Former Extension Food Scientist

Food safety concerns every food handling facility. Each year, thousands of individuals suffer the discomfort and pain resulting from foodborne illness. To prevent such illnesses, understanding the bacteria that cause food poisoning is essential. The term food poisoning is generally used to describe illness caused by all types of foodborne microorganisms. Food poisoning and food infection are different, although the symptoms are similar. True food poisoning or food intoxication is caused by eating food that contains a toxin or poison due to bacterial growth in food. The bacteria which produced and excreted the toxic waste products into the food may be killed, but the toxin they produced causes the illness or digestive upset to occur. Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum are two species of bacteria that cause food poisoning. Food infection is the second type of foodborne illness. It is caused by eating food that contains certain types of live bacteria which are present in the food. Once the food is consumed, the bacterial cells themselves continue to grow and illness can result. Salmonellosis is a good example of foodborne infection. Vibrio parahaemolyticus is another infection organism and is found primarily in shellfish from polluted waters. Clostridium perfringens grows in warm food like beef stews or gravies and produces toxins. It also causes a food infection by continuing to grow and producing toxins in the intestinal track. Each of these types of food