Food poisoning abroad: what is it, how to prevent it, and what to do about it?

What is food poisoning?

• Food poisoning occurs when you eat or drink something that contains a pathogenic, toxic substance.
• This usually involves bacteria in food, but it can also involve viruses, parasites, amoebas, poisonous plants and mushrooms, or pesticide residues on your food.
• Well-known examples include botulism, norovirus, salmonella, giardiasis, and E. coli.

What is the difference between food poisoning and foodborne illness?

• In informal, popular usage, the term "food poisoning" is often used, but technically and medically, a distinction is made between "food intoxication" and "foodborne infection".
• With food intoxication, the pathogenic toxins are already present when you ingest the food or drink, for example, mushrooms and toxin-producing bacteria.
• With foodborne infection, you ingest pathogenic organisms while eating or drinking, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, which then grow in your body and either produce toxins or directly damage tissues.
• Whether your food poisoning is a foodborne infection or food intoxication doesn't really affect the symptoms.

What are the symptoms of food poisoning?

• The symptoms of food poisoning often appear relatively quickly after ingesting the food. Some forms of food poisoning take a while to develop into a problem in your body. For example, if symptoms appear a day or several days later, it's sometimes unclear where and how you contracted the poisoning.
• When you contract food poisoning, you usually vomit profusely and frequently. This is your body's response to rid yourself of the toxins. Depending on the source and the extent of the contamination, you may also develop diarrhea after some time.
• Botulism is a very dangerous form of food poisoning that can cause paralysis.

Where can you get food poisoning?

• You can get food poisoning anywhere that hygiene during food preparation isn't properly maintained.
• Although the risk of food poisoning at an unrefrigerated street stall is greater than at a more upscale restaurant, you're never completely safe, and bad luck is also a factor.
• In Australia, for example, several dozen people die from food poisoning every year.

How can you prevent food poisoning?

• Reheating frozen food, eating undercooked or raw meat, or eating food that has been sitting at tropical room temperature for a while are risk factors. Heating kills living pathogens, but if the food is contaminated by certain bacteria, heating it doesn't change that, and you will still get sick.
• Thaw food in the refrigerator, not at room temperature, to inhibit bacterial growth.
• Meat contains the highest diversity of pathogens. Many parasites, in particular, can only be contracted by eating contaminated meat.
• Food poisoning doesn't mean your food is spoiled; the pathogens usually don't affect the taste and smell of the food, so smelling or taking a small bite won't offer any additional protection.
• Use a water filter, water purification tablets, or bottled water if the local drinking water is unreliable.

How can you treat food poisoning?

• There's really not much you can do once vomiting or diarrhea has started.
• The most important thing is to rest and recover, and avoid further problems, such as dehydration.
• Try to start drinking again as soon as possible, such as water, tea, broth, or ORS.
• Symptoms usually disappear on their own after 1 to 3 days.
• In severe cases, with persistent illness and or high fever, or in vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly, a visit to a doctor is advisable.