The gurgling tummy. The sudden nausea. The repeated trips to the bathroom. Could be a viral stomach bug, but often, gastrointestinal symptoms like these can be chalked up to something you ate.
Don’t make yourself sick: Check out these tips to avoid foodborne illness
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, foodborne illnesses affect 48 million Americans each year. Without proper food safety measures in place, it’s easy for germs, bacteria and toxins to contaminate everyday items you eat and drink, with unpleasant results. Thankfully, most foodborne illnesses are short-lived and tend to pass in a few days without any lasting effects, but some may be serious enough to require hospitalization and can even be fatal.
Cause and effect
So how do those pesky illness-causing germs and bacteria get into our food and drinks in the first place? Several ways. Meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products harvested from infected animals can be unsafe to eat from the very beginning. Or toxins can be introduced during the processing phase through dirty water or unclean machinery. Bacteria can also grow on food that’s been left sitting out too long or stored at unsafe temperatures.
Lastly, food that’s been prepared by someone who’s ill or hasn’t thoroughly washed their hands can quickly become contaminated enough to make you sick.
Food poisoning or a “stomach flu” virus?
Although nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea are common across both situations, there are several telltale signs that may help you determine whether your GI ailment was caused by food poisoning or a virus.
Foodborne illness typically comes on quickly, within hours after you’ve eaten the offending item, and symptoms usually pass within a day or two once the toxins have left your body. (If someone else you know ate the same thing and got sick within the same time frame, it’s probably safe to assume you’ve pinpointed the cause of your discomfort.)
Stomach flu symptoms tend to appear a day or two after you’ve been exposed and can take longer to subside. Stomach flu tends to involve more nausea and vomiting, whereas food poisoning often leads to diarrhea. In either case, try to drink extra fluids to prevent dehydration and stick to small amounts of bland foods until your gastrointestinal system returns to normal.
Prevention is key
There are several easy ways to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Wash your hands thoroughly and often when cooking, especially after handling raw meat, eggs, seafood or poultry. Store these items in the refrigerator away from other foods, use a separate cutting board, and wash any knives or utensils that come into contact with them in hot soapy water before using on other ingredients to prevent cross-contamination. Always cook foods to the recommended minimum internal temperature to kill off germs and bacteria that can make you sick; double-checking with a reliable food thermometer removes any guesswork. You’ll want to refrigerate most leftovers within two hours or sooner and finish them off or freeze them within a couple days.
At home or in a restaurant, don’t take chances by eating anything that looks old, is moldy or discolored or is giving off a bad odor. When it doubt, throw it out!
