Nutrition, food safety and health are inter-related because no food is nutritious if it's not safe to eat. Safe food handling is as important in the home as it is in a food processing plant, grocery store or restaurant. It is often the cook who has the final control in ensuring that food served is safe to eat. Causes of Food Illness Food may cause illness if it's been contaminated with microorganisms such as parasites, viruses or bacteria, and all food can be carriers of these microorganisms. At the right temperature, in just a few hours, even small amounts of bacteria you can't see, smell, or taste can multiply to dangerous levels on susceptible foods and cause food borne illness, sometimes called food poisoning.
Symptoms tend to resemble the flu.
If diarrhea continues, this can become a nutritional concern, as diarrhea interferes with the absorption of nutrients from food. Young children, infants, pregnant women, elderly people and people who are sick are especially susceptible to foodborne illness. Therefore, take special care when serving food to these groups. Although any microorganism can find its way into a child care or home setting, five pathogens seem to have particular importance in outbreaks of foodborne illness affecting children in child care. Shigella is a bacteria that causes diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain and pussy to bloody stools.