Causes of Food Poisoning
Most people have heard of food poisoning, know it is caused by poor food hygiene and know somebody who has had it. However, it seems far more people are familiar with the symptoms of food poisoning – cramps, vomiting, diarrhoea and nausea – than with what actually causes the illness. Allow me to explain:
The most common causes of food poisoning are micro-organisms like viruses, moulds and, in the most serious cases, bacteria. Bacteria is an especially dangerous source of food poisoning due to the speed with which bacteria multiply; a single bacterium, harmless on its own, can form a colony millions-strong overnight, given the right conditions! This is when severe cases of food poisoning occur – the kind that can actually kill a vulnerable person!
Bacteria have different ways of causing food poisoning, which take different lengths of time to occur. If the bacteria produce toxins, the symptoms of food poisoning will become apparent quite soon after eating the food. On the other hand, some bacteria will multiple once they are inside the body – taking anything from a few hours to a few days to grow in number sufficiently to cause illness.
Tags: bacteria, Food Hygiene, Food Poisoning, Food Safety