Food poisoning is an acute intestinal illness that results from eating food that contains harmful chemicals some of which are bacterial and others viral.

Our food can be contaminated at any stage, be it harvesting, production, processing, storage and or cooking, as Dr. George Wamuyu, the Child Health and Nutrition adviser at the Regional Centre for Quality Health Care says. Dr. Wamuyu says that food poisoning may come as a result of under-cooked meat, eating raw vegetables, taking unboiled water, and or non-pasteurised milk.

Even if one cooks the food properly, food poisoning may occur if the food is placed on dirty utensils or cutting boards. Note that all foods contain bacteria. Even food itself may produce high levels of poisonous chemicals that trigger food poisoning.

The Symptoms of food poisoning depend on the type of toxins. These include nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea. Children, pregnant women, people with chronic diseases are prone to food poisoning. The condition can be treated, according to Dr. Wamuyu, by antibiotics, and it is advisable to avoid dairy products  when suffering from food poisoning.

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