Differences between food borne infection and food borne intoxication

May 14, 2019

S.N	Food borne infection	Food borne intoxication
1.	It is caused due to the ingestion of pathogen in contaminated food.	It is caused due to ingestion of toxin produced by pathogen along with contaminated food.
2.	Microorganism itself or along with toxin involved.	Only microbial product i.e. toxin is involved.
3.	Number of pathogen increases inside host tissue.	There is no change in number of pathogen.
4.	Clinical manifestation may be more or severe.	Less clinical manifestation occurs comparatively.
5.	Incubation period may be hours to days.	Incubation period may be minutes to hours.
6.	It transfers from one person to another.	It is non-communicable.
7.	Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever are symptoms of it.	Vomiting, nausea diarrhea, diplopia, weakness, respiratory failure, numbness, sensory/motor dysfunction are symptoms of it.
8.	Inadequate cooking, cross contamination, poor personal hygiene, bare-hand contact are responsible factors of it.	Inadequate cooking, improper handling temperatures are factors causing it.
9.	E.g. Clostridium diptheriae, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter, Hepatitis A, Norovirus, etc.	E.g. Staphylococcal poisoning, Clostridium botulinum, etc.