Causes of Food Poisoning

Food poisoning is usually caused by eating food contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses or toxins.
The most common types include Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, Campylobacter, and Norovirus.
Contamination can occur at any stage during the food’s production, processing, storage, or cooking.
It can also happen when food is handled by a person who is ill or has dirty hands, or if it comes in contact with contaminated surfaces or utensils.

Symptoms of Food Poisoning

Symptoms can start within hours of eating the contaminated food, but they can also begin several days, weeks or even months later.
They often include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, high temperature and aching muscles.
Most cases are mild and improve in a few days without treatment. However, some cases can be serious and even life-threatening, especially in the young, elderly, pregnant women, and people with weak immune systems.

Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and warm water before handling, cooking and eating food.
Avoid raw or undercooked meat, poultry, eggs, shellfish, and foods that have past their use-by date.
Use separate chopping boards and utensils for raw and cooked food to avoid cross-contamination.
Always cook food to the safe minimum internal temperature to kill the harmful bacteria.
Store food at the correct temperature: keep the fridge below 5°C and the freezer below -18°C, as this slows down the growth of most bacteria.
Leftovers should be cooled as quickly as possible (within 2 hours of cooking), and then stored in the fridge or freezer.

To relieve the symptoms of food poisoning, it’s important to stay hydrated by drinking lots of fluids, like water or rehydration solutions available from pharmacies.
Resting allows the body to recover more quickly from the effects of the illness.
Over-the-counter medications can help manage symptoms such as pain and fever.
Antibiotics may be needed in severe cases or for certain types of bacteria, however, they’re not usually recommended since most cases of food poisoning are caused by viruses.
It’s important to seek medical attention if symptoms don’t start improving after a few days, are severe, or if the person affected is part of a vulnerable group such as the elderly or pregnant.