Food-Related Illnesses

Food-borne illness (also known as "food poisoning") happens when a person gets sick from eating food that has been contaminated with a harmful micro-organism. These micro-organisms can be bacteria, parasites or viruses.

Common causes of food-related illnesses include:

• Botulism
• Campylobacter
• Cronobacter
• Cyclospora
• E. coli
• Hepatitis A and E
• Listeria and Listeriosis
• Norovirus
• Salmonella
• Shigella
• Vibrio

Every year, more than 4 million Canadians get food poisoning. The most common symptoms may include the following: stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever.

What is Health Canada doing?

Health Canada sets policies and standards governing the safety and nutritional quality of all food sold in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) enforces those policies and standards. Health Canada, the CFIA and the Public Health Agency of Canada work together to prevent and when necessary, to respond to outbreaks of foodborne illness.

Health Canada is a founding member of the Canadian Partnership for Consumer Food Safety Education, which is responsible for Fight BAC!®.

What Information is Available?

In this section you'll find a mix of easy-to-read factsheets, scientific documents and regulatory documents.

Related Resources

• Safe Food Handling
• Infant Botulism
• Listeria and Food Safety
• Salmonella Prevention