Foodborne illness, one of the greatest public health and food industry concerns.
In some infections, microbes produce toxins inside the infected person’s body. In food poisoning cases, the microbes produce toxins the contaminated food and when people eat the food, the toxins make them very ill.
If a person eats food containing a fairly large amount of a toxin, it is like that he or she will be ill that day.
The disease is characterized by rapid onset, severity of symptoms, but usually a short duration.
Examples include botulism due to the formation of botulinum toxin in the food from the growth of certain clostridial species, staphylococcal and histamine poisoning.
Where these toxic food poisonings result from bacterial toxins, the poisons are synthesized in the food.
Today, staphylococcal food poisoning ranks as the second most reported of all types of foodborne disease. Because most staphylococcal outbreaks probably t unreported, staphylococcal food poisoning could actually be the most common type.
Symptoms of foodborne illness are diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain or vomiting without fever or upper respiratory distress.
Most foodborne illnesses are caused by the mishandling of food or the faulty cooking or storage of food, either in food service establishment or at home.
Foodborne illness due to bacterial food poisoning
