Question: hi have-you-found-out-what-causes-food-poisoning?

Rebecca Handley answered on 17 Jun 2011:

Yes, its pretty much always bacteria, it can be different types. But usually it is Campylobacter, Salmonella or E. coli. To get food poisoning you have to eat food with alot of bacteria on it, so its usually caused by food that hasnt been cooked properly or is pretty old. There needs to be alot of bacteria as most of the bacteria will be killed in your stomach acid. But if some survives and makes it to your intestine then it starts to cause an infection. The silly part about food poisoning, is all of the nasty symptoms like an upset stomach, sickness, cramps are NOT caused by the bacteria. They are all caused by your own immune system. When your immune system detects the bacteria inside your body, it does all of those things as a way of flushing the bacteria out of your body before it can do any damage.