FOOD POISONING AND ITS
PREVENTION
Categories of risk
Foods can be grouped according to the potential risk from food poisoning into three categories:
1. Those in which one or more ingredients are likely to be contaminated with food poisoning
bacteria.
2. Those in which the processing stage is unlikely to destroy food poisoning bacteria.
3. Those in which food poisoning bacteria may grow after processing if the food is not properly
packaged or handled.
Table 1: Risk of food poisoning from different types of food, and categorisation (according to the
three categories above) as to what is most likely to be the cause:
Type of food
Baked goods
Bread
Cakes
Biscuits
Roasted food
Meat and poultry
Vegetables
Nuts
Pickled food
Vegetables
Fish
Canned foods
Fruits
Vegetables
Meat and fish
Dried foods
Fruit
Vegetables
Nuts
Pluses, beans
Herbs and spices
Sugar based foods
Preserves
Confectionery
Honey
Type of Food
Frozen foods
Meat, fish and poultry
Vegetables
Dairy products
Risk category
3
1,3
1,3
1
1
1
1,3
1,3
1,2,3
1
1,2,3
Risk category
1,2,3
1,2,3
1,2,3
Risk of food poisoning
LOW
LOW
LOW
MEDIUM
LOW
MEDIUM
LOW
MEDIUM
LOW
LOW
LOW
LOW
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
LOW
HIGH
LOW
LOW
LOW
Risk of food poisoning
HIGH
MEDIUM
MEDIUM
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