Illnesses From Eating Bad Lettuce
The CDC estimates that germs on raw produce are responsible for most food poisoning outbreaks in the United States., and many of these outbreaks start with lettuce. Most of the time, lettuce that causes food poisoning is contaminated with:
- Norovirus
- E. coli bacteria
- Salmonella
It takes around 2 to 6 hours for food poisoning symptoms to arise after eating contaminated lettuce or other tainted foods, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine . The time it takes to develop symptoms and the types of symptoms you experience can vary depending on the germ, but food poisoning generally comes with symptoms like:
- Abdominal cramps
- Diarrhea
- Fever and chills
How To Spot If A Bagged Salad Will Give You Food Poisoning
There’s a key tell you can look out for.
While we’ve already discovered how to dress up a standard grocery-store bagged salad and even make the greens last a little longer, we’ve been at a loss for making sure the leaves are free from food-borne illnesses. But now a new study has shed some light on one very telling sign.
According to The Guardian, researchers at the University of Leicester in England discovered that the juices released from the broken leaves of lettuce, spinach, and other greens increase the risk of the bacteria salmonella 2,400-fold. Not only that, those broken leaves and their juices also increases the virulenceor how much damage the bacteria can doand makes it easier for the salmonella to cause infection.
A lead researcher at the university’s Department of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, Dr. Primrose Freestone, explained in a press statement: “These juices also helped the salmonella to attach itself to the salad leaves so strongly that vigorous washing could not remove the bacteria, and even enabled the pathogen to attach to the salad bag container.”
The team of microbiologists also found that salmonella could grow at a lower refrigeration temperature than previously believed . Plus, even when kept in the fridge, open the bags of salad allowed the bacteria to grow much faster than sealed ones.
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Potato Salad Food Poisoning And Contortionists
I discovered a stunning Youtube video via Boingboing, so consider this post just an excuse to show it to you. But as long as its title involves potato salad, I thought I’d reiterate some points we’ve made in the past about potato salad and food poisoning.
Potato salad is a frequent vehicle for one of the nastier foodborne illnesses, staphylococcal food poisoning, although it can also do the same favor for salmonellosis, Bacillus cereus, E. coli, campylobacter, Norovirus and Shigella . Much of what we say here for staph holds true for the others although it is the classical “first you are afraid you are going to die and then you are afraid you aren’t going to die” type of food poisoning. Nausea, vomiting and cramps typically strike about 3 to 6 hours after the meal, although it is sometimes shorter and sometimes longer. Still, even 6 hours is relatively short and is indicative more of a chemical poisoning than a foodborne infection. In a sense that’s correct for staph food poisoning, since it isn’t the organism itself that’s at fault but a very heat stable toxin that some strains of S. aureus produce. Often the bug isn’t even there anymore, just the toxin it left behind. It is the toxin that produces the nasty symptoms although for reasons that are unclear, not everybody is equally susceptible to it.
Enjoy. Lots more fun than staphylococcal food poisoning.
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When To Go To Urgent Care For Food Poisoning Vs Er
Most of the time, itâs fine to pick urgent care if you want an opinion after coming down with food poisoning or a stomach bug. As long as youre not in potentially life-threatening danger, urgent care providers will be able to offer the medical opinion you need.
That said, if it does seem serious, a trip to the ER may be in order. So, how do you know if food poisoning or a stomach virus is bad enough to warrant a hospital visit? If youâre experiencing one of the symptoms below, seek medical emergency attention immediately:
- Blood in stool or vomit
- Green or yellow colored vomit
- Fever above 101ðF
When Should I Call The Doctor
Most cases of food poisoning don’t need medical attention, but some do. The most common serious problem from food poisoning is dehydration. A child who is healthy is unlikely to get dehydrated as long as he or she drinks enough liquids to replace what’s lost through throwing up or diarrhea.
- vomiting that lasts for more than 12 hours
- diarrhea with a fever higher than 101°F
- severe belly pain that doesn’t go away after a bowel movement
- bloody feces or bloody vomit
- bowel movements that are black or maroon
- a racing or pounding heart
It’s important to watch for signs of dehydration, which include:
- extreme thirst
- making little or no urine
- dizziness
- sunken eyes
- lightheadedness or weakness
If your family recently been to a foreign country and your child starts having diarrhea or other stomach problems, call your doctor.
Food poisoning can be more serious for people with weakened immune systems or health conditions. If your child has a health condition , call your doctor right away. Pregnant women also should let their doctors know if they get food poisoning as some germs can affect the unborn child.
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How Do I Know If Its Stomach Flu Or Food Poisoning
Both conditions cause gastrointestinal distress. However, if you have a fever, headache, body aches, and projectile vomiting, you may have a stomach bug or viral gastroenteritis. If you have bloody diarrhea, it could be food poisoning.
The circumstances surrounding your illness can offer clues. If you develop symptoms within a few hours of eating food that may have been spoiled or contaminated, you likely have food poisoning.
If a family member or friend ate the same food and became sick, thats another clue that points to food poisoning.
If you have eaten foods that are easily contaminated or spoiled, such as salad greens, undercooked eggs or meat, seafood, raw milk, or dairy products just before your symptoms worsen, it could be food poisoning.
On the other hand, if you have been around someone who has a similar illness, it could be viral gastroenteritis. For example, if your child is sick and theres a stomach bug going around your childs school.
When To See Your Gp
While the symptoms can be alarming for parents/carers, it is important to note that diarrhoea usually lasts five to seven days. In most children it stops within two weeks. With vomiting, the usual length of time it lasts is one or two days, and in most children it stops within three days.
For adults, vomiting for two days, and diarrhoea lasting for up to 10 days is not unusual.
You should contact your GP if:
- your symptoms are severe for example, if you’re unable to keep down any fluids because you are vomiting repeatedly
- your symptoms don’t begin to improve after a few days – children with diarrhoea who have defecated more than five times in the previous 24 hours, adults with diarrhoea lasting more than 10 days
- there is any blood in the diarrhoea
- you have a long-term underlying condition, such as inflammatory bowel disease , heart valve disease, diabetes or kidney disease
- you have a weak immune system for example, because of medication, cancer treatment or HIV
In these situations, your GP may send off a stool sample for analysis and may sometimes prescribe antibiotics, or they may refer you to hospital so you can be looked after more closely.
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How Is Food Poisoning Treated
Most mild cases of food poisoning are treated the same as stomach flu . If you have diarrhea or vomiting, you may lose a lot of fluids . The goal is to replace your lost fluids and ease your symptoms.
For some types of bacterial food poisoning, your health care provider may give you a medicine that fights bacteria . Antibiotics dont work on infections caused by a virus.
In severe cases you may need to be hospitalized.
When Food Is Buggy
Chances are its food poisoning if someone else who ate the same food is sick as well, says James E. Rogers, Ph.D., director of food safety and research at Consumer Reports.
But its possible to be sickened by food that doesnt seem to bother anyone else simply because the burger or slice of papaya that you happened to eat was more heavily contaminated with disease-causing bacteria.
Food-poisoning symptomsabdominal pain, stomach cramps, and multiple bouts of diarrhea or vomitingtend to be more severe but shorter-lasting than when its a stomach bug.
If your stomach just feels upset or you have heartburn, bloating, or gas but no vomiting or diarrhea, its probably indigestion, not an infection.
People who suspect they have food poisoning often assume it had to be from something they ate right before they started feeling sick, but thats not always the case. Foodborne illnesses are caused by many different bacteria, viruses, parasites, or toxins produced by bacteria, and the symptoms you get and how soon you feel them vary based on which contaminant was in your food.
For instance, you can be hit with severe nausea and vomiting just an hour after eating contaminated chicken salad that has a type of toxin-producing bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus. But it can take more than a week after having a burger containing E. coli O157:H7 for you to have the severe diarrhea and other nasty symptoms it brings.
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How Long Will I Be Sick
The symptoms of ciguatera poisoning can last for 1 to 2 weeks. Exactly how long they last will depend on the amount of poison you have in your body. The symptoms can come back any time you eat an affected fish. The symptoms of scombroid poisoning usually last for 24 hours or less. The symptoms can come back any time you eat fish that has not been refrigerated properly. Ciguatera and scombroid poisoning are rarely fatal.
Other High Risk Groups And Listeriafood Poisoning
These include people who have undergonea transplant cancer treatment, e.g. chemotherapy who suffer from HIVor AIDS or have kidney or liver disease. This is because their immunesystems are less effective at fighting off bacteria which cause infectionssuch as listeriosis.
People in any of these groups are morelikely to develop a serious form of this illness and/or complications.
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Causes And Symptoms Of Food Poisoning
Food poisoning, or foodborne illness, is “illness resulting from eating food or drinking water containing poisonous substances” . The most common causes of food poisoning are the intake of bacteria, parasites, viruses, amongst other toxic organisms.
Contamination can occur at any point, during processing, pre-preparation, preparation, and post-preparation. Contamination is not limited to occurring only at a food facility. It can also happen at home, and in your own kitchen if improperly handled and/or cooked. Food poisoning may result in many different symptoms such as: nausea, diarrhea, fever, vomiting etc.
Diagnosing Listeria Food Poisoning
Contact your GP if you have developedsymptoms of this illness within the last month or two. Do this if youare in a high risk group, for example, you suffer from diabetes.
A blood test can detect the symptomsof listeria food poisoning. Another equally useful test is a spinalfluid test.
If you are pregnant then your GP willperform a blood test to check for signs of this illness.
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What Are The Causes Of Food Poisoning
Food poisoning is common and most of us will recognise the scenario. You ate something that looked a little dodgy, or you were abroad in a country where it isn’t safe to drink the water, and you had a salad. Washed in the water you know you shouldn’t drink. A few hours later you get tummy ache, and you are being sick and running backwards and forwards to the toilet. There are pet names for it in different parts of the world: Delhi belly, Kathmandu quickstep, Montezuma’s revenge, Karachi crouch. But you can pick it up pretty much anywhere, including your own home.
BacteriaCampylobacter is the most common germ that causes food poisoning in the UK. Other germs that can cause food poisoning include:
Some germs , such as norovirus or rotavirus, can contaminate food and cause food poisoning.
ParasitesThese are another type of microbe. Parasites are living things that live within, or on, another organism. Examples include cryptosporidium, Entamoeba histolyticaand giardia parasites. Food poisoning caused by parasites is more common in the developing world.
Toxins and chemicalsPoisons produced by bacteria can also contaminate food, as well as the bacteria themselves. For example, the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus can contaminate ice cream and its toxins can lead to food poisoning. The bacterium Bacillus cereus can contaminate rice. If contaminated rice is reheated and eaten, the toxins produced can lead to food poisoning.
How Long Does Food Poisoning Last
- Most cases of food poisoning last about 1 to 2 days and symptoms resolve on their own. If symptoms persist longer than that, the person should contact their health-care professional.
- Cyclospora infections may be difficult to detect and diarrhea may last for weeks. Health-care professionals may consider this parasite as the potential cause of food poisoning in patients with prolonged symptoms.
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Questions To Ask Your Doctor
- How do I know if my symptoms are caused by food poisoning?
- Are there medicines that prevent food poisoning?
- Is food poisoning dangerous? When should I call you?
- How is food poisoning different from other digestive disorders?
- How long will it take me to recover from food poisoning?
- Do I have a food allergy?
- How long will I feel sick with a Vibrio vulnificus infection?
- I have kidney disease. Should I avoid eating shellfish?
Why Do Some People Get Food Poisoning And Others Dont Even When They Eat The Same Thing
Why do some people get food poisoning and others dont, even when they eat the same thing?
The reason why some people who ate the same food get sick while others dont is due to the health of the people involved as well as the amount of food poisoning-inducing bacteria each person ingested. The most common symptoms of food poisoning are nausea and diarrhea. If you suspect you have the symptoms of food poisoning, it is recommended that you seek diagnosis from a medical institution.
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What Is Listeriosis And How Can It Affect Pregnancy
Listeriosis is a kind of food poisoning caused by Listeria bacteria. During pregnancy, you can pass the bacteria to your baby. This can cause problems, including:
- Miscarriage. This is when a baby dies in the womb before 20 weeks of pregnancy.
- Stillbirth. This is when a baby dies in the womb after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
- Preterm labor and premature birth. These are labor and birth that happen too early, before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Babies born prematurely may have health problems and birth and later in life.
- Low birthweight. This is when a baby is born weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces.
- Life-threatening infections in your baby, including bacteria in the blood and meningitis. Meningitis is an infection that causes swelling in the brain and spinal cord. Infected babies may have health problems after birth, including seizures, blindness and problems with the brain, heart and kidneys.
Listeria may be in the soil, water, on animals and in animal waste. The most common cause of listeriosis is eating food with Listeria in it. Foods that are most likely to have Listeria include:
What Are Symptoms Of Food Poisoning
Symptoms of food poisoning include stomach issues, such as cramps and vomiting, a fever, nausea or diarrhea.
Dangerous food poisoning circumstances include over three days of drastic symptoms, such as diarrhea, a high fever of 102, dehydration or a damaging effect to sight or speech, all according to the CDC.
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Is Food Poisoning A Serious Condition
It can be. Dehydration can be dangerous, and so can certain types of food poisoning. Food poisoning caused by the Listeria bacteria can be very dangerous for the unborn babies of pregnant women. The infection is usually very mild for the mother, but can cause miscarriage, premature labor, stillbirth and developmental problems in their babies. People who have weakened immune systems are also at risk of developing complications from Listeria. Food poisoning caused by Escherichia coli bacteria can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome . HUS can cause kidney failure, especially in people who have weakened immune systems.
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