Food poisoning effects and prevention
Serious health problems result from consuming contaminated food but practicing food safety eliminates these complications. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) notes, “food poisoning, also called foodborne illness, is an infection or irritation of your digestive tract that spreads through food or drink,” Food poisoning is caused by “viruses, bacteria, parasites” and other harmful chemicals in food, notes the American health authority. While foodborne illness can affect anyone, some people are more at risk than others.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), these include pregnant women, their unborn babies, and children. More at risk people are elderlies, people suffering from deadly diseases like cancer and people with weak immune systems. The illness is not only caused from unwashed food, but from spoiled food too.
“He catch food poisoning because mi mek him taste the bread,” said Latoya Thomas (not her real name), referring to her four-year-old son. “Me could never believe it cause mi nuh give my baby dirty things to eat,” the mother added. The symptoms that the child experienced were vomiting and stomach aches and so was admitted in the hospital for a few days. But the mother later found out that the bread slices were moulding because it had expired, after a check on the expiration date. “That experience wake me up to be careful with what him eat and even myself,” said Thomas.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), other symptoms of food poisoning are upset stomach, stomach cramps, diahrrea and fever. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States of America, advises high risk people to avoid ,“raw or uncooked meat or poultry, raw fish, partly cooked shell foods like shrimp, unprocessed milk and cheese,” But fruits are often eaten without washing and unwashed fruits can be contaminated with germs.
Elaine Black (not her real name) suffered from food poisoning after eating some unwashed apples she purchased at the market. “The apples look like dem never wash, and I had diahrrea the whole day.” Food can also look edible but not fit for consumption.
The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), notes “food that is contaminated with Salmonella (a bacteria that causes food poisoning), or other harmful germs usually looks, tastes, and smells normal.” While the condition is popular in unclean food, producers play a major role in providing fresh food for customers.
Butcher, Collin Biggby (not his real name) has been a butcher for over ten years and sells beef at the market. “My customers never report to me that mi meat dem bad, because mi keep dem fresh and as the cow kill dem come a market,” he said.
The CDC advises people to “wash hands before and after handling raw meat, poultry and seafood, separate raw mean from ready to eat salads in the refrigerator, cook foods properly and never leave perishable foods out of refrigeration for more than two hours.”
