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Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but occasionally deadly illness.
Food poisoning happens when someone eats food or drink that is contaminated with bacteria or its toxins. Very occasionally, toxins from chemicals or pesticides can also cause food poisoning.
It is hard to tell if food and drink are contaminated because the look, taste and smell may not be affected. Food poisoning can affect one person or a group of people, depending on whether they have all eaten the same contaminated food.
Most food poisoning is caused by the toxins produced by bacteria, or by the amount of bacteria itself. Some bacteria can grow (multiply) from one to millions given the right conditions of moisture, food, warmth and time. The more bacteria present, the higher the chance of infection and illness. The most common types of bacteria to cause infection are Campylobacter, E.Coli and salmonella.
According to the Food Standards Agency, it is estimated that up to 5.5 million people in the UK are affected from food poisoning each year. Only a small number of these visit their GP or get medical advice.
Most cases of food poisoning are not reported because people have mild symptoms and recover quickly. As a result, less than 100,000 cases a year are tested for the exact cause of food poisoning.
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