Food poisoning, as the name suggests, is an illness that results from the consumption of contaminated food. There are basically two types of food poisoning - the first is called food infection and the second is known as food intoxication. In the former, a person eats food that has been contaminated by the presence of bacteria or other microbes in it and falls sick. The latter case, on the other hand, refers to the ingestion of toxins contained within the food, including the exotoxins produced by bacteria.
Food intoxication can take place irrespective of the fact whether the microbes that produce the toxin are present in the food or not and whether they are able to cause infection or not. Though any infection caused from food, whether due to microbes or toxins, is described singularly as food poisoning, majority of the cases are caused by a variety of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, prions or parasites that contaminate food, rather than chemical or natural toxins. Let us explore information on the signs and symptoms of food poisoning.
- Vomiting
- Nausea
- Severe pain in the abdominal region
- Diarrhoea
- Chills and fever
- Dehydration
- Damage to the nervous system
- Headache
- Cramps
- Retching
- Weakness
- Fatigue
