Did you know that you may have become sick from something that you ate, but didn’t realize it?  Chances are that at least once in your life you have experienced food poisoning and knew it, but more often you 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.

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)

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%).(2)

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 America, 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.