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Home > Departments > Emergency Management and Homeland Security > Scouts > Food-Borne Illness

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Basic Emergency Services (6a and 6b)

Emergency Service Project (7)

Make a Chart (2b)

Safety Checklist (2a)

Food-Borne Illness

Individual Emergency Preparedness

Food-Borne Illness

Foods and beverages can become tainted with various
toxins, bacteria, or parasites and you could contract a food-
borne disease, or rather food poisoning. The most
common signs of this disease are abdominal cramps,
vomiting, nausea, and diarrhea. Simple precautions can be
taken to lower the potential of contracting a food-borne
disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention promotes
five guidelines to mitigate risks of food poisoning:

1. Cook food all the way through; especially meat,
poultry, pork, and eggs.
2. Separate food, such as raw meat from veggies, so
that if there is contamination before food is cooked it does not spread to other
foods. Also make sure to wash your hands after you are finished handling raw
meat as contamination could spread from your hands to your other food.
3. Chill any food you plan on eating at a later time because bacteria can grow
extremely quickly at room temperature. Avoid using food that is meant to be
refrigerated and has sat out for a considerable amount of time.
4. Clean all fruits and vegetables fully with running water. Always remember to
wash your hands before touching food.
5. Report any food-poisoning to you local health department; doing so will help the
City of Plano know if something needs to be investigated and it will also help
future emergencies.

If you are ever in an emergency situation and you must eat food that may not have been
stored properly and spoiled, boil the food for at the very minimum of 15 minutes; this
should render most toxins inactive.

Camping poses a very difficult food situation; coming down with food poisoning will ruin
the best of vacations and outings. Some basic practices for camping are:

€ Plan meals so that there are no leftovers; if there happen to be leftovers
without a way to preserve them with a lot of ice then do not eat them and
dispose of them properly
€ Try to avoid planning meals that require chilled food; as there may not be
enough ice to properly keep the meat cool and therefore lend itself to
contamination.
€ If food has been sitting around at room temperature or higher for at least two
hours, throw it away
€ Do not eat any vegetation that you find near camp; many types of vegetation
are safe, but there are quite a few that are not and only experts trained in that
field can identify which ones are which.

For a listing of Plano Restaurants and how their inspection went CLICK HERE!!

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