Bacterial foodborne disease

Abstract

Foodborne disease comprises a broad group of illnesses caused by the consumption of foods contaminated with toxic substances or pathogenic microorganisms. The agents responsible for foodborne illnesses can be divided into four general categories: chemical (e.g., mushroom or scombroid poisoning), parasitic (e.g., Trichinella or Giardia), viral (e.g., Hepatitis A or Norovirus), and bacterial (e.g., Salmonella or Campylobacter). Only the bacterial will be considered in this chapter. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.