FOOD POISONING

(c) PDST Home Economics

 FOOD POISONING

• Food poisoning is caused by eating food containing

harmful substances.
• There are 3 types of food poisoning
• Chemical food poisoning: caused by chemicals such as
antibiotics or pesticides in the food.
• Biological food poisoning: caused by chemicals that
occur naturally in the food e.g. solanine in green
potatoes or toxins in red kidney beans.
• Bacterial food poisoning: caused by the presence of
pathogenic bacteria in the food.
 SYMPTOMS OF FOOD
POISONING

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal cramps
• Diarrhoea
• Fever
• Headache
• Loss of appetite
• Very serious for infants, invalids, pregnant women
and elderly.
 (H) BACTERIAL FOOD
POISONING
There are 2 types of bacterial food poisoning:

• 1. Toxic food poisoning

• 2. Infectious food poisoning

 (H) 1. TOXIC FOOD
POISONING
• Some bacteria produce exotoxins as they grow in
food both before and after its eaten.

• Exotoxins are hard to destroy. Boiling for 30 mins is

required.

• Symptoms develop quickly- often within 2 hours

• Examples: staphylococci and clostridium botulinum

 (H) 2. INFECTIOUS FOOD
POISONING
• Caused by eating food containing large numbers of live
pathogenic bacteria.

• These bacteria make endotoxins which are released when

they die.

• Endotoxins are easy to destroy. Proper cooking and reheating

will destroy both toxins and bacteria.

• If not destroyed symptoms will appear after approx. 12 hours

• Salmonella and listeria cause infectious food poisoning.

 (H) HIGH RISK FOODS
• Liquid protein foods are at high risk of contamination

• Milk, cream

• Eggs & egg dishes e.g. custard, mayonnaise

• Meat, poultry, fish, shellfish

• Meat pies, gravies, sauces, soups and stock

• Reheated dishes
 (H) FOOD POISONING
BACTERIA
• Learn 3 common strains of food poisoning bacteria:
e.g.
Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria
monocytogenes.
• Habitat /Sources
• Factors affecting growth
• High risk foods
• Incubation period
• Toxic or infectious
• Symptoms
OTHER FOOD & WATER BORNE
DISEASES
• Here the food acts only as a means of transport for the
organism. They do not grow in it.

• Incubation longer.

• Only small number of organisms can cause illness.

• Organism enters bloodstream.

• Symptoms varied - may not include vomiting or

diarrhoea.