While food allergies vary in people, they are few number foods that can give you food poisoning, depending on the condition in which they are consumed.
Regardless of age, food poisoning can be dangerous and sometimes even life-threatening. However, as you get older, the risk and severity increases.
“Older adults, in general, are more likely to have severe illness [from food poisoning] that could land them in the hospital,” says Patricia Griffin, M.D., chief of the US CDC’s Enteric Diseases Epidemiology branch.
The immune system loses some of its ability to fight ailments and diseases as you age. Hence, older people will most likely develop conditions like diabetes, HPB, and others than younger people. This is why the health dangers of food poisoning are higher in older people.
“Many older adults are quite healthy and don’t think of themselves as having increased risk,” she says. “But they should recognize that as we all age, our immune system becomes a little more sluggish, and we need to take more precautions to prevent ourselves from getting sick.”
Prevention of food poisoning includes washing food in running water before consuming, reducing cross-contamination of food ( especially raw meat, seafood, eggs, and vegetables), and washing hands with soap at least 20 seconds before cooking.
Here are some foods that can give you food poisoning.
Chicken, Beef, Pork, Turkey
These foods, when contaminated can cause food poisoning. Cooking meats till their well done is advisable to avoid sorry stories. Older people who prefer their meats rare would have to make adjustments to avoid food poisoning.
“You have to rely often on getting something steaming hot that looks to you well-cooked,” Griffin says. “A thermometer is best. But cooking your meat products really well is very important.”
It’s also advisable to wash your meats thoroughly in warm running water before cooking. Also, leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator at 40 degrees in small portions for best preservation.
Raw milk and cheese products
Raw unpasteurised milk has been known to cause food poisoning in people. “Unpasteurised milk is risky because if you make a mistake with one or a few cows, you may not just get that udder perfectly clean, and then you’ve contaminated that entire batch,” Griffin says.
Instead of consuming milk in its raw form, you can pasteurise it in your kitchen by heating in your boiler or oven for 165 degrees or 15 seconds.
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Eggs
Chickens can contaminate their eggs from their ovaries with an infection called salmonella. However, the risk is low as farmers have found better ways to produce eggs without salmonella.
“Most batches of eggs are going to be completely safe,” Griffin says. “But some batches are going to be from a chicken that was stressed enough that salmonella was coming out as they laid their egg, and your risk of getting sick is going to be increased.”
Try not to consume foods that have uncooked eggs in them like dough and batter. Boil eggs till they’re properly cooked and their yolk is hard. Also, refrigerate at 40 degrees to keep it fresh and safe for consumption.
Fruits and Vegetables
Because of their nature, fruits and vegetables can be easily contaminated; either from the farm or to the stalls and market.
“On a per-serving basis, raw vegetables are not horribly risky except for certain ones, like sprouts,” Griffin says. “Vegetables and fruit are a really important part of a healthy diet, and there are so many wonderful ways to cook vegetables, and they are delicious.”
For safe consumption, wash fruit and vegetable produce thoroughly under running water instead of soaking as the water can re-contaminate them.
Seafood
Seafood sometimes can contain Vibro, a bacteria found in seawater. When not properly cooked, it can infect the consumer with vibriosis which poses risks to people more than 65.
However, undercooked seafood is not known to pose health dangers except it is consumed raw.
“Major illnesses that we see are really from oysters because people like to eat them raw,” she says
To eliminate risks, cook seafood to 145 degrees, and heat leftovers to 165 degrees. Also, do not eat seafood with open shells and wash parts of the body, especially open wounds that come in contact with it.
Raw flour
Raw flour becomes contaminated from the grain and through its production process. This is why it must not be consumed in its uncooked form. Also, do not consume raw dough, batter and make sure to clean all surfaces after cooking.
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