Question 1

what are food borne illnesses?

Accepted Answer

Food poisoning: This typically refers to infections that can be carried in food, or food poisoning. As we've all seen with recent news stories, these episodes can cause sever illness or death affecting many people over wide geographic areas.

Question 2

how common is food borne illness?

Accepted Answer

Very: Food saftey is a primary concern for governments and agencies.  The public's safety is at hand.  Many persons die in the US each year due to food borne illnesses.  Buy foods from reputable sources, always check the integrity of containers, wash, wash and re-wash raw fruits and vegetables and use excellent preparation techniques.  Be careful with storage of food, preparation of foods and eggs.

Question 3

what are the causes of food borne illnesses?

Accepted Answer

Bacteria/toxins: Most are due to eating a toxin produced by a bacteria e.g. Staph (causes fever, lots of vomiting, diarrhea), or ingesting a dose of bacteria itself, e.g. Salmonella, campylobacter.
Foods contaminated by fecal or disease causing bacteria (even organic), undercooked to kill bacteria present, served by handlers with poor hygiene (eew) transmit disease.
Bad water, hygiene spreads parasite, viral infect.

Question 4

what are the most common food borne diseases?

Accepted Answer

Diarrheas: In us, commonest causes are campylobacter (undercooked chicken), norovirus, clostridium perfringens, salmonella (undercooked eggs, poultry sprouts), toxigenic e. Coli (multiple sources including undercooked meat, dirty veggies, etc), bacillus (rice), staph (creamy, mayonaise), vibrios (shellfish); also outbreaks of hepatitis a.
Wash your hands, wash your veggies, keep dirty separate from clean.

Question 5

are the types of food borne diseases changing?

Accepted Answer

No: No same disease have been around for ever however the country is better at picking up outbreaks and the press better at reporting them and alerting the public ..

Question 6

what air borne particles can affect your vision?

Accepted Answer

Allergies: Aside from obvious foreign bodies such as sand or other debris allergens probably pose the most risk.  In our area of the country, the pollen can be so heavy it forms a coating on the ground and objects.  If the eye is irritated the tear can become thickened and blurring can result.  Antihistamine drops and artificial tears can help - if it persists, be examined by an ophthalmologist.

Question 7

what are the risk factors of food borne illnesses?

Accepted Answer

See details: The only risk factor is eating contaminated food. This is related to eating raw or undercooked food that is infected with the bacteria.

Question 8

what can you do to protect yourself and others from food-borne illnesses at home?

Accepted Answer

See below: Wash vegetables and fruit thoroughly. Cook meats so that internal temperature is at least 160 degrees. Avoid contaminating raw foods with meats or utensils contaminated with meats; refrigerate cooked foods as soon the food cools down to room temperature, get vaccination for hepatitis. See this site for more info.  
http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/diseases/.

Question 9

does putting hot sauce into food lower the chances of catching food-borne illnesses?

Accepted Answer

No: Almost no protective effect.

Question 10

what is a water-borne disease?

Accepted Answer

See below: A water-borne disease means the infection is from an organism (e.g. bacteria) that normally exists in contaminated water. Usually for water-borne diseases, you have to ingest it to get sick (either directly or by accident like bathing or being in a river for example).

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What are food borne illnesses?

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How common is food borne illness?

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Are the types of food borne diseases changing?

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What air borne particles can affect your vision?

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What are the risk factors of food borne illnesses?

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Does putting hot sauce into food lower the chances of catching food-borne illnesses?

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What is a water-borne disease?

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