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Food Poisoning: Why me?!

By Megan Roth

If it isn't common sense, my previous two postings have shown that food poisoning can strike anyone on a global scale, and it can occur for a variety of reasons. In yesterday's article (concerning Montezuma's Revenge, also known as traveller's diarrhea), I highlighted a few of the potential causes.

Like I said, I highlighted a few ; unfortunately, there are many, many more. And though the few that I highlighted were in relation to tourists and the dangers of traveling to third world/developing countries, those conditions can strike anyone, anywhere, at any given time.

I touched on food's exposure to fecal matter, the dangers of contaminated drinking water, and the risks involved with eating fish; though each of these factors is seemingly unrelated, they actually lie in line and trace back to one main point: poor food preparation.

Poor food prep (in whatever form it may take) can lead to the growth of pathogens: harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites, and even fungi. While each of the aforementioed infective agents qualify as a potential cause for food poisoning, bacterial infections are most common.

Often, bacteria develops during any stage of food preparation (growing, harvesting, processing, storing, shipping, or final meal prep) and actually continues to multiply and grow after consumption (this explains why individuals affected by the bacteria don't generally experience symptoms for 36-48 hours; the bacteria need time to grow to a point where they are strong enough to disrupt your system). But that they do - and they'll make themself at home in your digestive system, where they destroy your intestine cells slowly but surely.

Such infective agents are most commonly contracted through raw foods (be them vegetables or uncooked meat) because they are not sterile, and they generally occur in one of three forms:

1. Salmonella
2. Clostridium botulinum
3. Staphylococcal organisms

Perhaps the most commonly heard of bacteria, salmonella result in symptoms which last four to seven days and are similar to those of most food-borne illnesses. The bacteria are transmitted to humans through consumption of contaminated foods, which often include meats, poultry, and dairy products. And the illness is more common than you probably care to know; it hits home more than often than you believe (an illness doesn't have to be diagnosed to exist) - in fact, InjuryBoard's very own Shannon Weideman highlighted one such incident that struck home for a great many just last year (I'm referring to the Veggie Booty recall - I, myself, eat the organic goodness while I veg on my booty on the couch; though I wasn't affected, talk about hitting close to home!). And how about this, for scary: one in every 10,000 eggs house the bacteria within their shell. True to form, most of those contaminated eggs (and cases of salmonella poisoning in general) cam be traced back to foods that have come in contact with fecal matter.

Less commonly heard of, but equally alarming is clostridium botulinum - a bacteria commonly found in soil. Quite obviously, humans can come in contact with the bacteria in a variety of ways; however, in relation to food-poisoning, it is commonly associated with foods that are incorrectly or minimally processed. In addition to fowl, cattle, and fish, the bacteria is often traced back to home-canned foods. InjuryBoard member John Bisner reported that, in the US alone, there are 100 reported botulism cases each year (Note: these are only the cases that are reported; never mind the fact that many cases are incorrectly diagnosed - and that's assuming they're even diagnosed at all!). While botulism can entail a wide variety of symptoms, one of the most common (and a key in diagnosing the illness) is blurred vision or difficulty focusing the eyes.

And finally, staphylococcal organisms. Staph infection is often associated with conditions pertaining to the skin; it is also, however, incredibly important to be aware of staph's relation to food-borne illnesses (it can be transmitted through poorly prepared foods and thrives in warm environments). With staph food poisoning, symptoms generally appear in about six hours and tend to last about a day, thus making this particular strain of food poisoning less severe (although there are a select few patients who do suffer serious consequences).

The aforementioned three bacteria are just a few that causeresult over 250 types of food poisoning (notice that I didn't even mention E Coli - that's a whole separate article in and of itself). It's difficult to know why some foods are contaminated and others aren't; even more difficult to determine, is when a food is contaminated. Is there any way to know? Read on tomorrow to find out...

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Megan Roth

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on November 05, 2008 (boomark / email).