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Food poisoning, more accurately called foodborne illness, is an illness caused by eating spoiled or contaminated food. You may not be able to tell if your food has spoiled by looking at it or smelling it.
Food can spoil when certain types bacteria, fungi or viruses get into it. Some common bacteria that cause foodborne illness are:
E. coli (escherichia coli)
Harmful types of E. coli can sometimes be found on unwashed vegetables or in undercooked ground meat.
Listeria
Listeria is most often found in raw vegetables, uncooked meat, hot dogs, deli meat and soft cheese. Listeria can make anyone sick, but it is especially harmful for pregnant women, babies, older people or people who are already not very healthy.
Salmonella
Salmonella is most often found in water, eggs, chicken, turkey, and milk products, but it can also be found in other foods.
Some other poisoning topics related to food you may want to read about:
Depending on the type of foodborne illness you have, it can take anywhere from two hours to several days for you to become sick. Foodborne illness can last up to 10 days.
It can be hard to tell foodborne illness from other stomach bugs. Symptoms can include:
If you think you have food poisoning, call the poison center at 1-800-222-1222, chat online or text POISON to 85511. If you are throwing up a lot or have diarrhea, drink plenty of water.
Let your state health department know about your food poisoning:
Last Updated: Wednesday May 23rd 2018
