Types of Food Borne Illness

Types of Food Borne Illness

There are many types of food borne illness caused by different bacteria. Some bacteria are on the food you eat, usually from cross-contamination or from undercooked food, the bacteria then take up residence in your gut and make you ill. Other bacteria live on foodstuffs and produce toxins or poisons in their waste matter, you eat the food containing the toxin and are ill.

The most common of the first type of bacteria include:

Campylobacter

Symptoms include stomach cramps and severe diarrhoea but rarely vomiting. They can begin 2-10 days after eating contaminated food but usually within 2-5 days. Main sources are undercooked chicken and other meats, handling pets, cross-contamination to other foods, raw milk and contaminated water. This organism is the most common cause of acute diarrhoea in adults.

Salmonella

Symptoms include stomach pain, fever, diarrhoea and vomiting. It usually takes about 12-48 hours for the illness to develop. Symptoms can be much more severe in the young and elderly. Main sources are undercooked meat and poultry, untreated milk and raw or undercooked eggs. This organism is the 2nd most common form of food poisoning.

E.coli 0157

Symptoms include severe bloody diarrhoea, and the infection can lead to serious kidney damage in children. Main sources are undercooked beefburgers and minced beef, contaminated cooked meats and unpasteurised milk. This organism has also been linked to farms. For further information on E.Coli 0157 please click here

Staphylococcus aureus

Symptoms include stomach pains and vomiting, 1-6 hours after eating and it usually takes 12-24 hours for symptoms to subside. This bacteria is found on humans (particularly in the nose, throat, skin and ears) and is transferred to food through poor hygiene practices.

Listeria

Mild flu-like illness in healthy people, but which can cause septicaemia and meningitis in the young and elderly. Listeria can lead to stillbirth and miscarriage or meningitis in the new-born baby. Sources include unpasteurised soft cheeses (such as Brie and Camembert) and meat pates. Prevention of food poisoning from Listeria is more difficult than other organisms as it can multiply rapidly at refrigeration temperatures. It is recommended therefore that pregnant women do not eat the above products.

For more information on the above and other forms of food poisoning, go to the following websites:

Cryptosporidium

Cryptosporidium is a very small parasite that causes cryptosporidiosis. The symptoms include abdominal pain, profuse diarrhoea, weight loss, loss of appetite and anorexia, but the infection will normally clear within a few weeks. The infection can be more serious in immunocompromised people (those with an existing illness or health problems), it can become chronic and sometimes fatal. These parasites complete their life cycles in one host but their "eggs" are highly infectious.

For more information go to the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) website via this link.

Foodborne Viral Infections

Quote from from IFST website - "Foodborne viral infections are caused mainly by two types of virus, norovirus (formerly named as Norwalk-like viruses (NLV) or small round structures viruses (SRSVs)) which cause gastroenteritis and Hepatitis A virus which causes hepatitis. All foodborne viruses originate from the human intestine and contamination of food occurs either by contamination from an infected food handler during preparation or by contact with sewage, sewage sludge or polluted water."

For more information go to the Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) website via this link.

Updated April 2008