Hello. My name is Professor Julien Sprenger, senior head microbiologist at Highfield University. Today we will look at food poisoning.

What is food poisoning? I’m glad you asked! Contamination. Food poisoning is caused by contamination. Food is contaminated if it has anything in it that should not be there. Contaminated food can look and taste the same as normal. And that’s the problem!

Bacterial food poisoning is the most common. If you remember our previous video, we talked about micro-organisms, tiny creatures that live all around us.

As you can see, microscopic. Tiny. Very, very small. Some micro-organisms are good for you. Some micro-organisms are not.

One type of micro-organism is called bacteria. Some bacteria are good for you, they help to keep you healthy. However, some bacteria are not, they will make you ill.

Now, can you remember another name for bad bacteria? That’s right, pathogens. Pathogens create poisons. Poisons are also called toxins. You can’t smell or taste toxins. But they can give you food poisoning.

Can you remember what bacteria need to grow? There are four things to remember: food, moisture, time and temperature.

Here we see a single Bacteria as you might find in this cheese. If not kept in a fridge, within 20 minutes this 1 bacteria will split into 2. Twenty minutes later again and our 2 bacteria have split into 4. And so one, 1 bacteria very soon becomes millions. This is called Binary Fission.

One type of bad bacteria is Salmonella. Salmonella is the most common type of food poisoning in the UK. Salmonella comes from poultry, raw meats, animals, pets or human carriers. It is usually found in poultry, meat and eggs. If you eat food contaminated with Salmonella, you will be very ill. You will be sick, have stomach ache, diarrhea and even a fever. Salmonella. As I said, if you eat food contaminated with Salmonella, you will be sick and suffer from diarrhea.

Another food poisoning is Staphylococcus Aureus. Not good at all. This mainly comes from humans – infected cuts, boils, sores, nose and mouth. It is found in almost any food which has been handled and not cooked or only lightly cooked. Symptoms are stomach ache, sickness, diarrhoea and again a high temperature. As I said, Staphylococcus Aureus is most often passed from person to person.

Another big bacteria is Clostridium Perfringens. This one comes from raw meat, soil on vegetables and salads, as well as pests and human carriers. It is found in meat dishes, such as stews, gravies and meat stock. You will have stomach ache and diarrhoea. You might be sick, but it is rare with this bacteria.

There is another one. I can’t quite remember the name now. Yes! Bacillus Cereus. That’s it. You don’t want that one. Oh no. Not nice at all. This one comes from cereals, especially rice. It is found in recipes using cornflour and spices as well as rice. Symptoms are sickness, stomach ache and some diarrhoea.

In your place of work or business, you need to understand that bad food hygiene can lead to food poisoning in your workplace. Food poisoning is not good for business, that is true. The cost for your workplace could mean customer complaints, fines and costs of legal action, loss of production and food which must be destroyed and even the closure of the food premises. It’s a high price to pay for something that can be avoided.

Well it’s time I finished for now. Until next time, goodbye.