This document discusses food poisoning, including its causes, types, and prevention. It begins by defining food poisoning as acute gastroenteritis caused by contaminated food or drink ingestion. There are two main types - bacterial and non-bacterial. Bacterial food poisoning can be caused by Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus, and Clostridium botulinum. Prevention focuses on proper food handling including sanitation, refrigeration, and avoiding leaving foods at temperatures in the danger zone for too long. Surveillance of foods is also important to prevent outbreaks of food poisoning.

1. FOOD POISONING
Dr Jaydeep Ghevariya
Resident Doctor
Community Medicine dept,
BJ Medical College, Ahmedabad.

2. • Food poisoning is an acute gastroenteritis caused
by ingestion of food or drink contaminated with
either living bacteria or their toxins or inorganic
chemical substances and poisons derived from
plants and animals.

3. Characteristics of food poisoning
A. History of ingestion of common food,
B. Attack of many people at same time,
C. Similarity of sign and symptoms in majority of cases.

4. Types of food poisoning
Non- bacterial
•Arsenic, Cadmium,
Mercury
Certain plant,
Sea food,
Fertilizer, Pesticides.
Bacterial
Bacteria,
Toxins

5. Bacterial food poisoning

6. 1. Salmonella food poisoning,
2. Staphylococcal food poisoning,
3. Botulism food poisoning,
4. Cl. Perfringens food poisoning, and
5. B. cereus food poisoning.

7. 1. Salmonella food poisoning

8. 1. Salmonella food poisoning
• There is increasing incidences of this type of the food
poisoning because of:
1. An increase in communal feeding,
2. An increase in international trade in human food,
3. A higher incidences of the salmonellosis in farm animals,
4. Wide distribution of the prepared food.

9. 1. Salmonella food poisoning
• Causative agents:
 S – typhimurium, S - cholera –suis, S – enteritidis
• Source:
 It is disease of animal, men gets the infection by contaminated meat, milk, milk
product, sausage, custard, egg, and egg products.
 Contaminated urine and faeces of rats and mice.
 Incubation periods:
 12-24 hrs
 Mechanism:
 Ingestion followed by multiplication in intestine causes acute enteritis and colitis.
 Sudden onset with chills, fever, nausea, vomiting and profuse watery diarrhoea.
 Last for 2-3 days.
 Mortality about 1%.

10. 2. Staphylococcal food poisoning

11. 2. Staphylococcal food poisoning
• Causative agents:
 Enterotoxin of Staph. Aureus, it form at 35 to 37 deg. C, heat stable.
• Source:
 Ubiquitous- skin, nose, throat of human and animals.
 Cow suffering from mastitis.
 Contaminated salad, custards, milk, and milk products.
 Incubation periods:
 1-8 hrs (Preformed toxin)
 Mechanism:
 Ingestion of food containing pre formed toxins (Intradietetic toxin), act on
Intestine and CNS.
 Sudden onset vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhoea. Blood and mucus may
appear in severe cases.
 Fever is rare.

12. 3. Botulism food poisoning

13. 3. Botulism food poisoning
• Causative agents:
 Exotoxin of Clostridium botulinum, generally type A, B, and E. (Thermolabile)
• Source:
 Widely distributed in dust, soil and intestine of animals.
 Enter in food as a spores.
 Home preserved food like canned vegetables, smoked or pickled fish, home made
cheese, and similar low acid food.
 Incubation periods:
 18-36 hrs.
 Mechanism:
 Act on PNS, GI symptoms are very rare.
 Prominent symptoms are dysphagia, diplopia, ptosis, dysarthria. Fever is rare.
 Death in 2/3 cases, usually in 4-8 days.
As toxin is thermolabile heating at 100 dig. C makes food safer.

14. 3. Botulism food poisoning
• Infantile botulism:
 In vivo infection of gut.
• Tx:
 Antitoxin as prophylaxis – 50,000 to 1,00,000 units IV.
 Guanidine hydrochloride, orally, 15-40 mg/kg.

15. 4. Cl. Perfringens food poisoning

16. 4. Cl. Perfringens food poisoning
• Causative agents:
 Cl. Perfringens
• Source:
 Organism found in faeces of human and animals, and in Soil, water, and in Air.
 Majority of outbreak in ingestion of meat, meat dishes and poultry.
 Usual history is, food prepared 24 hr or more before, and cooled slowly at room
temperature and heated immediately just prior to consumption.
 Incubation periods:
 6-24 hrs
 Symptoms:
 Diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, little or no fever.
 Short duration illness, 1day or less.
 Rapid recovery and no deaths.

17. 5. B. cereus food poisoning

18. 5. B. cereus food poisoning
• Causative agents:
 Bacillus cereus
• Source:
 Ubiquitous in soil, and in raw, dried and processed foods.
 Spores survive cooking, and germinate and multiply in favourable temperature.
 Two toxins- cause two form of food poisoning:
 Emetic- upper GI symptoms, Shorter incubation period (1-6 hrs)
 Diarrhoeal- lower GI symptoms, longer incubation periods (12-24 hrs)
 Toxins are preformed and stable.

20. Investigation of food
poisoning

21. 1. Secure complete list of people involved and their history.- type of food
eaten, place of consumption, time of onset of symptoms, symptoms of
illness, also collect demographic data like age, sex, residence, occupation,
and other helpful info.
2. Laboratory investigation- of cases and stool samples of kitchen employee
and food handlers.
3. Animal experiments
4. Blood for antibodies
5. Environmental studies: inspection of kitchen, eating place, questionaries to
food handlers.
6. Data analysis- food specific attack rate.

22. Prevention and control

23. A. Food Sanitation
a) Meat inspection: by veterinary staff, both before and after
slaughter.
b) Personal hygiene: preparing and handling food.
c) Food handler: disease free, regular medical examination.
d) Food handling techniques: bare hand contact with food
avoided, short time between preparation and consumption,
rapid cooling and cold storage, pasteurisation, use of
penetrative heat instead of surface heat.
e) Sanitary improvements: of work surfaces, utensils,
equipment. Premises kept free from rates and mice, flies and
dust.
f) Heath education.

24. B. Refrigeration
a) It prevent bacterial growth,
b) Cold is bacteriostatic below 4 dig. C. (danger zone for
bacterial growth – 10 to 49 dig. C.)

25. Surveillance
• Periodically laboratory examination of food.

26. Thank you
Golden rule
“COOK AND EAT ON SAME DAY.”