First Aid for Food Poisoning

Food poisoning is illness caused by eating contaminated food. Infectious organisms such as bacteria, viruses and parasites or their toxins are the most common causes of food poisoning.

Contamination of food can happen at any point during its production: growing, harvesting, processing, storing, shipping or preparing. Cross-contamination — the transfer of harmful organisms from one surface to another — is often the cause. Cross-contamination is especially troublesome for raw, ready-to-eat foods, such as salads or other produce. Because these foods are not cooked, harmful organisms are not destroyed before eating and can cause food poisoning.

Eating out in restaurants or from street vendors where food handling and hygienic practices are not followed properly is a common cause of food poisoning.

Symptoms

Food poisoning symptoms can start within hours of eating contaminated food. Symptoms vary with the source of contamination. Most types of food poisoning cause one or more of the following signs and symptoms:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Watery diarrhea
• Abdominal pain and cramps
• Fever

Complications

The most common serious complication of food poisoning is dehydration — a severe loss of water and essential salts and minerals. If you’re a healthy adult and drink enough to replace fluids you lose from vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration shouldn’t be a problem.

Infants, older adults and people with suppressed immune systems or chronic illnesses may become severely dehydrated when they lose more fluids than they can replace. In that case, they may need to be hospitalized and receive intravenous fluids. In extreme cases, dehydration can be fatal.

First aid and home remedies

1. Control nausea and vomiting

• Avoid solid foods until vomiting ends. Then eat light, bland foods, such as saltine crackers, bananas, rice, or bread.
• Sipping liquids may help avoid vomiting.
• Don’t eat fried, greasy, spicy, or sweet foods.
• Don’t take anti-nausea or anti-diarrhea medication without asking your doctor. They may make some kinds of diarrhea worse. Your doctor may give you anti-nausea medication if you are at risk of being dehydrated.

2. Prevent dehydration

• Drink clear fluids, starting with small sips and gradually drinking more.
• If vomiting and diarrhea last more than 24 hours, drink an oral rehydration solution (available in drugstores and pharmacies).

Prevention

To prevent food poisoning at home:

• Wash your hands, utensils and food surfaces often.
• Keep raw foods separate from ready-to-eat foods. This prevents cross-contamination.
• Cook foods to a safe temperature. The best way to tell if foods are cooked to a safe temperature is to use a food thermometer. You can kill harmful organisms in most foods by cooking them to the right temperature.
• Refrigerate or freeze perishable foods promptly, ideally within two hours of purchasing or preparing them.
• Defrost food safely. The safest way to thaw food is to defrost it in the refrigerator. If you microwave frozen food using the “defrost” or “50 percent power” setting, be sure to cook it immediately.
• Throw it out when in doubt.

When to seek medical attention

Sickness caused by food poisoning generally lasts from a few hours to several days. Most often, food poisoning is mild and resolves without treatment. But some people need to go to the hospital.

If you experience any of the following signs or symptoms, seek medical attention:

• Frequent episodes of vomiting and inability to keep liquids down
• Bloody vomit or stools
• Diarrhea for more than three days
• Extreme pain or severe abdominal cramping
• An oral temperature higher than 101.5 F (38.6 C)
• Signs or symptoms of dehydration — excessive thirst, dry mouth, little or no urination, severe weakness, dizziness, or lightheadedness
• Neurological symptoms such as blurry vision, muscle weakness and tingling in the arms

-Medical Observer