Food Poisoning and Food Infection 287 



outbreak by submitting samples of all foods served, if available, 

 to a bacteriology laboratory for analysis. By questioning all 

 affected individuals, one or more foods will be found to have been 

 eaten by all, and bacteriological examination will usually confirm 

 the investigator's suspicions. It should be borne in mind, how- 

 ever, that some who partook of the food will not show clinical 

 svmptoms, for reasons already discussed. On the other hand, some 

 who become ill might not have ingested any of the food which the 

 investigators conclude caused the outbreak. Psychic vomiting can 

 sometimes account for these irregularities. 



If a single individual can be spared the misery of food poison- 

 ing by being informed of a few fundamentals and precautions, all 

 of the lectures and writings on the subject will have been worth 

 while. Unless you have experienced the poisoning yourself, or 

 unless you have seen firsthand how acute the symptoms are in a 

 real outbreak, it is difficult to fully appreciate the problem. As one 

 observer remarked, "It is a moving experience." 



We take a great deal for granted when we walk into a strange 

 restaurant and order a meal that has been prepared behind closed 

 doors out of the vision of the customer. Standards of cleanliness 

 vary widely between individuals. What may be to one food 

 handler a perfectly satisfactory technic for handling food, may be 

 revolting to another person who is fastidious. One measure of 

 sanitation, although by no means the only index, is the cleanliness 

 of the food-handler's hands, especially his fingernails, which should 

 be kept very short at all times to prevent the accumulation of 

 bacteria-laden dirt. A dirty apron showing signs of long use is 

 another criterion of cleanliness. A person who pays attention to 

 small details of sanitation will usually devote proper attention to 

 larger matters as well. 



SALMONELLA FOOD INFECTION 



This type of disease differs from staphylococcal food poisoning 

 in that the living Salmonella germs are ingested, and the typical 

 clinical symptoms are delayed until the organisms have had an 

 opportunity to become established in the gastro-intestinal tract. 



