Main food-poisoning culprits

Updated 30 April 2013

Main food-poisoning culprits

You're as sick as a dog and you're asking yourself whether it was the chicken or the fish?

Food-poisoning is no fun. In fact, it is downright dangerous. Contaminated food can poison your whole system for days. The experience is of such a kind that many people will avoid the particular foodstuff in question for the rest of their lives.

Certain foodstuffs always get the blame for food-poisoning incidents, such as seafood or chicken. But there are many other possible culprits, such as vegetables, reheated buffet foods, rice and eggs, which might have poisoned you.

It's not always easy to find out what exactly caused your illness. It's always a good idea to check with others who ate the same foods, and identify the culprit by seeing which other people also became ill.

The table below lists the micro-organisms most commonly associated with foodborne illness and examples of foods that are typical vehicles for those illnesses:

CAUSE	FOODS MOST OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH THE PROBLEM
BACTERIA
Bacillus cereus	Reheated cooked rice, cooked meats, starchy puddings, vegetables and fish. Improper handling after cooking is a common feature of foods causing B. cereus associated foodborne illness.
Clostridium perfringens	Reheated foods including buffet dishes, cooked meat and poultry, beans, gravy, stews and soups.
Clostridium botulinum	Improperly canned (home-preserved) foods such as vegetables, fish, meat and poultry.
Escherichia coli (E.coli)	Salads and raw vegetables, undercooked meat, cheese, unpasteurised milk.
Campylobacter jejuni	Raw milk, poultry.
Listeria monocytogenes	Unpasteurised milk and milk products such as soft cheeses, raw meat, poultry, seafood, vegetables, paté, smoked meat and fish, coleslaw.
Salmonella	Undercooked poultry, meat, shellfish, salads, eggs and dairy products.
Staphylococcus aureus	Ham, poultry, eggs, ice-cream, cheese, salads, custard and cream-filled pastries and gravies, are the most common sources. Improper handling of food or poor hygiene could help S.aureus spread into food.
Vibrio parahaemolyticus and other marine Vibrio	Raw and undercooked fish and shellfish.
PARASITES
Trichinella spiralis	Undercooked pork or game.
Toxoplasma gondii	Undercooked meat and poultry and raw milk.
VIRUSES
Hepatitis A virus	Shellfish, raw fruits and vegetables can be the uncommon cause of hepatitis A. Hepatitis A can be spread by contaminated food handlers inadvertently transferring the virus to the food they handle.