By Merrick Andrews,
Staff ReporterBERNARD Johnson, 23, grinned with delight as he positioned the mouth watering mayonnaise-laced chicken sandwich to his mouth.
He sampled it with great relish.
It later came back to haunt him and became his worst enemy during his one-week stay in the United Kingdom.
The first day he vomited six times in two hours, this was followed by diarrhoea -- for three straight days.
"I had all the symptoms of food poisoning," said Johnson. "Everytime I ate I had a terrible cramp in my stomach. It felt like a volcano."
Food poisoning is a common illness caused by various factors, including infectious organisms in some raw, undercooked or improperly stored foods, foods laced with pesticides or cooked in unclean water, or otherwise contaminated.
Johnson believes the food was not cooked properly, which resulted in his illness.
"Even now my stomach feels sick. I don't have an appetite for some things I used to eat," he said.
Symptoms of food poisoning vary but the commonest are vomiting, abdominal pains/cramps, headaches, nausea and fever, says Audrey Morris, a nutritionist at the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI). Other symptoms include itching, bumpy skin, partial paralysis with numbing, feeble pulse, restlessness and anaemia.
She noted that even when foods are cooked properly it's possible to get food poisoning.
This is because some bacteria and other microbes produce toxins that are not destroyed by cooking.
However, it all boils down to cleanliness in preparing food, said Miss Morris. "A very important preventative factor is washing the hands properly before cooking and also washing the food to clean it of germs and pesticides."
She added: "The food should not be kept in an 'in-between' condition. Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot."
She points to ackee as a prime culprit of food poisoning when it's not cooked properly or is cooked when not ripe.
Ackee poisoning is an acute and frequently fatal vomiting disease associated with the nervous system caused by eating unripe ackee fruit. Foods that carry a lot of moisture are also prime breeding grounds for bacteria -- seafoods, milk, chicken, mayonnaise, cheese and butter, for example.
People sometimes opt for canned foods either because they are tasty or because they believe canned goods are well preserved. This may not always be true, said Miss Morris. If foods that are to be canned are not processed properly they will cause food poisoning, she added.
"The par-processed food will remain in the can for many months and during this time the bacteria gets enough time to multiply and produce toxins."
THE DIRTY DOZEN OF FOOD CONTAMINATION
1. Don't use dirty water to wash produce, prepare food and make ice. Boil water to be on the safe side.
2. Don't use foods with mildew, moulds and a musty odour.
3. Don't keep pets in the kitchen. Wash your hands after playing with them when you go to prepare food.
4. Don't prepare food if you are feeling sick, suffering from diarrhoea, colds, fever and if you are coughing and sneezing, or if you have sores, skin rashes and open cuts.
5. Don't handle foods if you have not washed your hands after using the toilet, handling your hair or blowing your nose.
6. Don't use the same cutting board to cut meat, bread and vegetables. To prevent cross-contamination use separate cutting boards.
7. Don't store cleaning supplies with food. Label bottles clearly.
8. Don't buy foods with poor colour, bad odour and insect bites or food in dented, swollen or rusty cans.
9. Don't use dish towels or the apron to wipe hands, face or to clean the kitchen counter.
10. Don't wear long nails when preparing food.
11. Don't thaw foods for hours outside the refrigerator.
12. Don't taste from the spoon/ fork you are using in the pot to cook.
