Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease) is any illness resulting from the consumption of food. Foodborne illness is commonly called food poisoning, even though the physiological effects of foodborne illness are not always caused by poisons (toxins). True food poisoning occurs when a person ingests a contaminating chemical or a natural toxin, while most cases of foodborne illness are caused by a variety of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, viruses, prions or parasites that contaminate food. Such contamination usually arises from improper handling, preparation, or food storage. Good hygiene practices before, during, and after food preparation can reduce the chances of contracting an illness. The action of monitoring food to ensure that it will not cause foodborne illness is known as food safety. Foodborne disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment. For foodborne illness caused by chemicals, see Food contaminants.Foodborne illness can also be caused by the presence of pesticides or medicines in food, or by unintentionally consuming naturally toxic substances like poisonous mushrooms or reef fish. Some could even come from the skin and nose, like staphylococcus aureus, which could lead to death.

Japanese investigators have found traces of pesticide on more packages of Chinese-made dumplings, police said Sunday as Chinese experts arrived in Tokyo to join a widening food poisoning probe.

The Soil Association can reveal that a recent government survey shows that organic laying hen farms have a significantly lower level of Salmonella. Salmonella is a bacterium that causes one of the commonest forms of food poisoning worldwide.

ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2008) — For most people, the name "E. coli" is synonymous with food poisoning and product recalls,

The lowly, ubiquitous E. coli, long given a bad rap for its association with food poisoning (see: spinach) despite its more common beneficial roles in the human stomach, could yet gain a broader measure of respectability if Thomas Wood's research pans out. Wood, a professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M, successfully tweaked a strain of

Dozens more people in Japan on Thursday said they fell sick after eating Chinese-made food, a day after Japanese food companies recalled pesticide-contaminated dumplings from China that made 10 people sick. The food scare has triggered a nationwide probe into possible additional cases of food poisoning, while Japan's top government spokesman quest