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Consuming food contaminated with bacteria or toxins can lead to food poisoning. In most cases, people are not aware that the food consumed is contaminated that could lead to serious health problems. It depends on the type of food poisoning you have or if you have compromised your immune system. Some of the types of food poisoning are Shigella, Botulism, Salmonella, E.coli and Listeria.
Let us look at a few of them:

Shigella – This type of bacterium can cause severe diarrhea. Transmitted through fecal matter and bad hygiene, Shigella is quite similar to Salmonella poisoning. Symptoms such as nausea, fever, cramps and diarrhea, sometimes bloody indicate Shigella poisoning. You can prevent contracting Shigella if you are very particular about personal hygiene and ensure that you always wash your hands thoroughly and that your bathroom and kitchen surfaces are clean and free of fecal matter.

Botulism – Botulism bacteria attacks in three different ways: wound, infant botulism and food-borne. The first type of infection occurs when bacteria infects a wound. Bacteria living inside the intestines of a baby cause infant botulism sometimes caused by raw honey. Food-borne botulism occurs due to improperly canned and processed foods. If you have blurry vision, slurred speech, muscle weakness, dry mouth and have difficulty swallowing – then you might have botulism. If it gets severe, it can even cause paralysis and respiratory failure. One can avoid Botulism by following hygienic practices when cooking and preparing food and taking the time to cook meats fully.

Salmonella – Humans get this infection from wild and domestic animals, through their meat, eggs or milk. Eating undercooked meat, unpasteurized milk, and raw eggs can all give you salmonella poisoning. Common symptoms include diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, fever and vomiting and can last from five days up to a week. Avoid dehydration at all costs. Young children, elderly people or people suffering from a chronic illness are in more danger from salmonella poisoning. Keep cooking surfaces clean, especially if it has been in contact with unpasteurized milk, raw eggs or raw meat.

One of the many arguments regarding different types of milk is the one of organic milk versus regular milk. The healthier of the two is debated widely while most ponder on the reason behind the price difference.

Milk from cows that have not been fed grain that contain pesticides is what is referred to as organic milk. These cows have also not been given any bovine growth hormones or antibiotics. In case antibiotics have been given, those cows are separated from the rest of the herd.

Regular milk is derived from cows that have been given bovine growth hormones – to accentuate milk production. Their food – hay and grain – has probably been treated with insecticides. Antibiotics are used to treat injured or sick cows.

What is important to take into consideration is that even though these cows are given antibiotics and hormones, standards set by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) state that traces of antibiotics cannot be found in the milk produced. Dairy farm milk tanks are checked regularly to ensure that standards are upheld.

The cost of organic milk and regular milk differs. Organic milk will cost you around $5 per gallon while regular milk is $3.50. Organic milk is more expensive as the resources needed to grow organic feed and hay for the cows is much more. Care given to cows producing organic milk is high, as the use of antibiotics is not an option.

In terms of health benefits, organic milk is the healthier option as it contains no chemicals, pesticides or preservatives. Bovine growth hormones have been linked to many adverse health conditions – thus making the extra $1.50 spent on organic milk a worthwhile expenditure.