Foodborne illness, more commonly referred to as food poisoning, results from eating contaminated, spoiled, or toxic food. The most common symptoms of food poisoning include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends simple steps to prevent food poisoning:
- Hands and surfaces should be washed frequently, such as after changing diapers, going to the bathroom, blowing your nose, touching animals, or taking out the trash.
- Before, during, and after preparing food, and before eating, wash your hands for 20 seconds with soap and water.
- Hot, soapy water should be used to clean utensils, cutting boards, and countertops.
- Fresh fruits and vegetables should be rinsed under running water.
Things to take note to avoid food poisoning
- Avoid cross-contaminating your food
- Separate raw meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and other foods from vegetables, fruits, and other foods.
- Separate cutting boards and plates should be used.
- Keep these items, as well as their juices, separate from other foods in grocery carts.
- Refrigerate these items and their juices separate from other foods.
When preparing your food, take note of the following
- Cook food to the correct temperature
- Cook to 145°F (62.8°C) for whole cuts of beef, pork, veal, and lamb using a food thermometer.
- For new ham (raw)
- Cook fish until the flesh is opaque.
- Ground meats, such as beef and pork, should be cooked at 160°F (71.1°C).
- All poultry, including ground chicken and turkey, should be cooked at 165°F (73.9°C).
- Casseroles and leftover food should be quickly refrigerated.
- Maintain the refrigerator at or below 40°F (4.4°C).
- Never leave perishable food out for more than two hours (or one hour if the outdoor temperature is higher than 90°F/32.2°C).
- Use cold water, a refrigerator, or a microwave to thaw frozen food.
- Never defrost food on a counter.
Some Individuals Face a Greater Risk
Food poisoning can affect anyone, but some groups are more susceptible to getting sick and developing a more severe sickness. Their capacity to ward off disease and viruses might not be as potent. These groups consist of:
- People over the age of 65
- Children under the age of five
- People with immune systems that have been compromised by illnesses or medications used to treat them, such as those with cancer, diabetes, liver or kidney disease, HIV/AIDS, or diabetes
- Pregnant women
The majority of the time, food poisoning resolves itself without the need for medical attention.
The following are some natural treatments for food poisoning:
- Take in a lot of liquids to prevent dehydration.
- Eat frequent little meals that are low in fat.
- Rest Over-the-counter (OTC) medications for diarrhea
- Loperamide (Diamode, Imodium) (Diamode, Imodium)
- Diphenoxylate-atropine (Lomotil) (Lomotil)
- Subsalicylate of bismuth (Pepto-Bismol, Kaopectate).
- If you have a fever or have blood in your stools, you should not take loperamide.
- Before using loperamide, see your doctor because excessive loperamide use has caused severe heart problems in some people.
- Do not take anti-diarrheal medications over what is recommended, and adhere to all directions on the label.
- Anti-diarrhea medications should not be given to children.
People with severe symptoms could need medical care, including:
- Treatment or prevention of dehydration with intravenous (IV) fluids
- bacterial infections are treated using antibiotics.
- Medication for diarrhea on prescription
- Diphenoxylate-atropine (Lomotil) (Lomotil)
- If you have a fever or have blood in your bowel movements, avoid using diphenoxylate-atropine.
When traveling, it’s crucial to keep both hot and cold food out of danger.
The Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at The University of Nebraska-Lincoln advises using coolers, insulated bags, and ice packs when bringing food on vacation to keep Food cold and reduce the risk of food poisoning.
Food should be kept in the cool passenger area of a car rather than the warm trunk when driving in hot weather.
The USDA advises washing your hands with soap and water before eating, although wet wipes or hand sanitizer are also acceptable substitutes.
By doing these easy actions, you can reduce your chance of getting food poisoning and catching salmonella and other foodborne infections.
