Food poisoning - prevention

Food poisoning is caused by eating contaminated food and affects a large number of Americans every year. Food can be contaminated when it is handled, stored or prepared incorrectly. Some foods have a higher risk of causing food poisoning, and some people are more at risk of getting food poisoning than others.

Watch this video about food safety

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

These bacteria are called pathogens

Contaminated food will usually look, smell and taste normal. Food poisoning bacteria can grow and multiply on some types of food more easily than others. Potentially high-risk foods include:

• ready-to-eat foods - such as sandwiches
• pizza that contain any of the foods above

Some people are more at risk of getting food poisoning than others.

Take special care when buying, storing and preparing food for these people

Vulnerable groups include: people with chronic illness. coli may be found in our food-producing animals.

Care in processing, transport, storage, preparing and serving of food is necessary to reduce the risk of contamination. Food poisoning bacteria can multiply very quickly, particularly in certain conditions. The factors that affect bacterial growth include:

• Time - in ideal conditions
• one bacterium can multiply to more than 2 million in 7 hours

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.

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, 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. The symptoms of food poisoning may vary depending on the type of bacteria causing the illness.

Symptoms can range from mild to very severe

Symptoms can occur almost immediately after eating, or a number of hours later, and they can last from 24 hours to 5 days. When you get sick, you usually experience one or more of: and can cause severe illness in susceptible people.

Food poisoning can also lead to other long-term illnesses and symptoms

If you experience symptoms and think you have food poisoning, see your doctor as soon as possible. It’s also a good idea to report your illness to your local council or the Department of Health, so that the causes can be investigated. This is particularly important if you think the illness is related to at a restaurant or café, or to food purchased from a shop or takeaway outlet.

There are some simple rules you can follow to minimise the risk of food poisoning. You should take steps to: prevent the bacteria in the food from growing and multiplying. Try to keep potentially high-risk foods outside the temperature danger zone and buy hot and cold foods at the end of your shopping trip.

Keep hot foods and cold foods separate

Avoid food in swollen, dented, leaking or damaged cans, containers or other packaging. Don’t buy frozen or chilled foods that have been left out of the freezer, and only buy hot foods that are steaming hot.

Check that serving staff use separate tongs when handling separate food types, such as meats and vegetables. Check that serving staff wear gloves when they handle the food, but not when they are cleaning surfaces or taking money. Make sure that eggs in cartons identify the supplier, and never buy cracked or dirty eggs.

Take your shopping home quickly and store it immediately. in warm, soapy water and dry them well before preparing food. Wet hands are more likely to transmit bacteria so take the time to dry them thoroughly.

Don’t use the same cutting board for raw food that will be cooked (such as meat) and foods served uncooked (such as salads). This reduces the chances of cross-contamination of food.

If you don’t have separate cutting boards or utensils to prepare raw foods and ready-to-eat foods, thoroughly clean and dry your chopping board and utensils between each use.

Note that most food should be cooked to a temperature of at least 75 °C.

Check the cooking temperature with a thermometer

If you don’t have one, make sure you cook poultry until the meat is white, particularly near the bone. Cook hamburgers, mince, rolled roasts and sausages right through until their juices run clear. Cook white fish until it flakes easily with a fork.

Rinse raw fruits and vegetables with clean water before using them.

If you feel unwell, let someone else prepare the food. Separate raw food from cooked food, and store raw food at the bottom of the fridge to avoid juices dripping onto, and contaminating, other food.

Check your fridge temperature is below 5 °C and your freezer temperature is below -15 °C. Allow cooked foods to cool to room temperature (about 21 °C) before storing in the refrigerator. This should not take more than 2 hours - cooling will be quicker if you put hot food into smaller containers rather than leaving it in one large one.

This prevents the refrigerator temperature from rising and reduces the risk of bacterial growth in all food stored in the fridge. Cover all food with lids, tin foil or plastic wrap. Don’t store food in opened tin cans.

Food poisoning and bacteria High-risk foods for food poisoning Food contamination is not just limited to foods you may consider risky, such as chicken or fish. Prepared fruits, vegetables raw and cooked meat such as chicken and minced meat, and foods containing them, such as casseroles, curries and lasagne dairy products such as custard and dairy-based desserts like custard tarts and cheesecake eggs and egg products - such as quiche smallgoods - such as ham and salami seafood - such as seafood salad, patties, fish balls, stews containing seafood and fish stock cooked rice and pasta prepared salads - such as coleslaws, pasta salads and rice salads prepared fruit - such as fruit salad People at risk of food poisoning pregnant women the elderly young children Causes of food poisoning Pathogens such as Salmonella , Campylobacter Symptoms of food poisoning nausea stomach cramps diarrhoea vomiting fever headaches Some food-borne pathogens cause other symptoms.

For instance, pathogenic Listeria bacteria may cause miscarriage or meningitis If you think you have food poisoning eating out How to prevent food poisoning prevent food from being contaminated Buying food and food poisoning When you buy food Avoid food past its use-by date Preparing food and food poisoning When you prepare food Wash your hands Storing food and food poisoning When you store food Where to get help Your GP (doctor) NURSE-ON-CALL (616) 555-0400 for expert health information and advice (24 hours, 7 days) Food Safety Hotline (616) 555-0400 Your local council health department - find your council’s contact details at ’ Find a Council ‘.

Key Points

• Food poisoning is caused by eating contaminated food and affects a large number of Americans every year
• Some people are more at risk of getting food poisoning than others
• Care in processing, transport, storage, preparing and serving of food is necessary to reduce the risk of contamination
• especially the case with potentially high-risk foods such as dairy and egg products, meat, poultry and seafood
• pH - is the measure of acidity or alkalinity and is also important for controlling bacterial growth