ABSTRACT
Foodborne diseases (also known as foodborne illnesses, or colloquially, foodborne poisonings) are pathological conditions that result mostly from ingestion of raw, or improperly prepared or stored foods contaminated by microbial pathogens, toxins, or other toxic agents. After establishing in their predilection sites, some pathogens (e.g., parasites) cause direct physical and mechanical damages to the host, while others (e.g., viruses, bacteria, and fungi) produce various virulence factors and toxins that provoke host innate and acquired immune responses, leading to gastrointestinal (e.g., nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps) and other clinical symptoms (e.g., fever, joint aches or backaches, and fatigue). Being noninfectious and nonreplicating, toxins (of bacterial, fungal and algal origins) contained in food or water and other toxic agents act rapidly and induce clinical symptoms if sufficient quantities are ingested.
