<p>Whenever you have a stomach indigestion and related issues, people get confused between food poisoning and gastroenteritis.</p><p>Here is all you need to know about the basic difference between the two.</p><p><strong>What is food poisoning?</strong></p><p>Food poisoning refers to getting sick from eating food contaminated with chemicals, microbes or toxins.</p><p>For example if you ate food contaminated with insecticides or methyl alcohol (methanol) that would count as food poisoning. If you ate puffer fish or poisonous mushrooms that would count too. But food poisoning doesn’t include the effects of eating a food you’re allergic to.</p><p>The vast majority of food poisonings are as a result of food contaminated by microbes and their toxins. When you eat or drink them it’s like a missile strike. The toxins in particular can rapidly cause inflammation and damage the lining of the gut.</p><p>To add to the confusion, food poisoning is often referred to as foodborne gastroenteritis.</p><p>Food poisoning (or foodborne gastroenteritis) is also common in Australia. It accounts for about one-third of all cases of gastroenteritis or an estimated 5.4 million cases every year.</p><p><strong>How can we tell the two apart?</strong></p><p>Both gastroenteritis and food poisoning have symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps, fever and headaches. But these symptoms can come on in different ways.</p><p>Viral gastroenteritis, such as with norovirus, usually causes symptoms 24-48 hours after exposure, which can last for one to two days.</p><p>But food poisoning after eating microbial toxins can come on very quickly. For example, toxins from the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus can cause symptoms within 30 minutes of eating contaminated food, such as undercooked meat. Fortunately, symptoms usually get better within 24 hours.</p><p>Symptoms do not always come on so quickly in all cases of bacterial food poisoning. For example, it can take as long as 70 days between exposure to Listeria and symptoms occurring, although, on average it’s about three weeks. This long incubation period can make it difficult to work out if a particular food is responsible for someone getting sick.</p><p>(With PTI inputs)</p>
<p>Whenever you have a stomach indigestion and related issues, people get confused between food poisoning and gastroenteritis.</p><p>Here is all you need to know about the basic difference between the two.</p><p><strong>What is food poisoning?</strong></p><p>Food poisoning refers to getting sick from eating food contaminated with chemicals, microbes or toxins.</p><p>For example if you ate food contaminated with insecticides or methyl alcohol (methanol) that would count as food poisoning. If you ate puffer fish or poisonous mushrooms that would count too. But food poisoning doesn’t include the effects of eating a food you’re allergic to.</p><p>The vast majority of food poisonings are as a result of food contaminated by microbes and their toxins. When you eat or drink them it’s like a missile strike. The toxins in particular can rapidly cause inflammation and damage the lining of the gut.</p><p>To add to the confusion, food poisoning is often referred to as foodborne gastroenteritis.</p><p>Food poisoning (or foodborne gastroenteritis) is also common in Australia. It accounts for about one-third of all cases of gastroenteritis or an estimated 5.4 million cases every year.</p><p><strong>How can we tell the two apart?</strong></p><p>Both gastroenteritis and food poisoning have symptoms such as diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps, fever and headaches. But these symptoms can come on in different ways.</p><p>Viral gastroenteritis, such as with norovirus, usually causes symptoms 24-48 hours after exposure, which can last for one to two days.</p><p>But food poisoning after eating microbial toxins can come on very quickly. For example, toxins from the bacterium Staphylococcus aureus can cause symptoms within 30 minutes of eating contaminated food, such as undercooked meat. Fortunately, symptoms usually get better within 24 hours.</p><p>Symptoms do not always come on so quickly in all cases of bacterial food poisoning. For example, it can take as long as 70 days between exposure to Listeria and symptoms occurring, although, on average it’s about three weeks. This long incubation period can make it difficult to work out if a particular food is responsible for someone getting sick.</p><p>(With PTI inputs)</p>
