toxoplasma (21%), Norwalk-like viruses (7%), Campylobacter (5%) and E. coli O157:H7 (3%).(1)

The highest incidence of death due to food poisoning occurs in children, elderly and people who are chronically ill or with weakened immune systems, such as cancer and kidney disease patients.

Just because you're healthy doesn't mean you can't die from food poisoning. There have been many reported cases of young, healthy people not surviving a food-poisoning illness. Genetic differences make some persons more susceptible than others. Chronic antibiotic use or pregnancy may also be a risk factor. Infants have an increased risk because they have incomplete developed immune systems.

So what’s the good news?

Thanks to strict standards and government inspections within the food industry, Americans generally enjoy the safest, most nutritious food and most abundant food supply in the world.

Most cases of food-borne illness can be prevented by following four basic principles: (1) controlling the initial number of bacteria present; (2) preventing the small number from growing; (3) destroying the bacteria by proper cooking; and (4) avoiding re-contamination or cross contamination.

There are many theories to explain why foodborne illnesses still occur, and in spite of improvements in technology and the inspection process, foodborne illnesses have persisted or increased in occurrence with certain foods.

One reason is a general lack of knowledge, especially among recent newcomers to the U.S., of basic good food sanitation practices. Other cultures have different sanitation practices and in many cases these are more potentially hazardous to one’s health than is normally practiced in the United States and other countries.

Other theories include the changing patterns of food consumption and the mass production or changes in production in the food processing and production industries, which allows for greater spread of contamination. Still, other reasons might be the decrease in frequency, quality or overall lack of inspections in certain areas and industries.

New ways to produce and process foods appear all the time, which the government agencies don’t always pick up on as being a potential risky process until an outbreak of foodborne illness actually occurs.

By educating yourself and putting it into practice the simple techniques and tips presented here, I believe you can greatly reduce the chances of contracting a food-borne illness for you, your family and your friends.

1. Food-Related Illness and Death in the United States Paul S. Mead, Laurence Slutsker, Vance Dietz, Linda F. McCaig, Joseph S. Bresee, Craig Shapiro, Patricia M. Griffin, and Robert V. Tauxe, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol5no5/mead.htm#Figure%201

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael Doom worked as a Registered Environmental Health Specialist (REHS) for Los Angeles County for more than 21 years. For most of these years he worked as a field inspector and Supervising Senior REHS in the retail food inspection programs. His experience within Los Angeles County has taken him to some of the smallest “mom and pop” restaurants and markets in the poorest areas of south Los Angeles, as well as to the largest facilities and affluent areas on the west side. He has literally conducted thousands of inspections of numerous types of restaurants, food markets, warehouses, events, and more; educated hundreds, if not more than a thousand, food facility owners, managers and employees on food sanitation and food safety, and how to prevent food poisoning hazards; has supervised more than 50 field inspectors that were responsible for an inventory of food facilities larger than many U.S. states.

Mr. Doom has a B.S. in Biology from Loyola Marymount University, an REHS with the state of California, holds a Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential from the Project Management Institute, and a Masters Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University. Mr. Doom continuously works to expand his knowledge and experience in the subject of food safety, sanitation and food poisoning prevention.

To submit a comment or question regarding this page or subject send an email to: info@foodpoisoningprevention.com

Other Important Info on

Food Poisoning:

eMedicineHealth - Full Food Poisoning Overview

WebMD - Food Poisoning Health Center

All About Food Poisoning - KidsHealth.org

USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service - Common Foodborne Illness Questions<

Centers for Disease Control - Foodborne Illness

Centers for Disease Control Travelers' Health

US FDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition

Consumer Guide to Preventing Food Poisoning - Univ. of Georgia

Food Poisoning & Drinking Alcohol - NY State U, Potsdam