Food poisoning occurs when someone consumes spoiled food that has unhealthy and unsafe bacteria in it. The U.S. CDC estimates that food poisoning causes 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths every year.

While there are around 250 diseases that can infect people through food, there are two major, overarching types of food poisoning. One way is "infectious agents" like viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Another ways is through "toxic agents." These include mushrooms, foods that are properly or fully prepared, and foods that have not been cleaned completely and still contain things like pesticide. One of best ways to prevent food poisoning is through high levels of sanitation and hygiene.

So what are the symptoms?

These can vary, depending on the cause but most common symptoms are vomiting,, abdominal pain and diarrhea. However symptoms may also include fevers and chills, be as non descript as weakness and exhaustion. or as tangible as bloody stools, dehydration and muscle aches.

Common Sources of Food Poisoning

Campylobacter is the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning in the USA. It causes several million cases a year, resulting in hundreds of deaths. Eating undercooked chicken or food that has been in contact with raw chicken most commonly causes campylobacter. The Center for Disease Control estimates that up to 70%-90% of chickens are infected with campylobacter.

Avoid Food Poisoning

Always cook your meat well. When meat is uncooked or undercooked, there can be a lot of different kinds of bacteria which can still grow. Some of these might make you sick directly by interacting with cells that make up your stomach. Other bacteria will just keep growing on your meat and make toxins which will make you sick. If you're eating meat that's undercooked, you do run into some health risks if the meat is not well treated. If you cook your meat well or even overcook it a little, you kill all the harmful bacteria and you won't get sick. Also, when you cook your meat well, you can refrigerate it safely for longer than undercooked meat.

Temperature: Keeping foods at the proper temperature-especially dairy, eggs, and meats-is very important. To properly store foods, keep your freezer set to zero degrees Fahrenheit and your fridge set 37 to 40 degrees.

Practicing good hygiene during the three stages of food preparation(before, after, during), can greatly reduce the chance of food poisoning. Be smart about your health and take the necessary precautions when working with food.

Don't take your food out of the freezer and leave it on the kitchen counter to thaw.

This is extremely dangerous since the bacteria can grow in the outer layers of the food before the inside thaws.

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