Watch out for Food Poisoning

 

Salmonella Outbreak Pictures

Worst Meals in Restaurants Pictures

Food Poisoning Overview

 

Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but sometimes deadly illness. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea that occur suddenly (within 48 hours) after consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, fever and chills, bloody stools, dehydration, and nervous system damage may follow. These symptoms may affect one person or a group of people who ate the same thing (called an outbreak).

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the United States, 1 in 6 people becomes sick from eating contaminated food. In 2001, the CDC estimated that food poisoning causes about 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and up to 3,000 deaths each year.
• Norovirus and salmonella are the most common infectious forms of food-borne illness. Salmonella causes the most deaths followed by Toxoplasma and Listeria.
• Worldwide, diarrheal illnesses are among the leading causes of death. Travelers to developing countries often encounter food poisoning in the form of traveler's diarrhea or "Montezuma's revenge." Additionally, there are possible new global threats to the world's food supply through terrorist actions using food toxins as weapons.
• Increased virulence of known pathogens has caused deadly outbreaks such as the E. Coli STEC outbreak in Germany in 2011.