Food poisoning is a dangerous illness which normally happens during one to 36 hours of eating contaminated or poisonous food. Symptoms normally last from one to seven days and include one or more of the following: stomach pain, dysentery. Sickness, nausea, fever, dehydration and collapse. Every day, thousands of people suffer from food poisoning. Many of these will be extremely ill and some of them will die. Those most at risk include the very young, the elderly persons who are already ill or recovering and pregnant women and their unborn babies. Food poisoning is seriously under reported and it is estimated that the actual levels are around 15 times greater. The main reasons for food poisoning are negligent, ignorance, poor management and a failure to implement use best practices of hygiene. Protect the food poisoning developing a food safety culture in all food businesses. This involves effective supervision and the instruction and practice of food handlers by knowledgeable managers and trainers. Internal or external food safety courses can provide the knowledge of food safety required by food handlers to reduce food complaints and the risk of food poisoning. However, food handlers must implement this knowledge through good hygiene practice if they are to comply with the legal requirement regarding training. Some bacteria are able to produce spores, which protect them against adverse conditions such as high temperatures drying and disinfection. Some spores can survive boiling for up to 5 hours. Spores are a resting phase and they do not multiply. When favorable conditions return the spore releases the bacterium, which can then start to grow and multiply. This process is known as germination. Food and moisture High protein foods are preferred by bacteria, especially raw or cooked meat, poultry and dairy produce. These foods contain the nutrients and moisture required by bacteria. Foods such as dried egg, or milk powder does not provide the moisture necessary for the growth of bacteria. Low-risk foods Bacteria are not able to multiply in dry food or food containing high concentrations of sugar, salt, sour (vinegar) with preservatives. These foods are known as low-risk. They are stored in cool, dry places and include cereal, dried pasta, bread, biscuits, jam, canned food and crisps. However, when water is added to dried food such as milk powder, it becomes high-risk and must be stored under refrigeration or used immediately. Ready-to-eat raw foods Raw foods such as lettuce or fruit may be contaminated with bacteria and viruses which only need to be present in low numbers to cause illness. They must always be washed in running water before eating. (Are cutting melons, tomatoes, raspberries, spinach and lettuce have been implicated in food poisoning outbreaks.)
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