Food Poisoning

Overview

Food Poisoning is also referred to as the foodborne illness is a disease which is caused by eating or drinking contaminated food. An individual is not poisoned by the food but is affected adversely but something living on the food. Food poisoning is usually caused by bacteria, parasites, allergens or viruses. It starts with feeling sick and go on to something severe if left untreated.

What is Food Poisoning?

Food poisoning occurs when you ingest contaminated food, affecting anyone who consumes it. While most individuals recover without medical intervention, some cases can become severe. Common symptoms include diarrhea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever.

Severe food poisoning may present with:

• Bloody diarrhea
• Diarrhea lasting more than 3 days
• A fever exceeding 102°F
• Frequent vomiting that prevents you from keeping liquids down
• Signs of dehydration

How Food Poisoning affects your digestive system?

Food poisoning affects the digestive system by causing inflammation, irritation in the gastrointestinal tract. Since, food poisoning causes many problems in the digestive system, the germs that causes food poisoning get into the body and in return release toxins. These toxins later on causes diarrhoea and vomiting. Usually, the contaminated food irritates the body and makes an individual sick.

Symptoms of Food Poisoning

The symptoms vary from person to person, it’s important to know what your body is indicating, food poisoning can’t go undetected and some common symptoms and signs of food poisoning includes:

• Diarrhoea
• Abdominal cramps
• Mild fever
• Loss of appetite
• Weakness
• Bloating and gas
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Fever
• Bloody stool
• Muscle aches

Every person might experience the same symptoms, many individuals might go through some completely different set of symptoms depending on the contaminant involved. Since, the symptoms vary from person- to- person, many people can start noticing these symptoms at earliest stages and most of them aren’t even aware about any of this.

How long does Food Poisoning last?

The duration of the food poisoning depends on the severity of symptoms and the contaminant involved. Food poisoning might get resolved within a time stamp of 3 days or in severe cases can take as long as 8 weeks. It naturally depends on the infected individual’s capability of healing, some may recover quickly while on the other hand, others may recover slow. Dehydration disrupts recovery, due to persistent vomiting and diarrhoea; dehydration usually occurs during food poisoning. It is advised to stay hydrated and avoiding solid fluids will also help in recovering quickly.

Causes of Food Poisoning

Causes of food poisoning is nothing but germs, bacteria and parasites. These germs are called contaminants. Food can be contaminated by any of these:

• Bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli
• Poisons also called as toxins
• Molds contaminate grains, nuts and specific cheese
• Viruses such as norovirus, rotavirus, hepatitis A
• Parasites such as giardia lamblia, cryptosporidium

Raw food is considered as the major reason of food poisoning as it doesn’t go through the cooking process which can only eliminate the harmful particles causing food poisoning. There’s also a probability when a sick person prepares the food and doesn’t wash their hands properly, which becomes another source of causing food poisoning.

How can you get Food Poisoning?

Food poisoning can occur when you consume contaminated food containing bacteria or other type of viruses. Generally, contamination can happen at various stages from production and preparation to processing and storing. Following are the ways in which food poisoning can occur:

Not disinfecting cooking or eating areas: By not disinfecting the chopping boards, knives or other kitchen supplies can increase the risk of contamination.

Poor handwashing: Not washing hands after using toilets have high chances of contaminating food and also increases the risk of spreading the infection on other kitchen tools also.

Improper storage: Leaving food out for long is a probable reason of contamination of the food. On the other hand, storing food in the refrigerator can also contaminate the food. Warm food stored in freezer or refrigerator can also spoil the food.

Other factors involve:

• Not cooking the food in a safe internal temperature
• Not handing food in a sanitary way.
• Eating food at unhygienic places
• Improper handling of leftovers

Tests and Treatments for Food Poisoning

Food poisoning can be detected under severe cases with the following possible tests:

Blood Tests: This type of test is performed to assess the infection in blood. Blood tests helps in identifying the bacteria and specific blood tests can also check the inflammation of infection in your blood.

Stool Culture: This test is performed when an individual has fever, constant and painful stomach pain or bloody diarrhoea. The stool culture test is considered as the most common test for food poisoning. A sample of stool can help if your sickness is associated with bacteria. This exam can help in identifying germs or parasite’s DNA fingerprint. This test is not considered as accurate always but is recommended in the case of food poisoning.

Imaging tests: In some cases, imaging tests such as X-rays/ MRI/ CT scans are performed to overlook the severity of symptoms and check out other potential causes of illness.

It’s important to seek medical attention immediately as early intervention will help in diagnosing the problem and will prevent potential elevated causes.

Food poisoning treatment basically varies on the severity of symptoms. In many cases, the food poisoning problem gets resolved in a week and in severe cases, it can stretch up to 8 weeks. These treatment options can help in preventing the problem:

Stay hydrated: Since the body is prone to getting dehydrated, it’s important to stay hydrated and having energy drinks rich in electrolytes can help in managing food poisoning.

Over-the-counter (OTC) medication: OTC medications help in controlling and suppressing diarrhoea and nausea. It's essential to take your prescribed medicines as well for early recovery.

Dietary changes: It’s essential to make a swift change in the diet. It’s recommended to have fluids and light food and skip, solid foods for some time.

Prevention for Food Poisoning

Food poisoning can be prevented by adopting the following measures:

• Wash fruits and vegetables
• Washing your hands properly
• Refrigerate or freeze leftovers
• Don’t eat raw or undercooked meat or fish
• Throw or discard the stale food
• Cook leftovers safely
• Clean your refrigerator
• Avoid cross- contamination
• Take fully sealed products
• Safe water sources
• Avoid unpasteurized products
• Safe food storage

These preventive measures must be incorporated in the daily life to prevent the risk of infection, bacteria and food poisoning. These measures will help in promoting food safety, hence inducing bacteria- free environment. Food poisoning is common to the people with weakened immune system, infants, pregnant women and the elderly. It’s recommended to implement these measures in your life for preventing food poisoning.