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 Food
Safety
This page was reviewed or revised on Tuesday, November 13, 2007.
Food borne illness,
better known as food poisoning, can happen to anyone. It probably has
happened to you before and you thought it was just a "flu bug."
Perhaps you took a day or two off work to recover and thought nothing
more about it.
Every year in Canada there are between 5000 and 7000 confirmed cases
of food borne illness. However, it is estimated that 2.2 million Canadians
suffer from food borne illness each year at a cost to the Canadian economy
of approximately $1.3 billion.
Pathogenic bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella are the main causes
of food poisoning. While stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea
are the most common symptoms, severe cases do require hospitalization.
With infants, the chronically ill or very old, food poisoning may even
result in death.
Ways you can reduce food borne illness
- By practicing safe food handling techniques you can directly reduce
the incidence of food poisoning.
- By immediately reporting suspected cases of food poisoning to the
health unit it can allow a timely investigation to occur, which may
prevent someone else from becoming ill.
Recent Updates
Symptoms of illness caused by poorly handled food can range from vomiting,
nausea, diarrhea, and cramps to paralysis, kidney failure,
and even death in some cases. Read more
about food borne illnesses
Undeclared sulphites have been discovered in crystallized ginger. See
our full list of food alerts
Salmonella and Campylobacter are microorganisms that are known to cause
food borne illness, these and other organisms are found in raw poultry
and other foods such as meat, fish and dairy products. You can not tell
by looking at food whether or not it is contaminated. Read
more
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