Do not purchase bags of salad mix that contain spoiled, mushy leaves and avoid pre-prepared salads that have been left to sit at room temperature. Vegetables and leafy greens can often carry harmful bacteria such as E. To reduce your risk, always wash vegetables and salad leaves and only purchase prepackaged salads that have been refrigerated.įish and shellfish are a common source of food poisoning.įish that has not been stored at the correct temperature has a high risk of being contaminated with histamine, a toxin produced by bacteria in fish. Histamine is not destroyed by normal cooking temperatures and results in a type of food poisoning known as scombroid poisoning. It causes a range of symptoms including nausea, wheezing and swelling of the face and tongue ( 14, 15).Īnother type of food poisoning caused by contaminated fish is ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP).
This occurs due to a toxin called ciguatoxin, which is mostly found in warm, tropical waters.Īt least 10,000–50,000 people who live in or visit tropical areas get CFP each year, according to estimates. Like histamine, it is not destroyed by normal cooking temperatures and therefore the harmful toxins are present after cooking ( 16).
