Thorough washing and proper cooking of fruits and vegetables can eliminate most bacteria that cause food poisoning.

Food-borne illnesses or food poisoning usually occurs due to eating food that is contaminated with bacteria or their toxins. Virus and parasites can also be cause food poisoning. People have known for long that raw meat, poultry and eggs can also harbor diseases causing microbes. But in recent years most outbreaks of food borne illnesses have been due to fresh fruits and vegetables.

Food poisoning can cause abdominal pain, nausea, headache, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea and dehydration. Symptoms may appear several hours to several days after eating tainted food. For example, Salmonella bacteria will cause illness 12 hours to 3 days after ingestion lasting about 4-7 days.

The most common way to treat food poisoning is to drink plenty of fluids. The sickness usually subsides within a few days.