Food contaminated by bacteria, viruses and parasites can make you sick. Many people have had foodborne illness and not even known it. It's sometimes called food poisoning, and it can feel like the flu. Symptoms may include the following:
Symptoms can start soon after eating contaminated food, but they can hit up to a month or more later. For some people, especially young children, the elderly, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems, foodborne illness can be very dangerous.
Public health experts estimate that there are as many as 13 million cases of foodborne illness in Canada every year. Most cases of foodborne illness can be prevented by using safe food handling practices and using a food thermometer to check that your food is cooked to a safe internal temperature!
Shigella bacteria are found naturally in the intestinal tracts of humans and other primates. People who eat food or drink water contaminated by Shigella can become ill with shigellosis.
Like other foodborne illnesses, the symptoms of shigellosis can feel like the flu. Symptoms can appear within 12 to 50 hours after eating contaminated food, but usually don't appear until three to seven days later. People who have shigellosis are usually ill for three to 14 days. Others infected with the bacteria may not get sick or show symptoms, but they can carry the bacteria and spread the infection to others.
Shigellosis is most often spread from person-to-person. Shigella can also be transferred by flies. People infected with the bacteria can be carriers. Therefore, proper hygiene, safe food handling and preparation practices are key to preventing foodborne illness. If you think you are infected with Shigella or any other gastrointestinal illness, do not prepare food for other people unless you wear disposable gloves and follow safe food handling procedures. About 20 per cent of shigellosis infections come directly from contaminated food and water.
Food is most commonly contaminated with Shigella from water polluted by human sewage. Food can also become contaminated if it is handled by a person infected with Shigella or by cross-contamination because of unsanitary food handling practices. The following listed below have been responsible for foodborne illnesses:
Like many other harmful bacteria that could be in our food, Shigella are destroyed when food is cooked to a safe internal temperature. Use a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature of your food. See table.
BLEACH SANITIZER
You can’t tell by looking. Use a digital food thermometer to be sure!
Food | Temperature |
---|---|
Beef, veal and lamb (pieces and whole cuts) - medium-rare | 63°C (145°F) |
Beef, veal and lamb (pieces and whole cuts) - medium | 71°C (160°F) |
Beef, veal and lamb (pieces and whole cuts) - well done | 77°C (170°F |
Pork (pieces and whole cuts) | 71°C (160°F) |
Poultry (e.g. chicken, turkey, duck) - pieces | 74°C (165°F) |
Poultry - whole | 85°C (185°F) |
Ground meat and meat mixtures (e.g. burgers, sausages, meatballs, meatloaf, casseroles) - beef, veal, lamb and pork | 71°C (160°F) |
Ground meat and meat mixtures - poultry | 74°C (165°F) |
Egg dishes | 74°C (165°F) |
Others (hot dogs, stuffing and leftovers) | 74°C (165°F) |
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is the Government of Canada's science-based regulator for animal health, plant protection and, in partnership with Health Canada, food safety.
For more information on food safety or to order free copies of this brochure, visit the CFIA website at www.inspection.gc.ca or call 1-800-442-2342/TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday to Friday). You can also find food safety information on the Health Canada and Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education websites respectively at www.hc-sc.gc.ca and www.canfightbac.org.
Cat. no.:
A104-16/2005E
ISBN: ISBN:
0-662-41100-5
P0238E-05/09