Understanding and dealing with food poisoning

Most mealtimes are happy experiences. We take time preparing a meal and then savouring the tastes. Good food can warm us up and give a satisfied feeling little other pleasures in life can bring.

However, food contains bacteria and some types of this can cause food poisoning - or rather produce chemicals that make the consumer unwell.

When these types of bacteria are eaten the effects are not normally seen immediately - there is a delay period. This is because the offending bacteria need time to multiply in the intestine before they can take effect on the body.

This incubation period can vary from person to person, depending on the type of bacteria they have eaten and how much of has been consumed.

Some people start to feel the effect in hours, while for others it can take several days for the poisoning to properly manifest itself.

It is when the bacteria reach the digestive system that the symptoms begin to be felt. These can include vomiting, abdominal pains and diarrhoea. How long this lasts for is dependent on how severe the food poisoning and how able the sufferer's body is to cope with the complaint.

These symptoms are the body’[curly]s way of trying to reject the bacteria as it attacks the lining of the intestine and tries to destroy the cells there.

Getting food poisoning can be avoided by storing food in appropriate conditions at the right temperature. Bacteria need warmth and moist conditions to grow, which is why susceptible foods should be stored in fridges. The longer food is out of the fridge the more chance there is for it to give those who eat it food poisoning.

This is because bacteria reproduce through division and, left in the right conditions for long enough, one bacterium could become several million in just eight hours.

If this is the case, then just one mouthful of the offending food could make the person who swallowed it seriously ill.

It is important that food is stored in the right way and that diners only eat in places that respect food standards, as items that have been left out in warm places may not look or smell any differently.

Bacteria cannot been seen, smelled or touched, so following good hygiene guides is the only way to avoid getting ill.