Food poisoning comes from eating foods that contain germs like bad bacteria or toxins, which are poisonous substances. Bacteria are all around us, so mild cases of food poisoning are common. You may have had mild food poisoning - with diarrhea and an upset stomach - but your mom or dad just called it a stomach bug or stomach virus.

Keeping food safe is the first step to better health. Food borne illnesses will occur when food safety measures are not taken. Hygiene is an important factor in food safety. Wash your hands before and after preparation of meals. Cross contamination is also an important factor to consider. Do not let meat, poultry and seafood come into contact with other foodstuffs. This may cause cross contamination. Always keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

It's one thing to get food poisoning from something in your fridge, but imagine how many people could get sick if a restaurant served food that had these bad germs in it. When that happens, people from the health department might get involved and try to figure out what happened and make sure everyone gets the medical care they need.

Food poisoning is an illness caused by eating foods that have harmful organisms in them. These harmful germs can include bacteria, parasites, and viruses. They are mostly found in raw meat, chicken, fish, and eggs, but can spread to any type of food. They can also grow on food that is left out on counters or outdoors or is stored too long before you eat it.

When you eat or drink something that is contaminated with toxic bacteria, you may experience diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting within 24-48 hours. Typically these symptoms go away in a day or two. In most cases, the condition is not serious and will get better once your immune system gets the better of the infection.

Drink plenty of water. If you're suffering from vomiting or diarrhea, you're losing a lot of fluid. You'll need to replace this to avoid dehydration. Plain tap water should be enough - you can dechlorinate it by leaving your glass for an hour, the chlorine will evaporate.

The food is prepared. When someone who has germs on his or her hands touches the food, or if the food touches other food that has germs on it, the germs can spread. For example, if you use the same cutting board for chopping vegetables and preparing raw meat, germs from the raw meat can get on the vegetables.

Replace electrolytes. If you're losing a lot of nutrients through dehydration, you can buy an electrolyte solution from a pharmacy to replace them. This should improve recovery time.

Always wash your hands before and after preparing foods. Never serve cooked meat on the same plate or tray that you had it on when raw - make sure the resident BBQ expert is given a clean plate to place the finished product on. Also thoroughly clean knives and cutting boards.

Eat plain foods if you get hungry, such as plain boiled white rice.