Poorly stored food in a refrigerator<unk>  usually arises from improper handling, preparation, or food storage. Good hygiene practices before, during, and after food preparation can reduce the chances of contracting an<unk> . There is a consensus in the public health community that regular hand-washing is one of the most effective defenses against the spread of<unk> . The action of monitoring food to ensure that it will not cause<unk>  is known as food safety.<unk>  disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment. Furthermore,<unk>  can be caused by a number of chemicals, such as pesticides, medicines, and natural toxic substances such as vomitoxin, poisonous mushrooms or reef fish. Bacteria Bacteria are a common cause of<unk> . The United Kingdom, in 2000, reported the individual bacteria involved as the following: Campylobacter jejuni 77.3%, Salmonella 20.9%, Escherichia coli O157:H7 1.4%, and all others less than 0.56%. In the past, bacterial infections were thought to be more prevalent because few places had the capability to test for norovirus and no active surveillance was being done for this particular agent. Toxins from bacterial infections are delayed because the bacteria need time to multiply. As a result, symptoms associated with intoxication are usually not seen until 12–72 hours or more after eating contaminated food. However, in some cases, such as Staphylococcal food poisoning, the onset of<unk>  can be as soon as 30 minutes after ingesting contaminated food. Salmonella Most common bacterial<unk>  pathogens are: * Campylobacter jejuni which can lead to secondary Guillain–Barré syndrome and periodontitis * Clostridium perfringens, the "cafeteria germ" * Salmonella spp. – its S. typhimurium infection is caused by consumption of eggs or poultry that are not adequately cooked or by other interactive human-animal pathogens * Escherichia coli O157:H7 enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) which can cause hemolytic-uremic syndrome Other common bacterial<unk>  pathogens are: * Bacillus cereus * Escherichia coli, other virulence properties, such as enteroinvasive (EIEC), enteropathogenic (EPEC), enterotoxigenic (ETEC), enteroaggregative (EAEC or EAgEC) * Listeria monocytogenes * Shigella spp. * Staphylococcus aureus * Staphylococcal enteritis * Streptococcus * Vibrio cholerae, including O1 and non-O1 * Vibrio parahaemolyticus * Vibrio vulnificus * Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Less common bacterial agents: * Brucella spp. * Corynebacterium ulcerans * Coxiella burnetii or Q fever * Plesiomonas shigelloides Enterotoxins In addition to disease caused by direct bacterial infection, some<unk> es are caused by enterotoxins (exotoxins targeting the intestines). Enterotoxins can produce<unk>  even when the microbes that produced them have been killed. Symptom appearance varies with the toxin but may be rapid in onset, as in the case of enterotoxins of Staphylococcus aureus in which symptoms appear in one to six hours. This causes intense vomiting including or not including diarrhea (resulting in staphylococcal enteritis), and staphylococcal enterotoxins (most commonly staphylococcal enterotoxin A but also including staphylococcal enterotoxin B) are the most commonly reported enterotoxins although cases of poisoning are likely underestimated. It occurs mainly in cooked and processed foods due to competition with other biota in raw foods, and humans are the main cause of contamination as a substantial percentage of humans are persistent carriers of S. aureus. The CDC has estimated about 240,000 cases per year in the United States. * Clostridium botulinum * Clostridium perfringens * Bacillus cereus The rare but potentially deadly disease botulism occurs when the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum grows in improperly canned low-acid foods and produces botulin, a powerful paralytic toxin. Pseudoalteromonas tetraodonis, certain species of Pseudomonas and Vibrio, and some other bacteria, produce the lethal tetrodotoxin, which is present in the tissues of some living animal species rather than being a product of decomposition. Emerging<unk>  pathogens * Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas caviae, Aeromonas sobria Scandinavian outbreaks of Yersinia enterocolitica have recently increased to an annual basis, connected to the non-canonical contamination of pre-washed salad. Preventing bacterial food poisoning Proper storage and refrigeration of food help in the prevention of food poisoning Prevention is mainly the role of the state, through the definition of strict rules of hygiene and a public services of veterinary surveying of animal products in the food chain, from farming to the transformation industry and delivery (shops and restaurants). This regulation includes: * traceability: in a final product, it must be possible to know the origin of the ingredients (originating farm, identification of the harvesting or of the animal) and where and when it was processed; the origin of the<unk>  can thus be tracked and solved (and possibly penalized), and the final products can be removed from the sale if a problem is detected; * enforcement of hygiene procedures such as HACCP and the "cold chain"; * power of control and of law enforcement of veterinarians. In August 2006, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved Phage therapy which involves spraying meat with viruses that infect bacteria, and thus preventing infection. This has raised concerns, because without mandatory labelling consumers would not be aware that meat and poultry products have been treated with the spray. At home, prevention mainly consists of good food safety practices. Many forms of bacterial poisoning can be prevented by cooking food sufficiently, and either eating it quickly or refrigerating it effectively. Many toxins, however, are not destroyed by heat treatment. Techniques that help prevent<unk>  in the kitchen are hand washing, rinsing produce, preventing cross-contamination, proper storage, and maintaining cooking temperatures. In general, freezing or refrigerating prevents virtually all bacteria from growing, and heating food sufficiently kills parasites, viruses, and most bacteria. Bacteria grow most rapidly at the range of temperatures between , called the "danger zone". Storing food below or above the "danger zone" can effectively limit the production of toxins. For storing leftovers, the food must be put in shallow containers for quick cooling and must be refrigerated within two hours. When food is reheated, it must reach an internal temperature of or until hot or steaming to kill bacteria. Mycotoxins and alimentary mycotoxicoses The term alimentary mycotoxicosis refers to the effect of poisoning by mycotoxins through food consumption. The term mycotoxin is usually reserved for the toxic chemical products produced by fungi that readily colonize crops. Mycotoxins sometimes have important effects on human and animal health. For example, an outbreak which occurred in the UK in 1960 caused the death of 100,000 turkeys which had consumed aflatoxin-contaminated peanut meal. In the USSR in World War II, 5,000 people died due to alimentary toxic aleukia (ALA). The common<unk>  Mycotoxins include: * Aflatoxins – originating from Aspergillus parasiticus and Aspergillus flavus. They are frequently found in tree nuts, peanuts, maize, sorghum and other oilseeds, including corn and cottonseeds. The pronounced forms of Aflatoxins are those of B1, B2, G1, and G2, amongst which Aflatoxin B1 predominantly targets the liver, which will result in necrosis, cirrhosis, and carcinoma. In the US, the acceptable level of total aflatoxins in foods is less than 20 μg/kg, except for Aflatoxin M1 in milk, which should be less than 0.5 μg/kg. The official document can be found at FDA's website. * Altertoxins – are those of alternariol (AOH), alternariol methyl ether (AME), altenuene (ALT), altertoxin-1 (ATX-1), tenuazonic acid (TeA), and radicinin (RAD), originating from Alternaria spp. Some of the toxins can be present in sorghum, ragi, wheat and tomatoes. Some research has shown that the toxins can be easily cross-contaminated between grain commodities, suggesting that manufacturing and storage of grain commodities is a critical practice. * Citrinin * Citreoviridin * Cyclopiazonic acid * Cytochalasins * Ergot alkaloids / ergopeptine alkaloids – ergotamine * Fumonisins – Crop corn can be easily contaminated by the fungi Fusarium moniliforme, and its fumonisin B1 will cause leukoencephalomalacia (LEM) in horses, pulmonary edema syndrome (PES) in pigs, liver cancer in rats and esophageal cancer in humans. For human and animal health, both the FDA and the EC have regulated the content levels of toxins in food and animal feed. * Fusaric acid * Fusarochromanone * Kojic acid * Lolitrem alkaloids * Moniliformin * 3-Nitropropionic acid * Nivalenol * Ochratoxins – In Australia, The Limit of Reporting (LOR) level for ochratoxin A (OTA) analyses in 20th Australian Total Diet Survey was 1 µg/kg, whereas the EC restricts the content of OTA to 5 µg/kg in cereal commodities, 3 µg/kg in processed products and 10 µg/kg in dried vine fruits. * Oosporeine * Patulin – Currently, this toxin has been advisably regulated on fruit products. The EC and the FDA have limited it to under 50 µg/kg for fruit juice and fruit nectar, while limits of 25 µg/kg for solid-contained fruit products and 10 µg/kg for baby foods were specified by the EC. * Phomopsins * Sporidesmin A * Sterigmatocystin * Tremorgenic mycotoxins – Five of them have been reported to be associated with molds found in fermented meats. These are fumitremorgen B, paxilline, penitrem A, verrucosidin, and verruculogen. * Trichothecenes – sourced from Cephalosporium, Fusarium, Myrothecium, Stachybotrys, and Trichoderma. The toxins are usually found in molded maize,
Foodborne illness
Hospital-acquired infection
Tick-borne disease
Laboratory-acquired infection
Tetanus
Virgin soil epidemic
Blood-borne disease
Canine vector-borne disease