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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Bacteria are a common cause of foodborne illness.
Most common bacterial foodborne pathogens are:
Less common bacterial agents:
Much is still not known about foodborne illness. Approximately sixty percent of outbreaks are still caused by unknown sources.
Most foodborne parasites are zoonoses.
Several foods can naturally contain toxins, many of which are not produced by bacteria. Plants in particular may be toxic; animals which are naturally poisonous to eat are rare. In evolutionary terms, animals can escape being eaten by fleeing; plants can use only passive defences such as poisons and distasteful substances, for example capsaicin in chilis and pungent sulphur compounds in garlic and onions. Most animal poisons are not synthesised by the animal, but acquired by eating poisonous plants to which the animal is immune, or by bacterial action.
Some plants contain substances which are toxic in large doses, but have therapeutic properties in appropriate dosages.
An early theory on the causes of food poisoning involved ptomaines, alkaloids found in decaying animal and vegetable matter. While some alkaloids do cause poisoning, the discovery of bacteria left the ptomaine theory obsolete and the word "ptomaine" is no longer used scientifically.
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