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food for thought: the dish on food poisoning by rebecca tang | design by mary sau
When it comes to dining out or eating at home, the last thing you should have to worry about is getting sick from it. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 6, or 48 million, Americans suffer from bouts of foodborne illnesses each year.1 These foodborne illnesses can be caused by either the bacteria themselves or the toxins they produce, which can disrupt the body’s regulation of the digestive, respiratory, and nervous systems. Read on to find out more about common types of food poisoning, as well as strategies to prevent and recover from this possibly unpleasant episode.
Bacillus cereus (B. cereus)
› B. cereus is a bacterium that emits a type of toxin which
targets the intestines. Because this toxin can persist even after the food has been cooked, B. cereus can cause food poisoning even when the food is cooked and the bacteria is killed. Fortunately, because the bacteria itself is not toxic, the illness resolves as soon as the toxin is eliminated from your system. risky foods: Rice, leftovers, and other prepared foods that have been sitting out too long at room temperature. symptoms: B. cereus leads to watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting. These symptoms are your body’s way to eliminate the toxin from your body and are usually resolved within 24 hours once the toxin is eliminated.2
Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens)
› Like B. cereus, C. perfringens is also a toxin-mediated
risky foods: Meat (beef and poultry) that is left out for too long. However, C. perfringens can be killed by heating to temperatures above 140°F or keeping food cooled at temperatures below 41°F. symptoms: People who get this type of food poisoning experience abdominal cramps and diarrhea.3
total wellness ▪ spring 2014
Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus)
› S. aureus is a bacterium very similar to B. cereus. It causes
very similar symptoms and only lasts as long as the toxins are present in the person’s body. risky foods: Foods that require hand contact and no further cooking, such as egg, potato, and macaroni salads, creamfilled pastries, sandwiches, and others.
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symptoms: S. aureus induces nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and mild fever.4
left: ivanastar/istockphoto; drb images/istockphoto; right: isantilli/istockphoto; robynmac/istockphoto
bacterium. It contributes to one of the most common cases of food poisoning in the United States, affecting nearly 1 million people annually.