Foods that can cause food poisoning
Food poisoning arises when you consume food adulterated with bacteria or other
toxins. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach cramps, and generally
begin 4 - 36 hours after eating adulterated food. While food poisoning is often
caused by bacteria, it can also result from eating poisonous plants (some
mushrooms, for instance) and animals (puffer fish). Every year, more than 76
million people get affected from food poisoning, specially during summer when
food may not be kept cold enough to prevent bacteria from multiplying.
Here's a quick list of foods that can
cause food poisoning if you don't take care of how you consume them.
Cheese:
Cheese can easily be adulterated with
bacterias such as Salmonellaor Listeria. Pregnant women are cautioned to stay
away from cheese varieties such as blue-veined, camembert, brie and feta. Make
sure you are not buying lose cheese from the market place. Always go for branded
sealed packed cheese, and do check for its expiry
date.
Eggs:
Sometimes eggs can be adulterated by certain harmful bacteria - Salmonella being
the most threatening. If you consume a raw egg that is infected, you could show
symptoms of severe food poisoning. To prevent this - always purchase eggs from a
clean and believable store, clean gently and store in a refrigerator as soon as
you get home. Always cook eggs well before consuming them.
Potatoes:
Food poisoning from potatoes is very uncommon, but not impossible since raw
potatoes can sometimes be of a 'wild' variety that contains toxins to ward off
predators. Most breeders control this toxicity in potatoes, but even farmed
potatoes could turn green, change color and display properties of being
contaminated. Cooking at high heats takes care of these toxins, which is why you
must be weary of the potato's color and texture before adding it in a raw state
to any food.