The most succulent mouth watering dish made by the world’s best skilled chefs using the finest ingredients may look appetizing, yet be unsafe and even dangerous to eat. The term food poisoning is applied to diseases caused by microorganisms. It includes both illness caused by the ingestion of toxins and those resulting from intestinal infection.
Despite greater public awareness and higher hygiene standards food poisoning continues to increase. Hygiene plays a very important role in eliminating food poisoning.Faliure to prevent food poisoning maybe due to the following.
o Ignorance of the hygienic methods
o Poor standards of equipment or facilities to maintain hygiene
o Bacterial toxins produced by the outbreak of certain bacteria before consuming food.
o Poisonous metals
o Poison in fish shellfish and mushrooms
o Contamination through pesticides in fruits and vegetables
o Eating perishable foods which have expired date
o Contact with persons with diarrhea
o Arriving from the country where there has been a recent outbreak and bad hygiene standards are followed.
Food poisoning is an illness characterized by the following symptoms:
o Diarrhoea
o Nausea/ vomiting
o General fever
o Dehydration leading to weakness
o Abdominal cramps
The symptoms occur within 1-36 hours after consuming food contaminated by bacteria virus and toxins in food. The harmful bacteria and virus attack our internal system and release toxins in the body. This in turn affects our stomach, the digestive organs leading to intense dehydration.
The bacteria of food poisoning are-
Salmonella - It has flu like symptoms and is curable within 7 days.
Botulism is very harmful bacteria, and if infected can lead to death. It has a paralyzing effect on the nervous system, blurred vision and is visible within 18-48 hrs of food consumption. The patient experiences nausea, abdominal cramps, choking and intense dehydration. However, persistent symptoms require medical attention.
Most food poisoning cases can be treated at home with home remedies.
o The immediate step is to give the patient warm water as this has a soothing effect
o The treatment involves drinking many liquids, taking plenty of rest, eating bland foods and a BRAT diet of banana, rice apple and toast.
o Rest allows body to focus on healing and defending itself from microorganisms.
o Drinking apple cider vinegar or ginger with buttermilk paste is found to be effective.
o Botulism food poisoning is an exception as it is an intense disease and the patient needs hospitalization. An antitoxin is given and the patient is under medical supervision until he recovers.
o Prevention of the disease is the major remedy of food poisoning and the following steps should be taken:
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Maintain high standards of personal hygiene.
Maintaining well-ventilated and hygienic working conditions.
Sterilization of equipment.
Proper refrigeration and storage of foodstuffs.
Thorough heating of food.
Protection of food from vermin, flies and insects.
Hygienic washing procedures.
Rapid globalization of food production has increased the probability of food contamination thus leading to food borne illness. Many outbreaks of illness now take place on global dimensions. In 2006, 25,000 thousand outbreaks of food poisoning came into light.
The world health organization calls for extensive steps to be taken by the organizations and public regarding food safety and hygiene significantly decreasing the risk of diseases.
