Food Allergies & Food Poisoning

Many of the symptoms caused by allergies are also similar to food poisoning. This is especially true of stomach upset, diarrhea, and unpleasant side-effects along those lines (see gluten allergy symptoms for some specific examples).

With the possibility of having identical symptoms, how do you know if you really have allergies, or if you are dealing with food poisoning?

First of all, the allergy symptoms are not identical to food poisoning symptoms in most cases. There are often other effects that are not the same as food poisoning.

In most cases, food poisoning is a one-off thing. Someone left the meat out of the fridge for too long. The food was contaminated during processing. One of the ingredients went bad, and was added to the dish unnoticed. There are many causes for food spoilage, but they are usually not consistent. In other words, don't expect that since you got food poisoning from the left-overs last week, that you will get sick every time you eat left-overs.

Indigestion

Food poisoning has become a way of life for those that enjoy the taste of new types of food. The good chances of getting indigestion do not prevent them from searching for exotic restaurants where they can devour large quantities of strange and delicious food. Until severe food poisoning occurs and a hospital stay is had, the experimental eater will continue playing roulette with new types of food.

The animals in the forest and the fish in the sea understand the meaning of food poisoning very well. There is a large variety of food in the forests and in the sea, it is much larger then the variety we have in our supermarkets, but animals and fish will eat only food that they are accustomed too. Nature has provided them with that wisdom, and few break nature’s rules. If they do they will surely get sick or die. The only species that disobeys natures command to eat food that is customary is the human species. Is it any wonder that they often get indigestion and many times die?

Avoid Food Poisoning

Always wash your hands and everything else that comes in contact with food. This includes utensils, cutting boards, countertops, table ware, and cook ware. Wash hands with warm water for at least 20 seconds before handling food, after handling uncooked meat/produce and wash between preparing each type of food. Separate raw foods from other kinds of food and use a separate cutting board for meat and vegetables. Do not use the same utensils or dish ware with uncooked or other foods. Keep it out of the danger zone (40 F and 140F) by cooking it thoroughly. Check the internal temperature of meat with a clean thermometer and make sure it's at least 140 F. It is not good enough to just eye ball it to see if it's brown.

*Keep the area near the utensils food and food products clean.

*Wash the row food products properly before cooking.

*Don't keep the food at the room temperature for more than two hours.

*Cook the food properly.

*Temperature of freeze should be 0 to 4 degree Celsius.

*Light charcoal barbecues well in advance, making sure you use enough charcoal and waiting until it is glowing red (with a powdery grey surface) before starting cooking.

*Always wash your hands thoroughly - before preparing food and after touching raw meat and before eating.

*Keep pets away from food, dishes and preparation surfaces.

*Keep hot food hot and cold food cold after you serve it. Never leave food out at room temperature for more than two hours, and keep it protected with a clean cover at all times.