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Dubai: A microbiologist healthcare specialist has stressed food safety goes beyond basic hygiene and cases of food poisoning should spur the medical investigation of the premises in question.
Medha Bhaskaran, microbiologist at the Modern Pharmaceutical Company, said: "The source of pathogenic [disease-causing] bacteria, viruses or parasites could be from anywhere."
She outlines the example of a chicken, with numerous opportunities for bacterial infection.
"For example, take chicken. If it's frozen, how long was it frozen and how was it thawed; was the dish prepared freshly or re-heated; did the food handler have any gastrointestinal pathogens; were the food handlers trained to keep their hands clean; and was the chopping board contaminated? If you cut meat on a board the raw meat may leave traces of pathogens on the surface. If the same board is used to cut salad or fruits, a serious contamination could occur," she said.
A common bacterium causing sudden illness is E.Coli, also known as coliform. However, a healthy person may have millions of these bacteria in their system at any one time, which only becomes problematic if the immune system weakens.
Hummus, Bhaskaran continues, is vulnerable to coliform bacteria, because it is sometimes mashed with wooden utensils that harbour coliforms in cracks and multiply.
Potato salad can also prove a health risk because of its raw egg content (in the mayonnaise). If the salad is fresh, she stresses, it is unlikely to be a health risk, but if kept for too long without being properly chilled, it can harbour Clostridium Botulinum (that causes Botulism).
Food poisoning: symptoms
Cases of food poisoning are considered to be an emergency if the following symptoms are experienced:
- Fainting or collapse; dizziness, lightheadedness or vision problems
- Fever higher than 38C/101F along with abdominal symptoms
- Sharp or cramping pain does not go away after 10-15 minutes
- Swollen stomach or abdomen
- The skin and/or eyes turn yellow
- Vomiting blood or bloody bowel movements
- Cessation of urination, decreased urination or dark urine
- Problems with breathing, speaking or swallowing
- One or more joints swell or a rash breaks out on your skin.
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