A (also '''foodborne disease''') is any . Good
Hygiene practices before, during, and after food preparation can reduce the chances of contracting an illness. The action of monitoring food to ensure that it will not cause foodborne illness is known as '''
Food Safety '''. Foodborne disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment. For foodborne illness caused by chemicals, see
Food Contaminants .
Ill food handlers are one of the most common sources of foodborne illnesses.
Some common diseases are occasionally transmitted to food through the water
Vector . These include
Infection s caused by ''
Shigella '',
Hepatitis A and the parasites ''
Giardia Lamblia '' and
''Cryptosporidium Parvum'' . Contact between
Food and
Pest s, especially
Flies ,
Rodent s and
Cockroach es, are other food contamination vectors.
Foodborne illness can also be caused by the presence of
Pesticide s or
Medicine s in food, or by unintentionally consuming naturally toxic substances like
Poisonous Mushroom s or reef fish.
,
Abdominal Pain ,
Vomiting ,
Diarrhea ,
Gastroenteritis ,
Fever ,
Headache or
Fatigue . In most cases the body is able to permanently recover after a short period of
Acute discomfort and illness. However, foodborne illness can result in permanent health problems or even death, especially in
Babies ,
Pregnant Women (and their
Fetus es),
Elderly people,
Sick people and others with weak
Immune System s. Foodborne illness is a major cause of
Reactive Arthritis , which typically occurs 1–3 weeks afterward. Similarly, people with
Liver disease are especially susceptible to infections from
Vibrio Vulnificus , which can be found in
Oyster s or crabs. Typically food poisoning is evident when uncooked, or unprepared food is eaten.
The delay between consumption of a contaminated food and appearance of the first
Symptom s of illness is called the
Incubation Period . This ranges from hours to days (and rarely months or even years, such as in the case of
Listeriosis or
Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease ), depending on the agent, and on how much was consumed. If symptoms occur within 1–6 hours after eating the food, it suggests that it is caused by a bacterial toxin or a chemical rather than live bacteria.
During the incubation period,
Microbe s pass through the
Stomach into the
Intestine , attach to the
Cell s lining the intestinal walls, and begin to multiply there. Some types of microbes stay in the intestine, some produce a
Toxin that is absorbed into the
Blood stream, and some can directly invade the deeper body tissues. The symptoms produced depend on the type of microbe.
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The infectious dose is the amount of agent that must be consumed to give rise to symptoms of foodborne illness. The infective dose varies according to the agent and consumer's age and overall health. In the case of
Salmonella , in healthy human volunteers, a relatively large inoculum of 1 million to 1 billion organisms is necessary to produce symptoms
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See Also: Pathogen
An early theory on the causes of food poisoning involved
Ptomaines ,
Alkaloid s found in decaying animal and vegetable matter. While some poisonous alkaloids are the cause of poisoning, the discovery of bacteria left the ptomaine theory obsolete.
s or more after eating contaminated food.
Common bacterial foodborne pathogens are:
