Food Poisoning On The Rise
Sun Herald
Saturday August 19, 1995
AN alarming rise in the incidence of diarrhoea from contaminated food is believed to be linked to inadequate cooking of chicken in microwave ovens and fast food outlets, as well as contamination from pets.
There were 2,000 reported cases of food poisoning from the bacterium, campylobacter jejuni in NSW last year but the real number is likely to be much higher, according to the Health Department.
"It has been estimated that 90 per cent of food poisoning cases go unreported," said John McMahon, manager of the department's food and nutrition section.
It is believed that numbers are increasing and there are now more reported infections of campylobacter than there is salmonella.
Sufferers usually experience diarrhoea for two or three days, acute abdominal pain and sometimes bleeding from the rectum.
Worst affected are the very young and very old, and people who are immuno-depressed, such as AIDS patients, or those who have had bone marrow transplanted.
People should thoroughly wash the cutting board and knife used to cut raw chicken before using them for other food.
Microwaves also posed a risk if the chicken was cooked in a frozen or semi-frozen state where the heat did not penetrate to the deepest part of the meat.
Another cause was children playing with pets and picking up faecal matter, and putting their hands in their mouth or not washing hands before eating.
© 1995 Sun Herald