What is food poisoning?
I don't understand what food poisoning is. I've heard that it's something to do with too much bacteria that produce toxins in the body:
Food poisoning is a common...and sometimes life-threatening problem for... people... throughout the world. People infected with food-borne organisms may... have symptoms ranging from mild intestinal discomfort to severe dehydration and bloody diarrhea. Depending on the type of infection, people can even die as a result of food poisoning
It is associated with, for example, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, E. coli O157:H7, Listeria, botulism, and norovirus.
If that's the case, then wouldn't it just be called an infection instead of food poisoning?
(1)1 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
Food poisoning is something of a catch-all term for any one of a number of infections caused by microbial contamination of food - it should be noted that it is not necessarily just bacterial contaminants. For example, Norovirus is actually the most common food-borne pathogen in the United States.
As for why not just calling it an infection, there are two reasons:
It is possible to get food poisoning from microbially produced toxins within food even without an active infection. For example, enterotoxins might be present in sufficient quantities to produce clinical illness even if the bacteria that produced them are dead.
The two are not mutually exclusive - food poisoning relates more to a common exposure source (food), and a collection of similar symptoms, such as nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, and especially in mild cases, similar treatments.
Although food poisoning may be caused by an infection, it's mainly a syndromic description of a disease.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.